Hello, all
I bought a tinwhistle a long while ago, and haven’t bothered trying to learn it until now. I am not able to read tabs or sheet music becuase I am blind. If I am told which holes to cover, it kind of works. or I found an interesting way: XXX XXX. meaning those are the holes you cover, from top to bottom.
I want to know if anybody has tips or teqniques or ways that I should take care of my whistle, or easy tunes to learn, or teqniques to use when playing.
Thanks for the responces in advance
This guy, Ryan Dunn, does beginner whistle tutorials on youtube. He starts very slowly and tries to give very clear verbal instructions as he demonstrates. He also plays some easy beginner’s tunes. Here’s the first five lessons:
Part of the Irish tradition is learning tunes by ear anyway. I find a lot of stuff on youtube, but I really like to get MP3s from online and slow them down on Windows Media Player as I learn them. Michael McGoldrick is fantastic, but everything he does is approximately 3 times faster than I can go.
Mary Bergin has the Feadoga Stain CD’s:
and
which are very pure traditional sounding.
Joanie Madden has “Songs of the Irish Tin Whistle”:
http://www.amazon.com/Song-of-the-Irish-Whistle/dp/B0079THLZW/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360989725&sr=301-1
Those are the links to the Amazon MP3 albums. You could spend a lot of time just listening to them to get an idea of what you can do with the whistle. For me, the most difficult part of learning has been figuring out all the ornamentation. It happens so fast in professional music that it’s nearly impossible to discern what the fingers are doing, even if you are watching the fingers moving. I would have appreciated someone explaining what all the different ornaments are so that I could start listening for them and practicing. I only figured out rolls a few months ago, and I’m still working on the cranns, or the crannlets (still figuring this stuff out).
Cuts and taps are the most important, from what I can tell, and you’ll figure those out pretty quickly (I think Ryan Dunn goes over them in his tutorials). They help you articulate notes without using your tongue. Excessive tonguing is frowned upon in Irish Trad.
Hope this was helpful. Good luck!
Welcome. I have no advice to give you other than keep your whistle handy. I like to keep a whistle or a harmonica in my pocket for when I have to wait. I don’t like to wait but I don’t mind making music for awhile. What do you plan on doing with that whistle once your figure it out?
Welcome-- many people here feel that learning by ear is the best way to learn, so you’d be at no disadvantage. Good luck!
Well, at the moment, I carry it with me alot in my coat pocket, but I find it a bit loud to just bust it out and practice with it. When I get the oppertunity, I intend to make several low-tech whistles from PVC pipe (I found the tutorial online by Gweedo (probably spelling his name wrong), nice italian man), and make a few in the various keys, maybe even a low D whistle. Is there any particular key people would recomend for the first couple I make? I intend to make one in the key of D (that is the one I have at the moment, but, I personally find it a bit shrill at points, hope to avoid that with the LTW)
I really don’t know alot about music. A friend of mine who plays lots of music (both guitar and chello and then makes music with computer), tried explaining octaves to me. I got it, but, not sure what that means for the tinwhistle. just higher-lower notes? I read that you just get to the higher octaves by blowing harder. when I do, it comes out sounding kind of shrill and breathy.
I need to find a few CD’s of some irish music, but, haven’t really been sure where to look. Those CD’s you guys posted; are they just tinwhistle, or are they other instruments as well?
I actually tried learning down by the Sally gardens by ear, and I wasn’t too far off. I had my Mom read me a tab for it, and I wrote down which fingers you cover, so trying to get that one down, just because I love the tune of it.
Thanks for all of the help 
Welcome to C & F. You have taken the first step in overcoming any perceived fear, making a decision to learn how to play whistle, and seeking available help. As both Paul and Angelic Beaver have suggested, there is a long standing tradition of learning to play whistle by ear and many really great players can’t read a single note of music.
It seems folks with sensory challenges will often compensate by honing other sensory skills to refinement as a coping mechanism in meeting those challenges. I would assume you are quite skilled at listening, a skill that is very important in learning to play by ear and to picking up the intricacies of Irish Traditional Music. Start off with simple melodies that you have known since childhood and break them down into smaller section or phrases learning each part before moving on to the next. Eventually you can string them all seamlessly together and play the full tune.
