here, read this:
best to start off with a cheapie in the key of D ( a lot of celtic type folk is in D)
I would recommed a generation, clarks sweetone or simmilar.
If you can find someone local to teach you its easier, but there are plenty of tutor books and online tutors.
The whistle is an easy instrument to play to an ok level but not so easy to play very well 
Richard.
still canna speell !
rbm, in the wilds of the English Lake District, where the fells… Hey who’s stolen them?.. come on guy’s just put them back. - it’s not funny and it’s not clever!
[ This Message was edited by: rbm on 2003-02-10 11:15 ]
If you have a music store check it out they may well have whistles. Easy to keep in stock because they are not expensive. Clarkes Sweetones are about 6 bucks, Clark Originals 9ish. Lots of prople start with one of those but later move on to somthing louder like a Susato or Generation.
You can find lots of music here- http://sniff.numachi.com/~rickheit/dtrad/ complete with tabliture so you dont realy need to read music to play the songs, but it helps if you are familiar whit the melody.
Have fun
If you have a music store check it out they may well have whistles. Easy to keep in stock because they are not expensive. Clarkes Sweetones are about 6 bucks, Clark Originals 9ish. Lots of prople start with one of those but later move on to somthing louder like a Susato or Generation.
You can find lots of music here- http://sniff.numachi.com/~rickheit/dtrad/ complete with tabliture so you dont realy need to read music to play the songs, but it helps if you are familiar whit the melody.
Have fun
Get a Sweetone D whistle and Bill Ochs’ book and CD, “The Clarke Tin Whistle”, and start having fun!
Music reading will come back to you pretty quickly…and you may be surprised at how much you absorbed through your previous music studies. All you have to know for the whistle is treble clef, and the fingering is straightforward, so you should have enough to get on with.
If your local music stores don’t have whistles (ours don’t, for some reason, and I live in relatively cosmopolitan Santa Cruz), there are lots of places on-line to buy them (no need to resort to eBay unless you really want to…you’ll probably pay less buying from The Whistle Shop or Lark in the Morning or House of Musical Traditions). They will also sell tutorial books…one that is often recommended here is the Bill Ochs book.
Nothing substitutes for listening…lots and lots of listening. As you will hear often hereabouts, Celtic music has a particular “swing” that isn’t easily conveyed in musical notation. While I can and do learn tunes from the notation (I’ve been listening to Irish music especially long enough to do that without sounding like a classical musician 
), what I use sheet music most often for is to help me remember the notes as I’m learning a tune that is already in my head.
As for a first whistle…everybody’s going to have their favorites. My first whistle, which I still have, was a Generation, which probably more than anything influenced my preference for a bright, pure tone. Others love the Clarkes, which you might like if you prefer a softer, breathier tone. The more I play my new Dixon, the more inclined I am to agree with the people who recommend them as good first whistles…they’re a little pricier than a Clarke or a Gen, but not terribly expensive. Or, perhaps a better alternative is to buy two very cheap whistles of different types, perhaps a Clarke and a Generation, Oak or Feadog, for sake of comparison. The nice thing about whistles is, you can buy a very cheap one and still have a very good instrument, which makes the quest for the perfect whistle (otherwise known as WhOA), financially possible
Welcome to the whacky world of whistling!
Redwolf
[ This Message was edited by: Redwolf on 2003-02-10 12:46 ]
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practise, practise the practise some more.
Great! What a shortcut in learning!
You actually KNEW how to read sheet music, and forgot all about it ? then you can listen to the music!
You’re better off than I am : I still have to learn how to in order I can forget it…
Hey its easy to forget how to read music, I played the clarineticus (yes it was that long ago) at school for 5 years, but when I took up the whistle a couple of years ago coldn’t read a darnned note ! even worse when Iain my elder son took up clarinet could’n’t remember how to play at all!
Far too many Ruddles and the stings affeeectt youuurr minnndnndd
Richarddddddd
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I may go there, but it’s still kind of far away. The reason I go to eBay instead of many of the other sites that sell whistles is because I don’t have a credit card(Thank God), and eBay will let me pay via money order..
Hello & welcome to your newfound addiction that will soon take over your life if you let it. Take a stroll over to The Whistle Shop. They have bunches of inexpensive whistles that you should start on. Do a little searching here in the forum for opinions, praises, & dislikes for whichever whistle appeals to you the most. More importantly for you, they offer the option to send a money order 
I made a purchase a few weeks ago…it was a pleasure doing business with them & I will be back. Good Luck!
In no way affiliated with The Whistle Shop. Just a satisfied customer that’s all.
Yes yes. The Whistle Shop. Good folks and they’ll take a phone call. Try THAT on E-BAY.
