RonKiley wrote:Isn't the whistle an interesting instrument, easy to play difficult to master. Relieves stress while simultaneously creating sress. They can be so cheap people think they are only toys or so expensive as to stagger the pocketbook.
Don't you just love them.
Ron
Not to be too contrarian, but proponents of every single musical instrument I've ever encountered have touted their particular instrument as "easy to play but difficult to master." Could it be that this is a trait of musical instruments in general, not just this one or that one in particular? (I leave aside, of course, those instruments that fall under the category of "difficult to play and all-but-impossible to master." )
And as to the notion of a whistle being "so expensive as to stagger the pocketbook," even the most expensive Copeland silver whistle barely costs more than a decent but far-from-excellent guitar -- and don't even think about how they would compare to any piano!
Unseen122 wrote:I totally agree. Once a person is decent at Flute it relives stress soooooo much more than Whistle ever did well that is for me any way.
I find the opposite to be true for myself. The flute is harder to hold. A whistle feels more comfy to me.
I think listeners tend to agree with you, however (my mum likes the Low D whistle the best though).
RonKiley wrote:Isn't the whistle an interesting instrument, easy to play difficult to master. Relieves stress while simultaneously creating sress. They can be so cheap people think they are only toys or so expensive as to stagger the pocketbook.
Don't you just love them.
Ron
Not to be too contrarian, but proponents of every single musical instrument I've ever encountered have touted their particular instrument as "easy to play but difficult to master." Could it be that this is a trait of musical instruments in general, not just this one or that one in particular? (I leave aside, of course, those instruments that fall under the category of "difficult to play and all-but-impossible to master." )
And as to the notion of a whistle being "so expensive as to stagger the pocketbook," even the most expensive Copeland silver whistle barely costs more than a decent but far-from-excellent guitar -- and don't even think about how they would compare to any piano!
I agree with both points.
Its easy to teach somebody a few chords on guitar that can have them playing along to 90 per cent of western music in no time. But to master the instrument a guitarist needs to play melodies with expression and phrasing, finger pick arpeggios, re-harmonise chords etc etc These things some can never do.
As to the cost of whistles I also agree. My daughter is 10 and just completed grade three violin. Her new violin for grade four cost £500, the bow £90. You could really hear the difference and extra expression the instrument can produce when spending this much money. Her next bow (before she gets to grade eight) will cost more than a Copeland (never mind the next violin). Some Orchestral players spend literally tens of thousands on a bow alone. (My wife was taught by a player who spent £30,000 or about $55,000 on one!) £300 for the best hand made whistle, or a Chinese factory plywood guitar?
"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Key_of_D wrote:....There's part of a tune from a band called Blackwood, (a local Irish group out here in Phoenix) that's called Fig For A Kiss.. The part that immediatly follows the beginning, I learned to play in about 10 minutes. .....
Fig For a Kiss is a traditional slip-jig, it's not a Blackwood composition. You'll likely find it played on tinwhistle only (which may be easier for you to learn from) on Clips 'n Snips, here:
I love the different perspectives we have on this board. To me a retiree a Copeland sterling silver whistle is beyond any possibility of owning. I have a Martin D28 that I bought for $450 when I was young and working. It replaced a Silvertone that I bought for $6. I certainly couldn't buy it now. was there a big difference between the two. You bet there was. But I can buy a whistle for $10 or less that sounds marvelous. The Copeland doesn't sound 75 times better. For me there is no difference between a $750 whistle and $30,000 bow. They are both beyond my capacity to purchase.
Yes all instruments are easy to play for those that can play them. I found the guitar to be very difficult and still do. I can't play a harmonica no matter what I do. The whistle is probably the easiest instrument to learn of all instruments.
RonKiley wrote:I love the different perspectives we have on this board. To me a retiree a Copeland sterling silver whistle is beyond any possibility of owning. I have a Martin D28 that I bought for $450 when I was young and working. It replaced a Silvertone that I bought for $6. I certainly couldn't buy it now. was there a big difference between the two. You bet there was. But I can buy a whistle for $10 or less that sounds marvelous. The Copeland doesn't sound 75 times better. For me there is no difference between a $750 whistle and $30,000 bow. They are both beyond my capacity to purchase.
