To tongue or not to tongue - on the whistle!

[Flauta dolce]

I met a guy from Vancouver named Broc in Glen ColmCille Co. Donegal at an Irish Cultural Course and he showed me an extensive collection of your whistles. I played your African blackwood whistle, lovely! The pinky coloured snake-wood looks amazing, and nearly too good to play.

I think I saw about 10 of your whistles belonging to this guy so you must know him.

The Maple wood smells beautiful and plays wonderfully. There's a great volume from them as well.

I saw your website before and I was aware that your whistles were being sold in the States.

I hope this is good advertisement for your whistles because they're wonderful to look at and to play.

[Craig Stuntz]

I think Bloomfield's advice is good, but note that he said it's good to try to play without tonguing "for a while," for the reasons he stated. Eventually you should introduce tonguing back into your playing, but sparingly and in the "right" places, which I think is best learned by listening to good whistle players to see what they do.

Yes, I (a beginning whistler) have found this incredibly helpful. It makes fingering and blowing mistakes really stand out and makes you think about when tonguing might improve your performance — which is hard if you start by tonguing every note.

[anniemcu]

I think Bloomfield's advice is good, but note that he said it's good to try to play without tonguing "for a while," for the reasons he stated. Eventually you should introduce tonguing back into your playing, but sparingly and in the "right" places, which I think is best learned by listening to good whistle players to see what they do.

Yes, I (a beginning whistler) have found this incredibly helpful. It makes fingering and blowing mistakes really stand out and makes you think about when tonguing might improve your performance — which is hard if you start by tonguing every note.

I don't think there has ever been any arument *for* tonguing every note. Moderation (not necessarily moderator ) is the rule. Most anything can be good in small doses.

[Craig Stuntz]

I don't think there has ever been any arument *for* tonguing every note.

Right; people don't usually argue for this, they just sometimes do it without giving it much thought. (I did when I first picked up the whistle.) When you are just starting it actually sounds better since your fingering is so bad. That doesn't mean that you should do it, but it's easy to go down that road if someone doesn't tell you to "moderate."

[Bloomfield]

As I see it, if God hadn't wanted us to tongue while playing the whistle, he wouldn't have given us a tongue.

[Cynth]

Oh come now, did they have whistles when God invented tongues?

[bradhurley]

Oh come now, did they have whistles when God invented tongues?

No, but we had tongues when God invented whistles.

[Cynth]

Uh oh.

[dfernandez77]

Finally an answer to the age old question, "Which came first, the tongue or the whistle?"

[Whitmores75087]

Flauta, Your praise of Busman whistles sounds very sincere. It's nice to read that. I've seen posts here where I just know if my soul that the person posting the praise is either realated in some way, or is one and the same person as the whistle maker.

I'm sure they are excellent. I wish I could afford one.

On topic: I found it very hard to quit tongueing. Now that I've quit I usually don't do any of it except on one Carolan piece (Receipt for Drinking). I can't imagine how hard it would be to quit after learning recorder. I play with ear plugs in. When it's quiet around me I can hear something happending (unintentionally) in my throat on about 10% to 30% of notes, the ones I would have been naturally inclinded to tongue. It gives a tiny amount of percussive intro to the note, probably unnoticed by listerners. I wouldn't notice it myself if it were'n for the ear plugs.

[RonKiley]

I played a Maple Busman recently. It is a beautiful whistle in every respect. I believe tongueing is not wrong but it is easy to overdo.

Ron

[Tommy]

A few months ago I begin playing whistle with the praise band at my church. I tried playing with and with out tounging and they said to keep on playing with out that sounded better. But I have a question about consecutive notes. As an example the tune Roddy Mccorley has three 1/4 D,s in the sixth and tenth measure. play as three beats- tongue-control with throat-or other?................

[Bloomfield]

A few months ago I begin playing whistle with the praise band at my church. I tried playing with and with out tounging and they said to keep on playing with out that sounded better. But I have a question about consecutive notes. As an example the tune Roddy Mccorley has three 1/4 D,s in the sixth and tenth measure. play as three beats- tongue-control with throat-or other?................

That particular tune is traditionally played only when the musicians are stark roaring drunk, to the point of being unable to play anything sensible. That precludes the nicer forms of ornamentation, as well as artistic subtlety. I therefore recommend tonguing those three notes. It is unlikely to matter, however, since you will not be audible next to drunk singer and the even drunker middle-aged men in the audience who are singing along. Unless you play a Susato, that is.

[Farrell]

I never really took to tonguing. I guess I'll give it a try.

[Tommy]

Well then I will put that tune aside till I Susato again. There it is another name of a tune.