Monthly Updates are Due from Newbies

[mutepointe]

1. Can you still make that awful squawking sound?
2. How do you feel about your music?
3. How do the members of your family (including pets) feel about your music?
4. How do members of the public feel about your music?
5. What is your current goal?
6. Have you had or caused any accidents, injuries, or deaths with your whistles playing?
7. Have you caused any goodness with your whistle playing?
8. Have there been any incidents of playing Non-ITM music?

[CrazedHavoc]

Well, if we are to update here:

1. No, i can no longer make the awful squwaking sound... I see it as a good thing.
2. I feel great about my music, i'm improving every day, imo.
3. My boyfriend doesn't mind my practicing, he says when i play it nearly lulls him to sleep.
4. Just played for my Mom, Grandma and random friend of mine, they all said i'm doing very well. My mom asked me how i learned how to play the whistle that quick. (not in speed, but time)
5. Current goal?? um... to be able to put different ornamentations in the three tunes i can play. I don't vary it up much yet.
6. To my knowledge, i have caused no accidents, injuries or deaths in my whistle playing.
7. Caused any goodness?? Not sure what that means, but um... i like my playing.. and everyone else seems to... maybe except my downstairs neighbors because i just practice and practice the same things over again.
8. There have been incidents of playing Non - ITM music, but mainly because i've played flute for ten years... it's more of a curiosity to see what a whistle sounds like playing things i've played on flute.

[MandoMark]

1. If I really lean into it.
2. Generally good. It's OTHER people's music (and my attempts to play it) that I feel bad about
3. Wife, pretty good. The dog is OK, but when I pick up the Burke, any cats in sight suddenly remember something pressing to check on in another room
4. I played at my monthly session 4 weeks ago and nobody hit me
5. Learn every tune. Well, maybe a new one each week
6. So far casualties have been minimal. Does nausea count?
7. I'm still working on a whistle break for Iron Maiden's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner..."

[Killaloe]

Ok here is goes

1)If I really puff the old cheeks I can make it squawk like a parrot. I too see this as a good thing.
2)Not to bad about the music. I can belt out Mary had a little lamb and Twinkle Twinkle little star with out a miss. Seriously, I can play the Silver Spear in 4/4 time with out a miss and the Stitches full of mittens with out squeaking.
3)Wife looks at me like I am crazy. Tells me "You're going to play that in public one day". Dog is old and going deaf (probaly a good thing) and the cat doesn't like the second octave at all and prombtly leaves the room.
4)My neighbors look at me strangely but they think its neat. I haven't unveiled my new "talent" to any one out side the family or public yet.
5)My current goal is to change octaves effortlessly and to be able to make it through a fast reel with out messing up the fingerings.
6)Yes like I said before the wife has me practice in my office, which I like it in there.
7) I started out playing Twinkle little star and Mary had a little lamb. But now I am practicing Reels and Jigs. Oh and I love the "Soldiers Song" one of my favorites.

[solo]

I always practice whenever i can but when i try and play an high note the dog and cat run hell for leather out of the room as if their backside is on fire! Things can't get any worse, can they lol

[john17]

1. I wish I could say no, but unfortunately I can. Especially when I try second octave crans. Also currently learning on my new MacNeil low D so the squeaks and squawks are still being worked out.

2. I now know about 8 songs by heart, and can play about 3-4 of them competently, but need to work on timing.

3. Wife is supportive, 9 year old son admits it bothers his ears (high whistle, not low whistle), 6 year old likes it. Second octave makes the cats nervous like there is some ferocious bird of prey in the room about to eat them.

4. I haven't officially unleashed my awesome mediocrity on the public yet, however it was cute when I was playing the low D and turned to find 5 little faces pressed against the screen in my family room window. It was some of the neighborhood kids who heard the music from outside. The good thing is they were all smiling and almost in unison they said "Wow! You're good!". You gotta love the untrained ear of children.

5. I have several goals. First, I'd like to learn how to play by ear rather than read music as I currently do. Especially for jigs and reels (which I can't get a handle on). I find that reading the music really causes me to lose the rhythm of the tune and because of that I find it almost invariably sounds nothing like it should. Much frustration ensues. I also believe I need to stop thinking so much. It's kind of like reading a book I guess. If you focus on each word, your reading slows down considerably, but if you just "let it happen" it picks up in pace and flows more evenly. In other words I just need to feel the music and not try to control it so much. Make sense? Second goal is to not be so gosh-darn nervous plaing in front of other people.

