I have been buying whistles for a while now and I desperately want to learn to play. I received the video “Learn to Play Irish Tinwhistle” by L.E. McCullough today and have viewed it once. What are the best video/books for someone who plays absolutely nothing. I would like to learn a few simple tunes right away and worry about ornamentation a little later. Does anyone care to advise me as the best way to “play” something quickly. There are no teachers that I know of in this area. I have already posted in the teaching section. 
dear whistling: just do it. start playing, figure out the fingering, i’m sure you have a chart. do scales, do simple tunes, i learned off the internet. if i can learn, it’s not that difficult. one warning: dogs do not like whistles in the early stages of learning. my dog was rather polite and anytime she saw me pick up a whistle when i was starting, she’d just quietly get up and move to the farthest corner of the house. she laughs when i play the flute though.
good luck. we’ll all want to know what kind of whistle you got and how your progress is going.
mutepointe.
Everyone laughs when I play flute.
I don’t know how to go about playing something quickly. You need to practice very slowly and carefully. Don’t try to go fast. Make sure your fingers are relaxed. They should be pressed on the holes just to the extent necessary to completely cover the hole. If the note sounds bad, move the finger to better cover the hole, don’t press harder!!! If your fingers are tense, you will not be able to play fast in the future. I am struggling with the relaxation issue now so train yourself to relax from the start.
Here are some websites that seem quite nice, although probably you should just stick with your tutorial so you don’t get overwhelmed with tunes and information. It is easy to look for that perfect tune instead of spending time practicing.
There is nothing wrong with worrying about ornamentation later. You need to be able to hit the notes clearly first. I would be pleased to play a tune simply and well.
http://www.whistleworkshop.co.uk/instruct.htm
http://www.whistletutor.com/
http://nigelgatherer.com/whist.html
http://www.rogermillington.com/siamsa/brosteve/index.html
You also need to be listening to CD’s made by respected Irish traditional musicians. Every day do some listening—even if it is just 15 minutes. You won’t be able to sound right otherwise. It doesn’t have to be whistle music.
And believe everything you read on the Chiffboard, especially the stuff In Bold.
Well, at least I have learned something in the time I’ve spent here.
It took me about 4 different tutorials to find one that clicked for me, or maybe it was just the combined teachings of all of them. The Och’s booklet is nice. So is Geraldine Cotter’s.
Once you have the scale down, the world is your oyster! Enjoy it…noodle…try ANY tune that strikes your fancy. Listen to the stuff you like and try to reproduce it.
The whistle is a very good instrument for someone who doesn’t play anything at all. It’s very easy to get the basics down by yourself. Just play simple slow tunes to start with. You can start with the common childrens tunes, or Amazing Grace or whatever. I don’t think you should have a problem with figuring out the fingering all by yourself for those tunes.
Some of the whistles you buy come with small sheets with whistle tabs for simple tunes. That should make it even easier to start.
For videos I can recommend Vinnie Killduffs video. Don’t remember the name for it. But I bought it in Ireland about 5 years ago or so, and it got me started nicely on ornamentations and stuff.
Thanks to all who posted advice/help. 
LE’s tutorial/book is great, and so is the Bill Ochs book/cd.
In the meantime, try playing some simple tunes that you already know-- Twinkle, Twinkle, Mary Had A Little Lamb, etc. Tunes that you already have in your head will come out through the whistle a lot quicker.
For absolute beginners there’s a book/CD/whistle combination from Feadog. It costs about $25.00. Unlike some tutors, it moves at a slow speed and explains reading sheet music and all that good stuff.
I began playing just a few weeks ago, but I’ve found Bill Ochs’s book to be really clear and helpful. I recommend buying the version that comes packaged with a CD.
I think that the best way to learn the whistle, is just to play it. Go over to tinwhistletunes.com and download a few jigs, airs, reels, etc, find the ones that sound doable, and just go at it till you figure it out.
My 2p
Let a tune pick you! One you like.
Just learn to play this one tune to start with.
Little and often e.g. try to play it say 3 times.
Put yer whistle away.
A couple of hours later play yer tune say 3 times,
amd put it away again. Repeat through day as many
times as you want/can.
Do this for several days, and you’ll find that this tune sticks,
and ‘your fingers learn the notes’.
Then let another tune pick you - again one you like.
Same thing - little and often.
This time though, finish each practice session
with the previous tune(s) you learned.
That way you will always finish with a positive
feeling at the end of your practice.
As per tunes - quality not quantity seems to be the
consensus. The Quantity bit comes with time i.e. years!
HTH
(Intrepidly he foolishly rushes into the whistle forum, where angels fear to tread…) I was thinking of starting a new thread but it seems appropriate to raise my question here. I really am going to get serious about playing the whistle. The excuse that my fingers are not connected to my brain remnant is wearing thin. I’m not a complete beginner but shall we just say that a suitable outlet for my talents would be a class of five-year-old infants learning the recorder. The thing is, I have a load of old cheapie whistles lying around, the only one of which that plays quite well, in tune without breaking up too much, is a red Sweetone in D. If I just stick with this in the hope of getting better and moving upmarket, am I just going to nobble my progress? I know that cheap harmonicas are next to useless for beginners. Does this apply to whistles too or am I OK with the Sweetone for the time being?
Steve
You should immediately go out and spend hundreds on a high-end whistle. I know this 'cause that’s what I did. 
Seriously, if you’re lucky enough to have a Sweetone that plays in tune, just stick with it for a while; they’re really quite nice.
I wouldn’t worry about it Steve.
I’d say I’m intermediate now and I often pick up my Sweetone if I just want to belt out a few tunes when I’m stressed or whatever. Eventually you get to know how it limits you. I don’t know about your other cheapies, but it’s possible that you just haven’t figured them out yet. Play with your sweetone but I’d suggest switching back to another one (Waltons? Generation?) when you learn a new song and try it on that a couple times. Worked for me (I like to think)
I played a Sweetone for months before I got another whistle. It will do you fine for a while.
Here’s the deal.
To play my Blackwood Thin Weasel:
- I take the case from my desk;
open the case;
attach the head to the body at the tuning slide;
test it a couple times for tuning;
maybe rub it down with a lightly oiled cloth;
play it for a while;
Take it apart (head from body);
dry the slide;
swab the moisture from it;
rub it down with a lightly oiled cloth;
put it in the case;
stash the case away in a safe cool place.
Now there are great rewards that come from dealing with all the details. But…
To play my Sweetone:
- I pick up the whistle from wherever I happened to lay it down last;
pucker up;
blow a tune, or two and a half tunes, or whatever;
set it down wherever I end up when I’m done blowing.
Have fun, move up when you’ve got a couple tunes under your belt and you feel the need. You’ll probably still be picking up the Sweetone for fun many years from now.
Thank you. I feel very encouraged. I’ve been sessioneering with my harmonicas for years now so I have hundreds of tunes and plenty of confidence. All I need now is to remember to sit up straight when I’m playing (I do that with the harmonica, but as soon as I pick up a whistle my neck somehow goes into jack-knife mode and my back develops a stoop ) and gain a bit of co-ordination. It’s the last bit that I find tough. The other thing with the whistle as opposed to the harmonica is that it has the power to cut right through the mix, loud and proud, whereas you can noodle around sotto voce with the harmonica, and that aspect of the whistle saps my self-confidence a bit when I know I’m not much good at it.
Steve
If that ever happens, just stand up, yell “Learn to play the damned tune!” and storm out.