Tommy, may I ask the point of you posting the word “MUSIC” in multiple threads this morning–I’m particularly baffled by you putting it here.
Susan
Yes, I think that’s why I want to learn the Highlands Bagpipes. I care about my neighbors and I want to give them the enlightening experience of learning to love something you used to hate. …after a few years. 
A year or two ago I went for an evening walk in a very upscale neighborhood in the foothills north of Salt Lake City. The homes are in the near-million to multi-million dollar range. I heard music coming from somewhere and realized as I walked along, getting closer to the sound, that it was Highland pipes. It sounded wonderful to me since I love the pipes (and the tune was NOT Amazing Grace–hallelujah!). I finally walked by the home where a guy was playing pipes out on his balcony, and the sound was carrying forever. I loved it, but I can’t even imagine how his ritzy neighbors felt about it.
Susan
It depends on you alone. Here’s some questions for you.
What’s your definition of good?
How driven are you to improve?
How good is your ear ?
Can you read music?
Are you willing/able to invest time in practising, lessons and listening?
Are you surrounded by musicians?
You will need to spend time on your own practising. That’s for sure.
Good luck to you though, you couldn’t find a healthier hobby. The only disadvantage is playing in late at night in sessions and going to work the next day…
How deep is the ocean?
How high is the sky?
It would be my guess that there is no objective referent for what is ‘good’. A teacher once told me that no tune, no matter how simple or elementary, is too simple or too elementary to sound wonderful if it is played right. I still enjoy the first tune I taught myself, by myself (Tralee Gaol) as much as any tune I know, and when I am wailing away in the garage, taking advantage of that big echo, I always include it in the tunes I run through.
Learning to play the whistle in a way that sounds right to you and that might also be consistent with how others play is a lot like certain programs of personal recovery–simple, just not easy. In both cases, the discipline, the one note at a time (or one day at a time) are likely to be worth it in the long haul. You sure won’t find out until you put iin the time. Simple suggestion: Don’t leave town before the miracle hits!!
As far as I know this isn’t a race and there is only one finish line that I am aware of that sooner or later we will all have to cross. (And, for all I know, that finish line might be just another starting gate!)
I once lamented to a teacher–for whom I have so much respect–that I had regrets about having taken up the music so late in life–in my early fifties, in fact. I was feeling real sorry for myself for what I had “lost” between the age of 9–when I knew how to read music–and the age of 52, when I took it up again. Then he told me the story of a man who took up this music well into his seventies!!
I know that the endeavor has enriched my life. I’m still looking for a session that fits me–not too basic, not too advanced. Build what you have to build and the rest will fall into place. That is my belief.
All of this is IMHO and based on my experience only.
Tom D.
I think that is a difficult question. Some people might listen to me and say I sound good or maybe even very good but if I listen to myself I sound like crap. I was discussing this with a person who’s opinion I really respect and he said that I will have this feeling for a very long time until I get to a point where I accept my playing and go with it.
It’s a very difficult question and it dpends on what you’re aiming for. If you want to get to a level to play reasonably well in session and not bore and piss everyone off it takes about 5-10 years. If you want to sound like freaking Martin Byrnes or Paddy Carty it will take a lifetime and you may never even get there.
I agree with the others, and will add that it also depends largely on the ears that are listening as well. Those who already know Irish Whistle, or whistle music in general, are going to be a bit harder to please/impress than those who do not. That said, if folks are actually enjoying listening to you, how wrong can that be?
exactly 23 months, 5 weeks, 4 days, 11 hours, 2 minutes and 42 seconds.
I worked with a group of mentally challenged youths last week, playing hand drums and singing. They were good.
I know they were good because there were tears in my eyes.
I pray that some day I will be that good.[/u]
optimist! 
Thanks, Tom. I tend to be impatient, desiring to be great. I watch the “clock,” afraid I’ll never come to posess the skills I covet. And yet, I’ll be happy to die trying.
Considering I’m a knee-steering, whistle-playing commuter, that fact might be more than merely philosophical! 
It is too a race, oh, and by the way what’s the loudest whistle?
Naw, its the journey!
I’ve been playing 12 years and I’m rubbish. I can impress people who’ve never heard a whistle though. But I’ve no commitment & I’m bone idle.
But then I suppose my main interest is airs and ballads and I’ve only ever half-heartedly tried a couple of quicker tunes.
I read that some scientist had done a study & found that the main difference between professional and amateur musicians was that the professionals spent a lot more time practicing, and weren’t afraid of making mistakes.
7 years learning, 7 years practicing, and 7 years playing…er. oops, thought this was the uilleann forum 
dave boling
Open ended questions can have interesting answers?
boy that was a loaded question by good i meant ‘able to produce pleasing sounds’ and to stop p—ing off the cats and the wife
Though the exact time may vary, Stout’s hit on a good point. I’ve been playing for 3 years or so now. I enjoy myself quite a bit, and there are some days, on some tunes, that I think I sound pretty decent.
But I don’t always sound as good as I want. I have off-days, and many tunes that I still haven’t mastered - on a bad day, it can be frustrating. But - it’s a process. A journey, not just a destination. And every time I get something right, it more than makes up for the previous 10 or 100 times I didn’t quite make it.
Too, the better you get, the more you’re able to HEAR - both what you want to do, and what you’ve actually accomplished. And to improve, you need to be willing to criticize your own playing.
I’ve heard Stout play, quite a few times. Despite his “sound like crap”, he is a pretty darn good player - certainly better than I am by a fair piece. Is he perfect? No - and I’m sure it drives him crazy. Because he wants to keep on improving, he’s a harsh and unforgiving critic of every minor flaw he can identify. But - that being said - I’d be thrilled at the leap in my own playing ability if I could routinely play with only the same errors that he makes. 
The trick is to balance the feeling of accomplishment (I sound pretty good!) with the merciless critic (I can do better!).
I don’t know if I’ll ever be perfect - or as good a player as Stout or many of the other players here on the board. But I intend to keep on plugging at being the best player that I can be. And despite the distance I may still have to go, I think I’m a much better player than I was - say - a year or so back.
There were a lot of good points made there I won’t repeat. I’ll just add that if you just hammer away at it you’ll make improvements over time that you might not have thought you could. You might plateau out for awhile and think you’ve hit your limits. Not so. Do something different. Playing a different whistle that makes you breathe at different intervals than you’re used to is one little thing that can help. You might discover interesting new ways of phrasing. It must be emphasized that listening to a lot of good music will teach you things you can put into practice without necessarily understanding them. Listen to the music played on other instruments besides whistle also.
Also, you need to be enjoying what you’re doing so you’ll stay motivated. Find tunes you like to play. Play with the tunes in your head when you’re not practicing. The only time they shut off in my head is when I’m talking.
You’ll also want to buy a lot of expensive whistles so you’ll feel guilty when you don’t practice.
Tony
Well, I was asked to play on a recording after about three months, so someone thought it sounded good. It was NOT an ITM recording, it was more of a “contemperary folk” recording, if there is such a thing (think that style of music that became insanely popular durring the vietnam war. Bob Dylan folk). It sounds pretty good to me. I think it was due to the fact that it was a low whistle, and when you get it to stop sqeaking, everything sounds good… Just not necissarily Irish.
I would say anything from around 11 inches to roughly 23 inches.