All the best whistle players I’ve ever met in person (in other words, not pros, just great local musicians) play the cheapies. The whistle is not easy which is why people keep trying to find the perfect one hoping it’ll make them sound better.
Excellent beginner-level instruction and tutorials can be found online from Ryan Dunns and Brother Steve. With them to show you the ropes and a good book of tunes you’ll be on your way.
I found a nice book at a used book sale called Mel Bay’s Deluxe Tinwhistle Songbook. Lots of nice tunes in there. If you don’t read music, do not despair. Find a book of tunes that comes with a CD, then just use the CD.
The thing to keep in mind with the low-end whistles is quality control. To my understanding, some are really good and some are defective, so you may have to buy a few before you find one you like.
If you haven’t already, look at the whistle reviews on the Chiff and Fipple main site–I found them helpful in the past.
I recommend Blomfield’s advice–with the book, CD and a Clarke Original in D. I played the D as a beginner without much trouble. Sweet sound! And, if you decide to move up to a custom whistle, you will want to keep the Clarke so you can say, “This is how they used to look.”
I figured I would visit my local music shop and just get whatever they had for now to get started. It turned out that they only had one whistle in their whole store (did I mention that I live in the middle of nowhere). It was a Clark original in D, so I got it. I asked them to order me the Bill Ochs tutor. It will be fine for me to start to learn the fingering and all and I’ll start picking up others along the way (which I’m sure I’ll have to mail order). Thanks again to all.
I’m with Bloomie on the Ochs book - especially with the CD.
I differ from many in that I’d recommend Feadog whistles to start. They are cheap, of very consistent quality and trad sounding. They take a little bit of practice for the beginner to learn how to get the best sound from them, but that breath control will stand you in good stead for playing many other whistles later.
I would not recommend a Clarke original (or a Shaw) unless you have good lungs. They can take quite a bit of air and leave a beginner a bit breathless.
Or better to say, if the Clarke takes too much blowing, don’t give up. Many other cheap whistles are gentler in that respect.
I bet I have played every cheapie made and a dozen high end whistles and I have come to the conclusion that if you want to just cut to the chase; just buy a Reyburn and be done with the quest. Cheers, Cyril.
I don’t have any expensive whistles but I do have about a dozen or so cheap ($8 to 12 dollars) whistles that I’ve picked up over the last year. I have enjoyed all of them more or less. However the one I would recommend is one I bought this summer. It was more expensive than any other one I have but imho it’s been worth every penny. It’s the Jerry Freeman Mello Dog. You can get it off E-Bay or order from him direct. It’s $36.50 or you can get a D/C combo for $5 dollars more. The reason I would recommend it is that with the less expensive whistles there seems to be a great deal of variety between whistles even the same model from the same company. As a new player these inconsistencies can be very frustrating. Jerry gives you a whistle with all the bugs worked out that is stable, consistant, and playable. If I had it to do over again I would save my money get the Mello Dog first and start off with a very solid whistle and then experiment with other brands.