Expanding on the importance of listening, take every opportunity you can to listen to ITM making note of what you like and pay particular attention to the melody, rhythm, and ornamentation. As was suggested, keep a whistle close at hand so you can play when you like and can try playing tunes that you hear immediately while a melody is fresh in your mind. Also develop your own short list of whistle players you really enjoy and listen to those very talented players frequently, we all do that. You will find yourself listening at different levels as time goes on and that you become more aware of subtle characteristics in the style in which different players might approach the same composition.
Start out with slower tunes or take tunes and slow their tempo to make learning them easier and within your own abilitiy range. The suggestion to listen to and participate in some online instruction like that of Ryan Dun is great advice.
Most importantly, have fun with it and let it be a source of enjoyment. It is great to have you join us here on C & F. Good luck on your new musical journey. 
Cheers,
Cayden
As a side note and to show visual impairment doesn’t stop musicianship maybe it’s good to mention a project undertaken in Ireland in recent years: A musical Vision : the Blind Tradition. A CD came out of it and one very much worth hearing.
More of it on the Musical Vision Facebook page
As others have said, not being able to read sheet music is not necessarily a disadvantage for this kind of music. Maybe it’s even better not to use crutches like tablatures.
However, I guess the XXX notation works for you because ASCII symbols can be interpreted by a screen reader or Braille display? Then it might be worth acquainting yourself with the ABC notation. It is a rather simple format where letters are used for the corresponding notes, with numbers to indicate their values. It was developed especially for notating traditional tunes. You can learn it directly on the ABC homepage, here’s the link:
You can find thousands of traditional tunes in ABC notation, there are several huge databases in the net. For example on the ABC page itself, the mustard board and Norbeck’s, to mention the most important (IMHO). Here’s the links:
http://abcnotation.com/search
http://thesession.org/tunes
http://www.norbeck.nu/abc/
Learn some of your friend’s music so you two can play duets. The sum is greater than the parts.
Welcome to C&F Whistle Forum and keep your playing fun, lots of fun.
There is a list of whistle recordings only CDs up near top of this forum.
and its Ryan Duns for all you experts, practice, practice, practice, gets the notes right 
I’m looking for those albums posted above on the internet, trying to find them. I’ll listen to the music, and try and get an ear for it. How do I tell if a tune is in a certain key? is it just practice?
When I get around to making the low-tech whistles, I am curious; how do I make them in different keys and tune them? do I just follow the scamatics on Gweedo’s website for the different ones I’d like to make?
What keys are most common in traditional Irish music?
Sorry for all the questions, and thanks for the swift answers!
There’s a couple of basics that you may already know, but I wanted to make sure you understood. First is the D major scale. D major consists of the following notes on a soprano D whistle, with holes listed from top down:
D, played X X X X X X.
E, played X X X X X O.
F sharp, played X X X X O O.
G, played X X X O O O.
A, played X X O O O O.
B, played X O O O O O.
C sharp, played O O O O O O.
D, played O X X X X X, blown just a bit harder.
If you blow hard enough on the notes E up through D, you will get the next octave of the D major scale, which should have a similar sound to the first octave, but higher up. Depending on your whistle, the top two or three notes of that upper octave may be very loud. Start working out tunes in the D major scale. Sally Gardens, for one, fits very nicely: you don’t need G, but you do need the high E, in the second octave. To get that E, try playing D with O X X X X X, then blow X X X X X O to make it sound a little higher in pitch. If you need help, I can write out all the notes.
If this is helpful, we can also give you the G major scale.
Second is ways to articulate notes, starting with cuts and taps. The best way for any of us to learn these is from another whistler. Do you know anyone in your area who could give you a lesson or two, or at least a demonstration?
By the way, Guido Gonzato’s name is spelled: G u i d o. G o n z a t o. (Did that work for you?) I’m a huge fan of making his low tech whistles. The tough part for you may be finding a way to tune them, as you adjust the hole sizes. Let me give some thought to that.
Welcome. Have fun, and don’t hesitate to ask for help.
Yes, the format for those scales helped me quite a bit I would love to learn the G scale as well
No, I don’t think there are any whistlers in my area, but if the ornimentations could be described well enough, I’m sure I could figure them out, or maybe if somebody could record audio files of the various ones, and how they sound, so I could have a frame of reference to go off of
As for the low-tech whistle, I would most likely be having my Dad’s help to make these. If the schematics on the website give you all the measurements and such, I’m sure I could just use those. The way you described the scales and notes was really helpful, thank you.
One thing that has confused me about the low-tech whistle, is how exactly to make the fipple on it. What exactly is the fipple block supposed to do? It seems like you can make it so you are taking the fipple block out, to change the tuning of it, maybe? not entirely sure. Then again, I’m not entirely sure how wind instruments typically work. I know claranettes have reedes, and so do harmonicas, not sure about flutes and whistles.
