Newb Help

pandabean · Post by **pandabean** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 9:05 am

I have been looking for a whistle for sometime, i had no idea there was a whistle and always thought it was some kind of small flute.

But anyways I recently listend to a song called Inner Light from Star Trek and it got my interest back. I was wondering what sort of price (in £) and what type of whistle would be best for a beginner?

Also is there any good guides as to how to play?

Thanks

Jetboy · Post by **Jetboy** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 9:26 am

Hi, and welcome to the Board. May God have mercy on your soul for what you have done! Coz nobody else will.

There are as many opinions as to what is the best whistle as there are whistle players so for what it is worth..... Clarke.

Cheap, cheerful, forgiving and nice sounding instruments. I learned on one (several actually) and despite now being a whistlesmith in metal and wood, I still return to my trusty Clarke occasionally.

Any good music shop will stock a range of Clarkes, from the entry level Sweet Tone through to the Black and the Original. You could also go fro a Generation. These are oft regarded as one of the best and many of the best players still use them.

You will get a Clarke for less than fiver. Generations are usually a bit more.

As far as guides go, I used Peter Pickow's book and CD. Pretty good, my only criticism wa sthat the only recorded versions of the tunes were the heavilly ornamented versions. For a true beginner, this can be a bit offputting as the ornamentation should only come after the melody has been mastered. A slow and basic recording alongside woul have been better. In my humble opinion. Secondly, there is no substitute for a tutor. A real live, living, breathing one who knows his/her way around the instrument

Good luck

pandabean · Post by **pandabean** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 10:02 am

*makes the thread invisible so no one else sees what I have done*

Sorry for that.

Is learning to play quite easy or is it quite hard. Like for example hard as a piano with all the keys and fingering (still cant play the damn thing lol).

amar · Post by **amar** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 10:07 am

in my opinion there is no easier instrument in the world than a tinwhistle. period. a beginner can pick up a whistle and play a nursery rhyme, you can't do that with any other instrument. (i think).
but if you wanna be really good, well, that takes lots of practise, as with any instrument.

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:31 am

amar wrote:in my opinion there is no easier instrument in the world than a tinwhistle. period. a beginner can pick up a whistle and play a nursery rhyme, you can't do that with any other instrument. (i think).

Actually, I did this both with the piano and the fiddle. It was the "making both hands do two completely different things" part of piano playing that eventually put me off after about a couple of years of lessons.

By the time I took up the fiddle, I had already been playing the whistle nearly a decade...so every time I picked up the fiddle, I'd think to myself "you know, I could be improving my whistle playing right now"..

amar wrote: but if you wanna be really good, well, that takes lots of practise, as with any instrument.

True enough...or, you could just shy away from irish music affecionados. Even relatively mediocre playing is usually looked upon as quite wonderous by the unwashed masses....believe me, I speak from experience

Jetboy · Post by **Jetboy** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:48 am

[quote="pandabean
Is learning to play quite easy or is it quite hard. Like for example hard as a piano with all the keys and fingering (still cant play the damn thing lol).[/quote]

If you have an ear for the music, an understanding of what you are trying to get your fingers to do and lot and lots and lots and lots and lots of patience, yeah, its quite easy!

trisha · Post by **trisha** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:59 am

Hi there from a Scot in Wales...I will disagree with Jetboy here. I disliked the Clarke and gave mine away. You have to like the strange shape of the mouthpiece and the raw wooden unshaped block.

Strangely perhaps, the Sweetone might suit. From the Clarke stable and mostly in tractor bright colours (plain is available too), the mouthpiece is comfortable, it has character, plays in tune and is cheap. Well, most do.

Have a look at the Big Whistle site in the UK....loads to choose from and tutor books and CDs too and Phil's brilliant to deal with. Come back with your short list

.

Trisha

Edited to avoid confusion

pandabean · Post by **pandabean** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 1:36 pm

Thanks guys. Still dont know what to get, I was thinking a D of some kind.

trisha · Post by **trisha** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 3:13 pm

The Clarke original - conical, simple wood block, and the Sweetone are high D whistles. Most people do start on a high D. The cheapies do vary in quality which is a drag as it's hard to know whether it's you or the whistle

having the trouble!

Avoid the plastic packs and books sets in the music shops. There's often a stand of Feadog, another of Generations - nickel (brighter) and brass (mellower), maybe a box of Sweetones. All these are metal with plastic mouthpieces. All inexpensive....get a couple and get a feel for the things.
musicroom.com are useful for tutor books or bigwhistle.com - both in the UK with excellent service.

If you want to treat yourself to a really good second whistle (or first!), set aside around £50 for an Alba high D Q1 whistle. Alba are in Scotland, have a great website and great whistles..search for Alba whistles, and you can buy online.

Trisha

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 4:09 pm

I'd advise against the Clarke original for a beginner--requires lots of air.

