Wrong wording or or is it me

[Whistling Archer]

My post yesterday was probably too lenghty.
I will try again.
How would any suggest learning to get the sweet & consistent tone from a whistle?

yesterday 95 looks ,1 reply from the Guru.

is my anti- perspirant not working ? or is it just me

[hoopy mike]

practice

[Whistling Archer]

Yes, what I am trying to do is find a drill or something. I do practice.

[fearfaoin]

I'm still not entirely sure what your (perceived)
problem is. Is the tone you're already getting too
chiffy? Too pure? Out of Tune? When you get to
tone, it's hard to diagnose and advise, it may
require finding someone local who can listen and
give immediate feedback.


Though, have you tried playing from the front of
the mouth?

[Achill]

....and more practice, and more practice. Oh yeah, and more practice.
In your first post you mentioned "speed." Don't go there, that will happen in time. Make sure you are not overblowing, and don't overthink it too much...relax. Pay attention to your posture to allow good air flow. Relax. This is suppose to fun, remember!

Make sure the proper holes are successfully covered, sounds like a ridiculous thing to say, but when first starting out, it's a common error which affects tone.
Maybe practice going up and down the scale, holding each note for a 5 seconds or so? Again, no need to go fast. You may find that you shouldn't even attempt a tune, until you are comfortable with some of this stuff. I know, that can be boring...but the payoff down the road will be worth it.

[Whistling Archer]

Yes thank you,, I have changed to playing the whistle in center instead of off to side.
I am trying to get my breath consistent on a note. It seems some notes you have to blow into tune,, and I know I need to learn to blow it into tune & keep it exactly there. Thats what Im working on.
Currently , I am playing real slow and trying to get the notes to sound sweet , instead of harsh,, mixed results so far, a bit improvement.
I am willing & ready to do any drill, exercise whatwever to learn. Nobody locally Ive found.
I may be expecting too much too soon. But I hear you guys play ,, and want to play that way so badly.
I play other stuff , but to me the pennywhistle is the most beautiful instrument , {in the right hands} not mine
thanks for you reply
Steve

[Whistling Archer]

Achill
thank you, I will try that
Steve

[fearfaoin]

Hm. It's really hard to put this stuff into words,
but I'll try to give some general advice. You are
probably overblowing. I think 89% of whistle
problems stems from overblowing.

When you're in the lower octave, try thinking in
terms of breathing hot air into the whistle (not
blowing). You want slow, hot air, and it usually
only takes a steady breath to get a good sound.

When you're in the upper octave, think about a
steady stream of fast, cool air. You're not blowing
harder, you're blowing faster (and in the case of
the upper octave, it is more like blowing).

In both cases, you need to support the column
of air. This means thinking about your diaphragm.
If you've ever taking singing classes, you know
what this means. However, if you've never done
this before it might be hard to think about.
Imagine someone punches you in the stomach
with an uppercut. They would drive the air up &
out of you with an "ooof!" You want to achieve
this with your diaphragm, but slower and more
controlled. You are using your diaphragm muscle
to provide controlled pressure to the air.

A good demonstration might be to try singing a
note in your head without diaphragm support,
then singing it in your chest with support. You'll
notice how much better, fuller, and stronger the
supported note will sound. Same goes for any
wind instrument. You have to support the air.

Breath in without lifting your shoulders. Your
abdomen should inflate and deflate more than
your chest.


Another thing you'll just have to experiment with
yourself is angle of the whistle. Some whistles do
better with a very straight angle, some can handle
being held closer to the body. But you never want
to hold a whistle pointing straight at the ground,
because this causes you to hold your head such
that it closes off your windway. You want the air
to have an open path from diaphragm all the way
to the end of the whistle.

Look at how Benny Goodman holds the clarinet:


About a 45 degree angle from the ground, with his
chin only slightly pointed down. This is a good
starting point for finding your best whistle angle.


Yet another thing to try is changing the space in
your mouth. Hold a note (say, an F# in the lower
octave) then try dropping your jaw as much as you
can without loosing the seal of your lips around the
whistle. Then try slowly raising your jaw until you
are almost smiling. And then slowly drop it again.
Listen to how the tone changes as you do this.
Now try with an upper octave note (the difference
will probably be more pronounced).

Try doing the same with different positions of your
tongue. While holding a note, touch the tip your
tongue to the roof of your mouth as if you were
about to say "Na". Now take your tongue off the
roof and see what happens. Spread it out as if you
are about to say "Yee". Play with different mouth
and tongue positions. You might even want to try
going through the vowel positions of the mouth
with and without the whistle ("AY" "EE" "EYE" "Oh"
"You" "ah" "eh" "if" "uh", etc.)

(NOTE: All of the above should be done without a
tuner at first, just to listen to the changes, and
then with a tuner to see how the changes you
make affect the tuning of each note.)

[Whistling Archer]

Thank You!!!
I am printing this out & will start practicing it tonight.
Much thanks
Steve

[s1m0n]

My answer would be: play a lot, paying attention to when the sound pleases you and when it doesn't. Just that - you don't have to think consciously about how you're producing the sounds. Every so often you might get a eureka moment, and that's ok, but don't obsess about technique. Just be conscious of the sound you're producing. Do that enough, and your fingers and diaphragm will sort out the how, leaving you to concentrate on the music. You want to build the sound > ear connection without getting your conscious mind into the loop to slow things down.

It can be helpful to play into a wall or corner so that you're hearing your own sound bounce back, as the audience would. From the driver's side of the fipple you might not be getting the full picture.

[RonKiley]

I would suggest all of the above plus practice going up and down the scale but at random notes not just the next one in sequence, i.e. d to f# b to e etc. Record yourself playing and listen to yourself playing. Keep the mic as far away as possible. You are probably better than you think. Most people can't hear how they sound while they are playing. Just keep at it.

[fearfaoin]

Do that enough, and your fingers and diaphragm will sort out the how, leaving you to concentrate on the music. You want to build the sound > ear connection without getting your conscious mind into the loop to slow things down.

This is good advice. Teaching yourself a wind
instrument can be like playing a video game.
You have a certain goal and everytime you
fail to reach that goal, you get feedback and
adjust your finger movements accordingly.
Attempt -> Feedback -> Revision -> Repeat

It can be helpful to play into a wall or corner so that you're hearing your own sound bounce back, as the audience would. From the driver's side of the fipple you might not be getting the full picture.

That's a good idea. You definitely need accurate
feedback to make the correct adjustments.

[crookedtune]

Practice cuts and rolls. They're so beautiful, once you start to get them, that you'll find yourself pulling out good tones instinctively.

Also play tune snippets --- any few measures that catch your fancy, but not the whole tune. Play each one slowly, cleanly, and carefully, as many times though as you can stand to play it. Try to make it prettier each time. And then go on to the next. The habits you learn playing slowly will stick with you as you (later) start getting more up to speed.

I agree that the tone others hear may be much nicer than what you hear coming from yourself.

[brewerpaul]

In addition to all of the excellent advice already given, try playing LONG sustained notes. 5 seconds or more for each note. Think about keeping the note at the same pitch and volume without wavering. You can go up and down scales like this. Notice that the amount of breath needed for each note will be different from every other one.

[Whistling Archer]

Thank you all for your great advise!
I practiced it all last night ,, and I think I saw a bit improvement in tone. From harsh to a bit sweeter. That what I want. I will keep at it ,, and do a progress video in a week or so.
Much Thanks
Steve