6. Playing whistle? No. Making whistles? Holy Moly, yes! Let's see, I won't go into detail here (unless you ask me too), but essentially my foray into making whistles cost me 3 stitches in my left, middle finger, and I almost burned my house down. I was lucky in that I only got some wax burns on my forehead and spent a good amount of time over the course of a week scraping little spatterings of wax off many surfaces in my kitchen. Good news is I did make a couple nice whistles. My wife ended my whistle making career though.

7. I guess when I got my low D I was trying out some Slow Airs for my wife and she said it really relaxed her. Yay!

8. I primarily stick to Trad, but being in my church choir, I toyed with the idea of playing some accompaniment. So I've tried out a few hymns.

[Grexrell]

1. Can you still make that awful squawking sound?

If I want to yes, I'm practicing with sending notes to the point just before it fully breaks into the octaves, for effect. I don't do it accidently anymore however. Not even in the second octave

2. How do you feel about your music?

I like it, especially Airs. I find them easier to learn, and after its memorized I find it enjoyable to start relearning it with added emotion and effect.

3. How do the members of your family (including pets) feel about your music?

I don't feel obligated to practice in another room anymore. I don't get any complaints, especially now that I have a Low D whistle to practice on.

4. How do members of the public feel about your music?

Play for friends of the family, they seemed impressed.

5. What is your current goal?

Goals. I can currently play for a half hour straight from memorized tunes without repeating a tune, but I like to upgrade the tune list from containing some of the baby step tunes I've learned to more complex ones. Learn a new tune a week, Minimum. I can do and add cuts without thinking, but I have to finish learn strikes, rolls etc..

6. Have you had or caused any accidents, injuries, or deaths with your whistles playing?

Practiced second and third octaves on High D whistle. My ears rang for quite a while

7. Have you caused any goodness with your whistle playing?

My sister is looking at learning instruments herself. That count? (Although not the whistle. Kantele, Guitar. Fine by me, I could use backup )

8. Have there been any incidents of playing Non-ITM music?

Definitely. If I can keep it in my head and it'll fit on a diatonic instrument, then I'll play it. Why not? Hymns sound good on it as well.

[CelticHarpie]

1. No! Squawk free since May 2008!

2. I got a compliment from my whistle teacher the other day, so I'm feeling mighty good.

3. My dogs have gone from mildly annoyed to mildly interested.

4. I'll find out on October 4th when I play at the Irish Festival in Phoenix with other whistle students.

5. To record some whistle tunes on my Mac and feel confident enough to post for you lot to critique.

6. Not yet... but the day is young!

7. I'm enjoying it. That's all I can ask for, really.

8. I'm sure tomorrow morning there'll be a little "Go U Northwestern" as I watch my beloved Northwestern Wildcats take on the Orange of Syracuse. College football season is here! Hurrah!

[Madpiper]

Still no whistle yet, so no on all accounts lol.

[mutepointe]

Still no whistle yet, so no on all accounts lol.

Your end of the year evaluation is not looking too good.

[deisman]

Wow - you guys are strict....

1. Can you still make that awful squawking sound? ...Only on my feadog ; )
2. How do you feel about your music? ...love Irish Trad & learning these neat old tunes.
3. How do the members of your family (including pets) feel about your music? ...cat hangs with me, dog leaves the room, kids leave the room, wife leaves the room but tells me she likes it (that's the love part)
4. How do members of the public feel about your music? ...actually got a random compliment tonight while playing Lord Mayo's March while stuck in traffic... guess that's a positive
5. What is your current goal? learn more tunes & get better on the ones I know & get a teacher to guide me (about 10 tunes I can play to date)
6. Have you had or caused any accidents, injuries, or deaths with your whistles playing? No convictions your honor!
7. Have you caused any goodness with your whistle playing? Sure - music is one path to enlightenment don't you know.
8. Have there been any incidents of playing Non-ITM music? Absolutely. The theme song from the old Alfred Hitchcock tv show is highly recommended for whistlers.

[Ronnie]

1. Can you still make that awful squawking sound?
---Yes, but so can every-one if they put their mind into it

2. How do you feel about your music?
---Sometimes after playing ten times the tune and still not right I can get fed up for that moment but otherwise I can bare it!
3. How do the members of your family (including pets) feel about your music?
---Most of the time they are O.K. with it, but I see sometimes a frown and than I put the whistle away or play in the hall.
4. How do members of the public feel about your music?
---They are very supportive all the way but don't hear the flaws and mistakes that I hear.
5. What is your current goal?
--- Relaxed playing at sessions.
6. Have you had or caused any accidents, injuries, or deaths with your whistles playing?
---No, but I know that the neighbours have their doubts.
7. Have you caused any goodness with your whistle playing?
---Yes, and I think everybody who plays an instrument does.
8. Have there been any incidents of playing Non-ITM music?
---I only play IT
The best!
Ron

[Mick Down Under]

1. On the high d?! rarely. On the Low D?! Only when it comes to B1,2&3 moving off and then having to return to the finger holes.