In the UK, http://www.bigwhistle.co.uk/shop_result ... 7&search=1 has quite a few, including the Alba Q1, the O'Briain Improved high D, and a whole series of the Jerry Freeman-tweaked whistles in D (Generation [brass and nickel], Walton Mellow D, Shaw, and Sweetone [in black and natural]), any of which should provide a good experience for a beginner. There are about 10 pages in the listing, so just keep clicking the "next" link at the bottom of the page.

Sure, you can pay less, but its a crapshoot, and I've always thought it worthwhile to pay a bit more to avoid pain and suffering. At least four of my cheaper whistles were less than satisfying to play until I'd spent quite a bit more effort (and money) on modifying them. If I'd known when I started what I know now, I'd have skipped all those in the first place and gone right for the good stuff.

DCrom · Post by **DCrom** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 4:36 pm

Darwin wrote:Sure, you can pay less, but its a crapshoot, and I've always thought it worthwhile to pay a bit more to avoid pain and suffering. At least four of my cheaper whistles were less than satisfying to play until I'd spent quite a bit more effort (and money) on modifying them. If I'd known when I started what I know now, I'd have skipped all those in the first place and gone right for the good stuff.

I can't really argue with that - except that as I get better, I'm actually getting fonder of some (not all) of my cheap whistles. Because once you've got the skill to evaluate them and tweak them as needed, you can get a LOT of whistle for very little money.

I've been lucky - I haven't had a Generation yet I couldn't tweak into being a decent player, and a couple of them (a nickel Eb and a tweaked brass D) are as good as any whistle I've played.

Unfortunately, this leads to the odd circumstance that a beginner may need to spend more money than a more experienced player to get a whistle that suits his needs.

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 4:57 pm

DCrom wrote:I can't really argue with that - except that as I get better, I'm actually getting fonder of some (not all) of my cheap whistles. Because once you've got the skill to evaluate them and tweak them as needed, you can get a LOT of whistle for very little money.

I've been lucky - I haven't had a Generation yet I couldn't tweak into being a decent player, and a couple of them (a nickel Eb and a tweaked brass D) are as good as any whistle I've played.

Unfortunately, this leads to the odd circumstance that a beginner may need to spend more money than a more experienced player to get a whistle that suits his needs.

It depends on how you define "needs", then, doesn't it? A beginner needs something that doesn't interfere with learning all the other stuff--like how to play the bling-blanged thing.

Also, if a person experiences only bad whistles, there's no way to know what's possible from a good whistle. If I had bought my Feadog in a music shop and never known about C&F, it would have ended up in the bottom of a drawer somewhere, and I would have ended my whistling career believing that tin whistles really are just junky little toys.

In fact, it was seeing the Abell and Copelands at http://www.tinwhistler.net/tin-whistle.htm (where I had gone looking for info on batteries for my digital camera) that took me beyond the casual interest I'd always had from seeing shrink-wrapped Gens in a local music store. First, it told me that they were not necessarily toys. Then, it led me to C&F and on to WhOA.

jsluder · Post by **jsluder** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 5:13 pm

Darwin wrote:Also, if a person experiences only bad whistles, there's no way to know what's possible from a good whistle.

Yep. My first whistle was a rolled-tin whistle (with a wooden fipple plug) made by hand in Colonial Williamsburg (a "historical" tourist trap in Virginia, USA). That whistle convinced me that I couldn't play, and I didn't try again (with a better whistle) for nearly a decade. All that wasted practice time...

I gave that whistle to Jerry earlier this year (for experimentation), and I never want to see it again.

Back to the original topic: For starting out without a huge investment, I would recommend getting a Jerry Freeman tweaked Generation or Clarke Sweetone.

Cheers,
John

DCrom · Post by **DCrom** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 5:15 pm

Oh, I totally agree with you, Darwin. The last thing a beginner needs is an unreliable instrument.

The first whistle I tried to learn on was a very bad Walton's standard bore - squeaks, squawks, out of tune - nearly unplayable. Once I got a couple of Feadogs and Sweetones, I happily abandoned it - it made a world of difference not to have to fight the whistle.

Later, I tried tweaking the Walton's - after a lot of tweaking it's gone from unplayable to so/so. I can play it, but would rather not. But several nearly-unplayable Generations have been tweaked enough they are now very, very good whistles.

About the only cheap whistle I feel comfortable recommending to newbies is the Sweetone D - they seem to have decent quality control, and no particular bad habits to compensate for.

But much as I may like the more expensive whistles, I know that I can spend no more than 10 dollars and get at least one, possibly two, very good whistles (after tweaking). And there are times and tunes where I actually prefer the sound of a good cheap whistle over its more expensive brethren.

pandabean · Post by **pandabean** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 4:36 am

Hmmm. Im not looking to spend much on a whistle maybe under £10 probably because if I dont enjoy playing it or can't play then its not a waste of money.

I had a look at Big Whistle.co.uk and couldnt see a sweetone.

I also noticed a couple people saying that you can tune them but how would I know its tuned to the correct note.

I just found my old recorder from Primary school and tried a few notes on it. God it sounded worse than cats screeching combined with someone scratching long nails down a blackboard. Is this how its going to be witha whistle?