When I do make these low-tech whistles, what keys of whistle should I make? I’m mainly going to be playing around with traditional irish music, not sure which keys those usually use, exactly. I know D is one, but aside from that, not sure.
I really appreciate all of the help, I really love the sound of the whistle, and hope some day I can play well enough
I’ll tackle cuts first, and get into whistle construction later when I have more time.
Bear in mind that almost everyone else on the forum is better qualified than I to give you whistle-playing advice.
It is very hard to learn cuts and taps by ear, because they aren’t supposed to sound like anything at all. Just a little blip in playing. The simplest cut would be playing low D, as X X X X X X, lifting up your right middle finger so you’re playing X X X X O X, and slamming it back down again, X X X X X X. It should be so fast that you all you hear is two separate D notes, with the tiniest bit of something that isn’t D in between them, just enough to separate the two notes without being another note in between them. The first phrase of Sally Garden ends E D D. You’d use a cut to separate the two final D notes.
You can also cut D with other fingers, using X X X O X X, or using X X O X X X.
You can cut two E notes with X X X O X O. You can cut two F sharps with X X O X O O, and so forth. To cut a B, you have to use the only finger available, your left index finger, so you’re actually fingering a C sharp, but doing it so fast that you don’t hear a separate note, just two B notes, one after the other. C sharp, you can’t cut. You can use a tap to separate C sharps. We’ll get to taps later.
Whatever you do, do it very quickly, and bring your cutting finger down on the beat, so the second note starts where it should.
You can practice playing a D major scale, two notes each with a cut in each pair: D, D, E, E, F sharp, F sharp, up to D, D. For the D at the top of the octave you can still cut with your right ring finger, playing O X X X O X very briefly.
G major scale goes like this:
G, played as X X X O O O.
A, played as X X O O O O.
B, played as X O O O O O.
C natural, often played as O X X O O O.
D, played as O X X X X X
E, played as X X X X X O, blowing hard enough to get up to the second register.
F sharp, played as X X X X O O, blowing in the second register again.
high G, played as X X X O O O, blowing in the second register.
This should have a very similar sound to the D major scale, but higher in pitch.
On the whistle, the D note here is often called “middle D”, to differentiate it from the lowest D, played X X X X X X, and the highest D in the whistles range, high D, also played O X X X X X but blown quite hard.
While the C note is usually just called C on most instruments, on the whistle we usually call it “C natural”, to make it clear that it is not the same thing as C sharp. C natural can also be played by covering only about half of the top hole, just enough to get the pitch right. This is notated “D O O O O O”, where the “D” represents the half-covered hole because of the shape of the letter.
Tunes in G major can drop below the low G, where the melody calls for it. The first phrase of the Kesh Jig, for example, ends A, G, F sharp, G. The F sharp is the one below the low G, in the first register.
As far as what key to play in, I happen to like G… was what my first whistle was/is, and sorta went from there.
You may want to try finding some tunes you like, putting them on your computer/ipod/mp3 player/etc, playing them back in your ear, while you play on the whistle.
Is what I do… and go figure, people seem to like it… I work as a street musician in San Jose, and play both the penny whistle, and the flute… can’t read music, can’t seem to memorize the stuff, (more or less), so I find what I like, play that in my ear, and play along with it… want a rediculous list of downloadable tunes… try
http://walthansen.zzl.org/fc.html
Anyhowz… can’t say this is the right way or the wrong way… just my way
Walt
You asked about fipples. Here’s the rough guide to what makes a whistle.
This link is to a Wikipedia section on sound production in wind instruments: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_instrument#Physics_of_sound_production. I think it’s pretty good, since I wrote some of it, although it does tend to use a lot of big words.
All flutes, including fipple flutes like the whistle, have three main parts. First is an air stream. Second is an open space that the air stream flows across until it hits an edge at the far side. Third is a resonator behind the open space.
In a whistle, the air stream comes out of the windway, blows across the window until it hits what’s called the sound-blade, or lip, or several other names. The window is a hole in the wall of a tube, and the inside of the tube forms the resonator. In simplest terms, the fipple is just a plug in one end of the tube that forms the floor of the windway, and ensures that the only way out of that end of the tube, other than the windway, is out through the window.