2. Honestly?! A little bored with it. This will be explained in answer 3 & 5.

3. Wife is sick of the same 3 tunes or ornamentation practice, The dog loves me regardless, my youngest daughter (10 weeks old) cries and my eldest daughter (2 years) runs to grab her toy guitar to play along with her 'Yabby' (Daddy).

4. I got a round of applause once when I was caught practising the Braveheart theme song in a secluded but public area outside of my work place once. I didn't know anyone was there, but about 10 people had gathered just back of and beside me to listen.

5. To find the time to memorise more than 3 tunes. It seems like any time I want to practice I've either got to go to work (part time worker, full time dad) or one of the kids is asleep (they usually sleep in shifts one after the other so as to ensure I get no practise time, or sleep to myself), Or I want to sleep and am too tired to want to practise, or it is too late at night to practise and the wife is asleep...God! why do these people have to sleep all the time?!

6. Not to my knowledge, but if my eldest keeps on running off with one of my whistles shoved in her mouth, blowing it into the third octave C, I'm sure somethings bound to happen...

7. See answer 4. I believe they honestly got pleasure from my playing.

8. In short, yes. I only know one ITM off by heart. I know lots of songs if I have the music in front of me though.


Mick

[TravM63]

1) I CAN but why should I? The low D is another animal altogether (< 1 week with it)

2) Pretty good, but I need more (IT) tunes. (I don't think Bach's Two Part Invention #13 counts...)

3) I've taken requests . (the pets haven't said anything yet). I hear some of the tunes being hummed around the house.

4) "Sounds like Lord of the Rings" was one comment (ok it was 'Concerning Hobbits on the Clarke). Positive for the most part. Witnessed another individual start swaying and bopping... I don't think it was a seizure.

5) To have enough tunes (and some faster ones) down to play at the STL Ren Faire next May. Also more whistles (and maybe the flute).

6) The dog had an accident with the whistles in the same room, but I think it was more to blame on the thunderstorm.

7) Hmmm... indirectly this was a reason we went to an Irish Festival (Erin Feis in Peoria) - so yes. Also see #3.

Several. But then I've played piano for >40 years, so it's inevitable. I do, however, have a 'new' fascination and 'study' (obsession) of/with ITM.

[charlie_butterworth]

1. Can you still make that awful squawking sound?

Of course I can, depending upon what whistle I use and if I want to make our dogs howl!

2. How do you feel about your music?

I am feeling really good about it. I can play a few jigs, but am also learning some slower tunes taught by my teacher at the Arizona Irish Cultural Center. Lessons make the biggest difference.

3. How do the members of your family (including pets) feel about your music?

My dogs do sometimes begin to howl, which in turn makes me howl with laughter. In the last few weeks, I have noticed that when I play, my 18 month old son goes finds his Feadog and sits next to me. He can now blow the thing and get a note.

4. How do members of the public feel about your music?

While camping in the Colorado Rockies earlier this summer, I was asked to do a small recital for our campground neighbors.

5. What is your current goal?

Well, we have an Irish festival in early October. CelticHarpie has already mentioned this. A few of us will be performing a set of Welsh dance tunes accompanied by fiddlers and bodhran players (I think). I'll be nervous but will undoubtedly survive. I used to get terrified whenever I had to perform classical guitar in public, but somehow I feel as if I can more easily tune out nerves with the whistle - maybe it just feels more natural to me.

6. Have you had or caused any accidents, injuries, or deaths with your whistles playing?

I expect that my family are now significantly deaf at certain frequencies!!!

7. Have you caused any goodness with your whistle playing?

Not yet, I haven't put myself in a situation where I can put the fear of deaf into anyone yet in an act for the greater good.

8. Have there been any incidents of playing Non-ITM music?

To date, NO. But I do want to learn some Christmas carols in time for Christmas.

On another note, CelticHarpie let me demo her new Burke DBST last Monday. WOW. Talk about an object of desire! My other whistles are good and I have quite a few including an off-the-shelf Generation D sent to me by Peter Laban, which plays very well (IMHO). But the new Burke - it looks stunning, sounds amazing smooth and feels great in the hands. I am eagerly awaiting early November when I will be allowed to buy one of my very own. Incidentally, the new Burke could also serve as a pretty decent cudgel if cornered in a narrow dark alleyway - it is pretty hefty!

Charlie