A few beginner's questions

[Jason Paul]

I've only been playing the whistle a little over a month, and I think I'm taking to it pretty well. I've been a bit musically inclined my whole life. I'm not particularly good at any instrument, just can play a few things on the piano and got fairly decent on the guitar (blues). Point is, I have a fair ear.

I started with a Sweetone D and a Feadog D. The Sweetone was noticeably easier to play in the beginning, but lately I've been playing the Feadog more often than the Sweetone.

My only training has been the online whistle training sites - Brother Steve's, Whistletutor, Whistle Workshop, and a few others including these forums of course.

Anyway, to get to the point, within a couple of weeks I was familiar enough with the whistle to be able to pick out familiar tunes (lots of Christmas carols for some reason). Now, a few weeks further in, I'm focusing on trying to put more feeling and character into the music with breath control and ornamentation.

Mind you, I'm only playing tunes familiar to me, and have learned only a couple of slow airs (Down by Sally Gardens and Foggy Dew). I'm not even close to trying to learn a jig or reel yet. I'm not really focusing on ITM, but I'm trying to listen to it here and there.

Am I good? Of course not. However, within a month I was able to play several songs that are recognizable, and sound to the average person like I at least had a clue about playing the whistle.

When I got familar enough with the whistle that I was able to play fairly comfortably in both octaves without squeaking and squawking, that's when it became enjoyable. That's when I felt like I could make some semblance of music rather than just noise. This probably took less than a week on the Sweetone, but 3-4 weeks on the Feadog.

It's going to be a long time I'm sure before I'm any good, if I even get "good". But now that I'm past that noisy stage of awkwardness and unfamiliarity, I'm beginning to enjoy the journey.

Sorry for the long post - a bit bored this Saturday night.

Jason

[Lambchop]

I think the most difficult thing is that I have no point where to start at. Just my whistle, my book and the CD. Too bad we don't have any sessions here in Switzerland, or anything like that. I feel like the only swiss whistle player around

Nooooo! You're NOT the only Swiss whistle player!

There's another in Basel. And I'm sure he'd be here to help you, but he's probably not gotten in from his Saturday evening yet.

He will be THRILLED to know you! Really a nice guy! The best! I'm sure he'll be motoring on over to Zurich first thing in the morning to help you personally! Seriously. I mean that.

You can PM him . . . "Amar." He might miss this thread, so you might want to just take the plunge and introduce yourself directly.

[amar]

Thanks for the kind words, lamby!

Hey dude!!
Nice to see another Swiss whistler, eventhough you're from Zürich. hahaha... (just a little insider joke there, pay no attention everybody else... )

Well, I started about 4 years ago and I still consider myself a beginner..but then again, I compare myself to Brian Finnegan and Mike McGoldrick...
but seriously, I believe there is no instrument around easier for a beginner, you can instantly play easy tunes without ever having done so before, like nursery rhymes and the like. You must take it from there, listen to a whole lot of good trad, or trad-like, music and just practice as often as it still remains fun and doesn't become annoying. This way progress is inevitable.
And yes, there are sessions in Switzerland, and I'd be surprised if there weren't any in Züri. Check out this site, it might help you:

http://www.irishfolk.ch/index.html

Stick around here, there is no better place where you will learn more about whistles! ok, and a whole lot of other stuff..
Feel free to contact me about any aspect, if I can help, I will.
Best, Amar.

[LexAnder]

Bill and Andy, I can understand both of you. That's why I'm going to take a look at both sides... I guess everything has a good and a bad side.

Cynth, I like the idea of playing with someone else. My Father is actually playing Piano, and my sister learned to play Flute a while ago. So maybe I can get some help from both of them. And if I'm lucky too, I'l get the chance to visit a session around here - I'm checking that with amar right now.

Denny, thanks for the link.

Jason, long posts are always welcome
It's good to see the progress you've made, I think that helps a lot too. And that's probably what I'm going to say in a few weeks too. But that's really not bad for a month of work, you really seem to enjoy what you're doing!

Lamb, thanks... And I guess you were right, he wasn't home yet

Thanks for the site Amar, I've already sent you a PM, but I think you've seen that already. Looking forward to get to know some swiss players!

[greg]

i just started playing about 2 months ago ican play about 10 songs by heart ive focused on the slow airs because like them and there easier to play but i also put time in on the faster stuff because i want to make sure i keed making headway the addition of a low whistle really upped the enjoyment [hoover low g] and wasnt that hard to adjust to i asked the same question a while ago and i think what your after is how long until you can make pleasing music with it ,and thats not yery long.the nice thing about whistles if you start to get bored you can always buy another one by the way where in switzerland are you i spent alot of time around andermatt

[chrisoff]

I've been playing guitar for over a year now, and still haven't reached a satisfying level.

Hi,

I've been playing guitar (mainly rock) for 11 years and am still far from satisfied with what I can do. After a year you are just starting your musical journey, one which never really ends. There's always new techniques to learn, new styles to try and new melodies to write!

I've just bought my first whistle last week (a Clarke D gift set with the BIll Ochs tutorial book) and am looking forward to learning a completely new style of instrument and experiencing music from a completely different direction.

My advice (for any instrument) is to not get disheartened. There always comes a time early on when frustration seems to outweigh the satisfaction of playing an instrument. But this is just one plateau that you'll soon overcome with patience. Just remember that the only way to get good at any instrument is to play it! And have fun.

[HeronMark]

My advice (for any instrument) is to not get disheartened.

That is exaclty right, ive played guitar for about 8 years and i never think i play a song perfectly. perfect music is boring anyhow. but that is a different subject.
just stay with it and have fun with it. ive only been playing whistle for a few months, so i hardly have a huge library of songs, but i play for fun anyway. just enjoy and if you get upset, put it down and listen to a Celtic CD...
welcome to whisteling and enjoy it

[Henkersbraut]

So here I am again. Thought I'd have another go at this pennywhistling thing, but impatience is really killing me... The downsides to being a perfectionist is trying to learn something new!

I'm basically trawling the digitrad archives, looking for nice songs that I already know and that don't seem too hard. Just to get me started off with a couple of songs and to build up a wee success rate so I don't give up too easily.