This is the Wikipedia page on fipples: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fipple. I didn’t write this, and it contains more elaborate language on the voicing of recorders than I think is necessary.
In making a low-tech whistle, I find the most tedious part is making a fipple that fits perfectly in the tube. There are various ways, but the lowest-tech way is sanding down a piece of wooden dowel that is almost the right diameter until it is exactly the right diameter. In Guido’s design, the fipple can move up and down the tube. This changes the length of the window. The effect on tuning isn’t as important as the difference in how easy it is to play in the second octave, or stay in the first octave when you want to. If the window is long, it is harder to get up to the second octave, especially the higher notes. If the window is short, it is harder to stay in the first octave without jumping to the second, especially the lower notes.
Another challenge is getting the toneholes the right size. Although the dimensions that Guido gives are a good guide, the size of your window and other factors make a difference in the tuning. What most people do is cut the tube a bit long, and shorten it little by little, then drill the holes a bit small to start, then enlarge them little by little, all the while comparing the pitch of the whistle to some standard. The standard can be an electronic tuner, a tuner program running on a computer, the sound of another instrument, or if your sense of pitch is good enough, your own ears.
As to the whistle keys you might want to start with, you can make a nice soprano D whistle out of half-inch tubing. You can make a B-flat whistle out of half-inch tubing, although three-quarter-inch tubing would probably be better. The half-inch version can be nice for practicing without disturbing other people as much. For an alto A whistle, it gets more important to use three-quarter inch tubing. With keys much lower than that, the whistle gets heavier and the holes get farther apart; it becomes much more important how you hold your hands to reach all of the holes.
When I make a whistle, I’d like to make one that’s not overly loud, but still has a sweet and pure tone to it. Any recomendations? I’d like something I can practice with that isn’t super loud, cuase my Mom works night-shifts. It would be nice to not be restricted to play becuase of how loud it is. I’d like it somewhat quiet, but, still with a sweet and nice tone to it. This way I can just bust it out where-ever I am, and just practice a bit if I’m not doing anything, without disturbing lots of people.
I’m most likely going to use the guide Guido wrote when I do, but, not exactly sure how to get the results I’m looking for out of it.
Are there any computer programs that I could use to help tune it? I’d rather not want to spend mmore money than I already will be making a few whistles out of this.
I’m going to build one in the key of D, definetly, then maybe in the key of C, then maybe G. I’m not exactly sure which are the best for traditional Irish music. I’ll most likely just make several whistles in different keys for that type of music.
In other news: went to a dance with my girlfriend yesterday, bought a shirt so we could match, it’s black, and it says: “kiss me, I might be Irish”. My Dad saw it, then tells me I am Irish. not direct, but, definetly have some in me. I kind of chuckled, cause I’ve always loved the culture, mythology, and music from Ireland
Thanks for all of the help, I appreciate it
Hi Bard,
The best advice I could give would be to grab a copy of Grey Larson’s Essential Guide to Tinwhistle and Flute. Now, Grey’s artistic style (and attitude in some cases) are a matter of controversy on this board, and personally I find his playing rather uninspired. However, for demonstrative purposes it’s excellent, because he breaks down all the embellishments, playing them separately, and you can clearly hear where and how they are used. I think from a technical perspective it will get you up to speed with the embellishments.
Second, spend time just improvising. When I’m too antsy to learn a tune (even as a more experienced player now), I just goof around until I feel like learning something new. I think this is valuable because when you do try to learn a tune, there will be little moments like, “Oh, I recognize that sound, or that transition’s familiar” and you’ll already kind of know parts of the tune.
Third, making your own whistles with good results is not easy, especially if you’re looking for a certain set of characteristics (which, as you mention, are quiet and sweet.) I’ve had the same problem, when I was starting out- most D whistles just ended up being too loud for me to enjoy. In fact, I don’t even really care for the key of D that much either. My favorite whistle is a Freeman-Tweaked Bb Generation, which you can get for about forty dollars. It’s pure, low and soulful. You can hear it on my fledgeling YouTube channel: http://youtu.be/hRa0NeOn0U0. (You’ll have to turn the sound up, I accidentally set the mic level too low). You’ll also find some reviews and some tunes there as well, and I’m hoping to update this week with some new tunes.
Anyway, I hope this helps. Feel free to message me if I can upload anything else helpful!
Regards,
Cameron
Edit: If you must have a D whistle, there are fairly few actually “quiet” ones. Go with something narrow-bore for sure though. It’s really the only way to get a decent “traditional” tone in my opinion.