First off, Hey. I’m new to the forums.
Secondly, I have one whistle, one that I received a little while ago, when I was probably around 9 (I am 16) and it came with a book. I had my fun but set it aside. A few days ago I “rediscovered” it as well as the book, learning to play a few jigs. But now I want to set myself to learn it. I’ve studied sax for two years (alto and barry) and done some guitar and mandolin. The one thing I’ve noticed is that I can’t play high notes worth a damn. Anything above a high “e” has to be blasted loud to stay in the upper register.
So, I wanted to know if this was a function of my whistle (it’s a cheap-o, but I’ve read that it sometimnes doesn’t make much of a difference) or purely of myself. Does this get better with practice? (obviously it does) So then the better question is, what can I practice to improve my upper notes? I have a book coming soon, some 480 page one that had excellent reviews, but I wanted to know if you guys could help me. Also, is there any advice you would like to give to a noobie like me? Thanks alot.
-Michael
*Edit: I think the book I mentioned is the Mel Bay one recommended on the Chiff and Fipple website.
It’s nice to meet you . I am a beginner and have only played the whistle for about six months.
Other people will have a better answer than I do but I’ll just tell you my experience. I couldn’t imagine hitting a high note when I first started. I thought it was impossible. But it isn’t, don’t worry.
The high notes do require an actual increase in the speed of the air. You can blow harder or you can change the shape of your mouth and lips to get a smaller embouchure (I don’t know if they call it that on the whistle), which will force the air to speed up as it goes through the more constricted opening at your lips.
If you whistle a tune with your mouth, you will notice that your throat, cheeks and lips are doing different things as you change the pitches. The movements I make to get the high notes on the whistle are sort of similar to whistling with my mouth.
I probably blow harder too, but it is more a mouth shape changing thing for me. The high notes, I believe, can sound better on some whistles than on others although I believe that one can learn to get the high tones to sound better and better.
My first whistle was terribly loud and I could hardly bear to play the high notes----I am sure that people two blocks away could hear me and I didn’t sound good! I think the high notes are always somewhat louder, but some whistles are quieter overall than others.
You do need to blow harder in the upper octave, and the whistle does get louder. I remember being a bit intimidated by the high notes in the beginning. If there is a buzz or the note tends to hang between octaves even when you blow hard, something may be wrong with the whistle (but it’s probably all right).
We had a discussion about how to pronounce Feadog a while back. Although I think everyone agreed that no one would know what you meant if you said it right! (Never hurts to know—maybe you’ll go to Ireland or something)
You need more whistles. That fixes most things.
Seriously. People go through dozens befor they find what suits them sometimes. They are cheap, so it’s no big deal.
My recomendations would be some sort of a step up from the “cheapos”.
Although a three to eight dollar whistle sometimes is great out of the box, and can be usually made (tweaked) to be great, a thirty five dollar investement or so can get you a whistle that will definitly not hold you back in any way. I’m talking about a ready tweaked whistle or a model a step up from the cheapos.
Is it possible that you are overblowing and what you think is the lower register is actually the upper? That could explain your difficulty with playing above E. Try backing waaaayyy off and see if it drops down another octave. (I’m a former sax player, and tend to overblow, especially on a Feadog.) Also try not to use your saxophone embouchere for this. I find that I narrow the windway more towards the back of the mouth to make the register change, kind of like making the sound"eeww", and don’t use the lips/chin for this at all. (And yes, it does sometimes sound like “eeww”!)
I tend to think of making the air go faster for the upper octave, rather than thinking “blow harder.” It’s just semantics, but it’s a little mental trick that helps me if I think about increasing the speed of the air instead of brute force.
I feel like a dad! We have two 16 year old young men here, and I have a son that’s going on 14! Amazing isn’t it? How music can bring people of all ages together Welcome Michael, hope you like it here. Avery, hope you stay around for awhile as well.
Bloomy, correct me if I’m wrong, but there is a difference between “faster” and “harder”. Faster = same volume of air pushed at a faster speed, as in velocity. Harder = moving a larger volume of air with greater force, which doesn’t necessarily mean faster. You can back off on the amount of air you are moving, and move it quicker/faster, which works on the right whistle.
I bought a Dixon pvc nontuneable d as my first whistle. I had to practice a while before I realized it was me and not the whistle that caused problems involving sqeeks and almost non-existant bell note and second note. Robin’s comment on backing waaaaay off is a good one. At least it worked for me. VB’s comment on you needing more whistles, is funny in a sense, but true. It’s not until you have tried out a variety of whistles that you’ll come into your own, in the sense of your zeroing in on a few whistles that you work well with and can focus on learning (unlike like some of us :roll: )
Michael, may I suggest you consider getting a Syn aluminum whistle. Many here will agree that it’s perhaps has the best value to performance factor. You can get the d whistle for around $40 and additional bodies for next to nothing. If you look through the threads here and on other boards, you’ll find a good number of whistlers that have stuck with their Syns. Actually, JessieD is selling one for $35 on this board.
Nice job on the inquiry. I’m going to ask my professor, who’s Irish, next week and see what she says Maybe I’ll have a better idea if I hear it in person.
. I am a beginner and have only played the whistle for about six months.
(Never hurts to know—maybe you’ll go to Ireland or something)
We have two 16 year old young men here, and I have a son that’s going on 14! Amazing isn’t it? How music can bring people of all ages together 
Maybe I’ll have a better idea if I hear it in person.
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