Despite what everyone else said, I have alternate opinions.
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If you are not going to play with a fiddler or a piper or a mandolin, don’t get a D whistle. They tend to be shriek-y. Get a C whistle. The sound is mellower and prettier. But if you are getting a Generation, get the E-flat. It’s their best. (The Bb is their worst.)
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If you do get a D, The SweeTones are cheap but have a very breath-y sound. Go with an Acorn or an Oak. They are cheap and SWEET.
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Susatos are too loud. Dixons are very nice, if you have $16.
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Cathal McConnell has a great tutor. So does Larry McCullough. And Brother Steve has a good one on the Internet.
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Reading music will speed you up at first, but slow you down in the long run. Use the crutch carefully.
I second The Whistle Shop. I’ve gotten several whistles from them, and they have excellent service and carry a great assortment of whistles. I’d stay away from Ebay for inexpensive whistles. I’m sure there’s the occasional deal, but most of the time they’re overpriced.
On 2003-02-10 13:53, 2nd Wind wrote:
I may go there, but it’s still kind of far away. The reason I go to eBay instead of many of the other sites that sell whistles is because I don’t have a credit card(Thank God), and eBay will let me pay via money order..
Hello & welcome to your newfound addiction that will soon take over your life if you let it. Take a stroll over to > The Whistle Shop. > They have bunches of inexpensive whistles that you should start on. Do a little searching here in the forum for opinions, praises, & dislikes for whichever whistle appeals to you the most. More importantly for you, they offer the option to send a money order >
In no way affiliated with The Whistle Shop. Just a satisfied customer that’s all.
Yes! Try the Whistle Shop. If you are prepared to spend about $90-100, I’d recommend the Musicians Starter Set: Two whistles, two CDs and two books, one of which has fingerings under the notes at the beginning of the book, to get you back into reading music. I got this, and it’s been really great, and the whistles are both very satisfying to play.
Robin
On 2003-02-10 14:30, spittin_in_the_wind wrote:
On 2003-02-10 13:53, 2nd Wind wrote:
I may go there, but it’s still kind of far away. The reason I go to eBay instead of many of the other sites that sell whistles is because I don’t have a credit card(Thank God), and eBay will let me pay via money order..
Hello & welcome to your newfound addiction that will soon take over your life if you let it. Take a stroll over to > The Whistle Shop. > They have bunches of inexpensive whistles that you should start on. Do a little searching here in the forum for opinions, praises, & dislikes for whichever whistle appeals to you the most. More importantly for you, they offer the option to send a money order >
In no way affiliated with The Whistle Shop. Just a satisfied customer that’s all.
Yes! Try the Whistle Shop. If you are prepared to spend about $90-100, I’d recommend the Musicians Starter Set: Two whistles, two CDs and two books, one of which has fingerings under the notes at the beginning of the book, to get you back into reading music. I got this, and it’s been really great, and the whistles are both very satisfying to play.
Robin
Wow! That IS a nice package! Both books are great (one is a tutorial with a lot of tunes, and the other is a wealth of really good tunes), and the two whistles are distinctive enough to give you quite a range. The Whistle Shop put a lot of thought into that particular bundle.
I third (or fourth) The Whistle Shop recommendation, by the way. Their service is excellent.
Redwolf
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The best way to learn?
- buy a whistle
- buy a tutorial
- stay off the internet
Hi Touw and welcome to a great new rewarding hobby!
Now, there’s not much more I can tell you that’s already been said. Only this much: Listen to LOTS of irish and scottish music. Listen to it well. Soon you will “know” how the tunes have to sound for them to sound celtic-y.
I myself can’t read music either, not that that’s a good thing, I wish I could, but I’m too lazy to learn it. What I’m saying is that you can play tunes without knowing how to read music, if you can HEAR well.
If you do want to consider learning by ear (as well) then I can recommend an excellent software. It’s called the amazing slowdowner. there’s a trial version on the net, if you wanna order it, it costs 40bucks. It’s really great, check it out:
http://www.ronimusic.com/
Have fun buddy!!
On 2003-02-10 14:24, Bala wrote:
I second The Whistle Shop. I’ve gotten several whistles from them, and they have excellent service and carry a great assortment of whistles. I’d stay away from Ebay for inexpensive whistles. I’m sure there’s the occasional deal, but most of the time they’re overpriced.
You are right on with that one. I was bidding on two whistles.. C & D Clarke on Ebay, when I started looking other places for prices before I ended up paying too much. Ebay lost to the whistle shop by at least $6 - $8! I won’t be doing my inexpensive whistle buying at Ebay ever again. Just maybe drop by there for a rare score on a high-ender that one of you C&F people have put up there