Do you still whistle?

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 4:49 am

I touch my whistles so rarely they are dusty.

I play fiddle every lunch hour at work (I have my special practise area set up at the bottom of the fire stairs) and the time flies.

In the evenings I fiddle less, only when the mood is on me. Music is often an escape, and I have less to escape from at home. I also got a viola recently, for playing fiddle tunes on when those high notes are a bit too shrill.

I've also started a bodhran class once a week, to gain a better appreciation of the instrument, so I'm trying to make sure I practise enough to keep up with the lessons. Bodhran is great for diddling along to a CD.

jbarter · Post by **jbarter** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 4:59 am

I also play the concertina and my son is trying to teach me the fiddle but I shall always consider myself to be a whistler. Morris dancing and whistling - it's what I do, it's who I am.

GaryKelly · Post by **GaryKelly** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 5:19 am

I switched to flute last April, and they get most of my wind these days (every day). But I still play whistle, great for picking up tricksty tunes before transferring them to flute. The Busman is of course gorgeous, it gets a good blast at weekends, and the Laughing Whistle goes with me everywhere.

The whistle that gets played the most often though is the Gen.D in the bathroom, very handy for those long contemplative moments where the seated position (and position of the seat in question) is quite inappropriate for a Bb flute! Nice acoustics in there too...

Which reminds me, I really must learn "The hut in the bog"

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 6:18 am

I still play my flute and whistles at least weekly but I've been concentrating on harmonica since Christmas. I'm selling most of the whistles I never used because I'd rather play my bamboo flutes for a lot of things.

As for you bassoon players, have you heard of Paul MacCandless? He played some great jazz bassoon with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones on their Live at the Quick DVD.

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 7:30 am

I play whistle practically every day, still after all this time. I end up practicing probably 3-4 hours a week total.

I went through a long period of time after my son was born where I had really no time at all to play. When he was up, there was no time for whistles. When he was sleeping, we were sleeping.

I find that being around other musicians in session help keep me inspired to learn new tunes and improve myself. When I go for a long time just playing by myself, I get in a rut and my enthusiasm wanes. While I don't really stop playing, my practice time diminishes greatly, and I learn a lot less each week.

I keep thinking I'd like to play another instrument...recently, I got some bones, and before that I had a fiddle, and before that I took a couple of years of piano lessons. But every time I make time to practice the new instrument, I always end up thinking to myself "You know, you could be practicing the whistle"...eventually the new instrument ends up on Ebay.

lixnaw · Post by **lixnaw** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 8:03 am

ever since i play the button accordion, i can't play straight bore whistles anymore.
i only play conical bores, about 1 hour every day.
but i practice on the accordion for 2 hours.

dwinterfield · Post by **dwinterfield** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 8:18 am

Whistle most days for 10 minutes to and hour. First flute is on the way and I'm curious how that will change my whistle time. I suspect there's a concertina in my future somewhere too. Gave my wife a bodhran for Chistmas because she's always been intrigued by them, but claims absolutely no musical ability. We'll see......... That could change my whistle time too.

Jeff_H · Post by **Jeff_H** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 8:31 am

I'm just starting out on whistle but I try to play a few minutes a day when I'm least likely to disturb the whole house. I'm still playing bass in a rock band though so do I get some solid time in musically each week. I do try to listen to as much ITM as possible during my long work commute though. I think that helps me alot at this point to hear how certain phrasings, note choices and tempos sound.

This will all change dramatically for me in a few weeks when I'm done finishing my basement studio/office. It will not be a whistle free zone!

Jeff

RonKiley · Post by **RonKiley** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 8:54 am

I play whistle every day. I ocassionally try a few toots on the flute but it seems beyond my air power. I love my whistles they are a great source of stress relief and one of the few things I can actually play. Since I bought the Humphrey set I play it whenever I can. When I need a quieter whistle I play my Alba Q1. Others are played depending on mood. But I play whistle every day.

Ron

colomon · Post by **colomon** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 8:55 am

Play whistle for probably about an hour a day, on average. My session attendence has been a bit off lately -- only three or four since the start of Decemeber -- but I made up for it with a nice paying gig two weeks ago. My long dry spell of not learning new tunes seems to be over, and I wrote a new reel this week.

I need to start practicing my bassoon more, since as of last night I'm in two orchestras, playing a bunch of fun but relatively challenging music.

I also should be practicing the old 4-stop more -- it's been a couple of months since I pulled it out to have a blast of tunes.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 9:19 am

Guitar is my main instrument; it always has been and always will be. I play loads of other instruments so I can't possibly be in practice on all of them at once. I get back into practice on instruments for specific projects coming up. Practising any one of guitar, bouzouki, mandolin or bass guitar seems to help with all the others which is very handy.

I play whistle almost every day. Even if I don't practice, I usually play a few tunes here and there during the day. But mostly I get in some serious practice. Other instruments getting serious practice at the moment are concertina and (increasingly) flute. I need to get back to keyboards soon but I don't know what will suffer when I do.

dubhlinn · Post by **dubhlinn** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 9:20 am

I play something every day.It might be a few reels on a whistle or maybe a Country blues on Guitar,somedays I like to fool around with minuets on the Mandoline.
Very rarely play fiddle these days but who knows...might get back into it some time further down the road.

Slan,
D.

susnfx · Post by **susnfx** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 9:23 am

Nate! Glad to see you, my friend. Personally I'm not whistling nearly as much as I was a year or 18 months ago. I have discovered another interest (painting) that has consumed a lot of my time. I still love ITM and listen to CDs while I paint, and I frequently will grab a whistle and run through a few tunes while perusing this board, reading emails, etc. I think if I'd had a local (good) whistle teacher, I would have been more likely to keep at it seriously. As it is, I'll enjoy it for a great hobby that I'm still very interested in and learning more about every day.

Susan

rh · Post by rh » Thu Jan 20, 2005 11:27 am

i'm playing the whistle every day, learning tunes, etc. probably more than any other instrument, though i've recently decided i really want to learn the box -- i've had one (C#/D) for years and never learned more than a handful of tunes on it. so i'm also making time for that too. not much else, musically.

funny thing, on whistle & flute i tend to like the modern-style players more, like McGoldrick, Finnegan, etc. but on box i really love that old style with the basses pumping away, like Paul Brock and Conor Keane are playing. still think Sharon Shannon's cute, though

seisflutes · Post by **seisflutes** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 11:39 am

Flute is my main instrument,and always will be. I'm working on learning to play the uilleann pipes,but even that will never replace the lovely flute.However,I do still play the whistle,and I like it a lot.I mostly play whistles for a quick tune between tasks.Grabbing one and tootling a tune is easier than getting the flute out,putting it togther,warming it up,etc.Also I take whistles out to the barn and play after I milk the goats,while the horses are eating.And with my band sometimes,when they want me to.

-Kelly