great beginner for kids

pipersgrip · Post by **pipersgrip** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 6:31 pm

a child wants to learn whistle, and his birthday is coming up. i am going to get him a whistle and book/cd for beginner. i am thinking about feadog's pack, is there a better one to teach a 6 year old?

scottkent · Post by **scottkent** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:21 pm

The Whistle Collector wrote:a child wants to learn whistle, and his birthday is coming up. i am going to get him a whistle and book/cd for beginner. i am thinking about feadog's pack, is there a better one to teach a 6 year old?

Feadog pack is a great starter but the music is a bit advanced. Get it and then print out some of the songs with tablature from http://www.guitarnut.com/folktablature/ and http://www.geocities.com/whistleandsqueak/. You can find great songs like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and My Country Tis of Thee. Whistle and Squeak has several good folk songs for kids. Make a little music folder for the tyke.

pipersgrip · Post by **pipersgrip** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:07 pm

thank you very much, that is great.

scottkent · Post by **scottkent** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:49 pm

Oh...I forgot to mention the Walton packs. I think they are the easiest and have some great tunes in the books. Waltons makes an Irish set, but the American whistle set might be more age appropriate and will probably have several tunes they will know. You can find them at our friend Amazon.com (do I get bonus points for cross-thread tie-ins?).

Feadoggie · Post by **Feadoggie** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 11:32 am

TWC,

I have found the Clarke Sweetone (or Meg) to be easier on little hands than some other whistles. The holes are a bit smaller and easier for little fingers to seal. The Clarke tinwhistle tutor with the CD is also a decent introduction tunes.

But the tutor is no substitute for one-on-one instruction. Start with simple nursery rhyme tunes, things a six year old knows and can sing already. Keep things light hearted and take it from there.

Feadoggie

scottkent · Post by **scottkent** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 12:22 pm

Feadoggie wrote:TWC,

I have found the Clarke Sweetone (or Meg) to be easier on little hands than some other whistles. The holes are a bit smaller and easier for little fingers to seal. The Clarke tinwhistle tutor with the CD is also a decent introduction tunes.

But the tutor is no substitute for one-on-one instruction. Start with simple nursery rhyme tunes, things a six year old knows and can sing already. Keep things light hearted and take it from there.

Feadoggie

Good points. As a matter of fact, my 9 year old won't even look at any of the music books (he does know how to read music in a limited fashion) but he will follow along a song that I play and learn it in just a few minutes.

crookedtune · Post by **crookedtune** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 2:30 pm

I envy you all. At 6, 9, and probably 18, my sons would have been more likely to convert a whistle into some form of weapon than to express themselves artistically with it. One eventually found his muse, but he's a mando player.

pipersgrip · Post by **pipersgrip** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 5:35 pm

crookedtune wrote:I envy you all. At 6, 9, and probably 18, my sons would have been more likely to convert a whistle into some form of weapon than to express themselves artistically with it. One eventually found his muse, but he's a mando player.

that is how i was when i was younger, started playing when i was older. does the walton's pack have a finger follow chart like the feadog pack?

Steamwalker · Post by **Steamwalker** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 5:47 pm

Aye, the Walton pack does including fingering on all the songs. I refer to that book the most of the ones I have. Feardog is good but the Walton format seems easier to learn. Besides, I love listening to that CD, especially Drowsy Maggie.

cavefish · Post by **cavefish** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 6:17 pm

any clarke is better than a feadog

pipersgrip · Post by **pipersgrip** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 7:17 pm

just ordered the waltons pack with cd, thanks for the advice and help

scottkent · Post by **scottkent** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 9:03 pm

Steamwalker wrote:Aye, the Walton pack does including fingering on all the songs. I refer to that book the most of the ones I have. Feardog is good but the Walton format seems easier to learn. Besides, I love listening to that CD, especially Drowsy Maggie.

I know what you mean. I got the Guinness pack (off of Ebay...cheap) and that CD that comes with it (and with the Irish pack) is worth the price alone. I imagine the American pack is just as good, but don't know for sure. The Walton pack didn't have as many songs as the Feadog pack, but it had more that I was interested in playing. Here's the link to the American pack http://www.amazon.com/Waltons-American- ... 48&sr=1-14. It, the Scottish, and the Irish packs are 14.99 each with the CD. Not a bad deal. I'd get one for a relative and one for me and see if I qualified for Super Saver Shipping

.

Steamwalker · Post by **Steamwalker** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 9:10 pm

The one that I had was the Irish pack. It's nice to listen to the CD because it doesn't have any awkward cues and just plays like a CD of whistle songs. In fact, one of my guilty pleasures is listening to it on my iPod in bed until I fall asleep. Well, that's in lieu of having actual Irish whistle music to listen to. My favorite songs are the last two, The Harvest Home and Drowsy Maggie. Only wish I could play as well.

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