Yes all instruments are easy to play for those that can play them. I found the guitar to be very difficult and still do. I can't play a harmonica no matter what I do. The whistle is probably the easiest instrument to learn of all instruments.
I love whistles. All of them.
Ron
Nice guitar the D28. I agree that, beyond a certain price bracket, there is a law of diminishing returns with instruments. You can double the price and get an instrument that’s only a little better. I’ve owned a £1800 Warwick bass, it was better built than my current £750 Fender, but over twice as good? - No way! Also I prefer the tone of the cheaper Fender.
As to my using violin bows as an example, they are somewhat misleading, certain bows by certain (now dead) makers, or bows played by great maestros, take on a value as investments totally divorced from their value as tools to make music. Similarly a 1960's Fender bass or guitar will sell for many thousands, a recent Fender Custom shop re-issue sells for a fraction, but in some cases is better built out of better wood.
"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Tell us something.: I've picked up the tinwhistle again after several years, and have recently purchased a Chieftain v5 from Kerry Whistles that I cannot wait to get (why can't we beam stuff yet, come on Captain Kirk, get me my Low D!)
Cynth wrote:I found playing the whistle to be very stressful.
Distress or Eustress??
If I really need to chill out, I'll usually grab my NAF and my Clarke original and head out to the mountains alone....usually I'll take a kettle for some tea or something too.
“First lesson: money is not wealth; Second lesson: experiences are more valuable than possessions; Third lesson: by the time you arrive at your goal it’s never what you imagined it would be so learn to enjoy the process” - unknown
Never thought about it really. Playing the whistle is just something I do. I've played it as long as I can remember (in fact longer than I can remember these days). Good times, bad times, stressed, unstressed, the whistle's always there. The tunes may change with mood but the whistle is a constant.
May the joy of music be ever thine.
(BTW, my name is John)
dyersituations wrote:The more you play and the better you get, the more stress-relieving it is - because after a while you can just get in the "zone" and crank out toons, and for me it can be greatly relaxing. I love music. :)
How long do you find it takes you to get in the zone? I know when I just get home from my long commute and try to play, I'm very tense and the tunes sound forced. I usually need to relax for a but before playing. I find that cooking helps. Chopping veggies and such.
perrins57 wrote:
As to my using violin bows as an example, they are somewhat misleading, certain bows by certain (now dead) makers, or bows played by great maestros, take on a value as investments totally divorced from their value as tools to make music. Similarly a 1960's Fender bass or guitar will sell for many thousands, a recent Fender Custom shop re-issue sells for a fraction, but in some cases is better built out of better wood.
The same is true for whistles as well. The most noted examples of this recently would be O'Riordans.
Someone sells a bow that probably cost only a few dollars to make in its day for $30,000 and noone blinks an eye.
Someone sells an O'Riordan for $350 that cost about half that when it was initially sold and it causes an uproar to rival a World War!!!
Go figger :roll:
Steven - IDAwHOa - Wood Rocks
"If you keep asking questions.... You keep getting answers." - Miss Frizzle - The Magic School Bus
Key_of_D wrote:....There's part of a tune from a band called Blackwood, (a local Irish group out here in Phoenix) that's called Fig For A Kiss.. The part that immediatly follows the beginning, I learned to play in about 10 minutes. .....
Fig For a Kiss is a traditional slip-jig, it's not a Blackwood composition. You'll likely find it played on tinwhistle only (which may be easier for you to learn from) on Clips 'n Snips, here:
I know Fig for a Kiss isn't a blackwood compostion, But on their cd, track one is called Fig for a Kiss.. The part I'm referring to playing, is the part that immediatly follows the introduction. I don't know which part is Fig for a kiss and that particular track, but I'm guessing it's the intro. The part I'm talking about is the part that immediately follows the intro.
)
"It might be a bit better to tune to one of my fiddle's open strings, like A, rather than asking me for an F#." - Martin Milner
