Hi Everyone,
I don’t know if posting a topic like this is allowed, but I just wanted to say hi.
I’m new to the Tin Whistle, just a standard Feadog D.
I’ve only had my tin whistle for 2 days, bought it at a Corrs concert. I’ve been practicing my scales, but don’t really know where to go from there, any suggestions?
Thanks!
~~TINA
Sorry Tina, but posting a thread like this is completely outside not only the rules, but the spirit of the place.
Your punishment will be to sing Danny Boy a hundred times–no drinking allowed.
(Welcome)
Well, depends on you. Have you played other instruments? Anything similar? Not a requirement or anything, but makes a difference where to go from here.
Here is a place to buy a good starter book–The Clark Tinwhistle Tutor.
http://www.thewhistleshop.com/catalog/tutorials/tutorial.htm
That hardly seems fair…not even just ONE guinness? 
I agree with VomitBunny. If you have experience it might be worth it to just go straight into learning tunes from sound files and music online. If you do not you should buy a tutor or find a teacher.
In your place I’d get the Clark Tinwhistle Tutor (by Bill Ochs). You can get it at www.pennywhistle.com . You can also drop Bill Ochs an email there; he teaches free introductory workshops from time to time and teaches tin whistle in New York City. Highly recommended.
Welcome, Tina …
The first thing you need to know about the Chiff & Fipple is that some here have an odd sense of humor.
Two more websites you might find helpful is www.whistletutor.com and Brother Steve’s tinwhistle page at www.rogermillington.com/siamsa/brosteve .
There is a lot of useful information hiding here at the Chiff, too. Good luck! Hope you enjoy your new whistle … and may it be the first of many more! 
~Judy
If you live in NYC, I would DEFINITELY recommend calling Bill. Even one or two lessons (group or private) plus his book/cd combo will get you on your feet. Bill is a really nice guy and a terrific, non-authoritarian teacher.
Also, find some sessions and go to them ASAP. Don’t try to play along for a while-- just sit there and absorb the music and the atmosphere. Talk to other whistle players too. Bill can tell you where some good ones are.
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… Also, find some sessions and go to them ASAP. Don’t try to play along for a while-- just sit there and absorb the music and the atmosphere. …
take a notebook and record the etiquette …
Another vote for starting with the Bill Ochs set…
Welcome,
Philo
Well you have been given some great advice. What they didn’t tell you was you are in danger. Whistle playing and BUYING is addictive. Irish music is addictive. This will escalate. You will want a flute and then, heaven forbid, a set of pipes. You have been warned.
Now I have to place some orders for new whistles. BTW welcome to the board.
Keep whistling
Ron
Hiya Tina,
Best to plunge right in. Search the forums for cd names, check out the Clips and Snips website, do get the Tin Whistle tutor, it IS great. Good luck!
hello, i’m amar.
I am a sad, living testimony to this truth. As you slide down this slippery slope, think seriously of getting a “flat set” of pipes (pitched in C#, C, B, or Bb) instead of a D (or “concert”) set, so that you can spare others the ugliness. Your wallet is already under siege, make no mistake; the least you can do in the face of the inevitable is think of the welfare of others. 
Oh, and welcome!
Always remember, the whistle is made for playing Irish Trad only.
Not that Bardic stuff like Blackmore’s Night and Clannad.
Irish Trad only.
Not rock and roll. Not country. Not jazz.
Irish Trad only.
Not Scottish Trad. Not Scandinavian Trad.
Irish Trad only.
Just as the guitar was made to play only rock and roll, the whistle was made to play only Irish Trad.
Thanks Everyone!
I’ll definitely get the tutor since so many of you recommend it. (I only hope that this isn’t some ploy to secure yourselves royalties 
)
Going to sessions would be great but medical school must come first, so alas that’s out of the question, for this year anyways.
I played the piano for 8 years and can read music, but I don’t know if I feel comfortable just diving into songs. What do you think and does anyone have a beginners’ book they especially like…irish trad only though.
~~TINA
The tutorial comes with a bunch of songs and a cd, so it’ll keep you busy enough for awhile.
Once you get through the tutorial, try online at www.thewhistleshop.com - they have a fairly large number of book+CD tunebooks (not tutorials). I like the Walton’s “Ireland’s Best XXXX” series, but there are a lot of others.
I also am very fond of “A Dossan of Heather” - a tunebook and CD (only about a third of the 85 tunes in the book are in it, alas) of tunes collected from Packie Manus Byrne, thanks to our own Brother Steve.
Eventually, you’ll want to work on picking up tunes by ear (I’m slowly developing this skill, but I’ve far to go). The tutorials and tune/CD sets will help get you to “solid beginner” level - just remember that you want to commit these tunes to memory, not play from the sheet music.
Fair warning: it’s easy to get obsessive about tinwhistle, especially since even the highest-quality tinwhistles are inexpensive compared to most other instruments. Just try to remember they are not Pokemon and you don’t have to collect them all. 
Good luck with that one… I, sadly, have succombed to WhOA after only a few months’ time…