It's a tough time being a beginner!

Whistle
1

Hi!

I’ve been lurking in this forum for a while, and decided to register in order to get some help from the whistling experts. I always loved the sound of the tinwhistle and recently bought a Feadóg D Whistle, along with a tutor book. This little book has helped me with the basics, and provided some tunes for pratice. I am on week 2, and used to play recorder in middle school, but I feel I have reached some end road and have some problems:

  • My fipple gets to moisty. I feel like I am dumping all of my saliva into the whistle. This leads to a rash sound shortly after beggining to play the tune. I was thinking that this might be due to me usually tonguing every note: a bad habbit?
  • Is it possible to “change octaves” without tonguing? I have tried and never done it smothly. Fingering problem? :confused:
  • Any tips for playing high A’s and B’s? I need to blow really hard to get them, and they don’t sound good most of the time. :frowning:
  • Are slow airs a good way to gain skill with the whistle? I’ve tried to play a jig, but I have a hard time to pull them off. Mostly because:
  • I have a problem with remembering the notes…especially in the jigs and waltz. Which is odd as I play guitar and don’t really have the same problem, though whistle tunes do have a higher frequency of notes :laughing: . How do you guys learn your tunes?
  • Playing by ear: a must?
  • Can you suggest me some good pratice tunes? For reference, I am having trouble with the welsh tune “The ashgrove”, mostly because of problem 3 :frowning:

Thanks for reading, hope you can help me. :slight_smile:
Sorry if the topic is in the wrong section.

2

Hi Dandelion, welcome. Let me make a suggestion …

Eagerness is great! But this a bit of a barrage - each of your questions is a topic unto itself. So I’m going to lock this thread and give you a chance to prioritize your questions. Then you can repost them individually over the next week or so and expect some specific answers and pointers.

Also, don’t forget the search function here (also Google site:chiffandfipple.com). Many of these questions have been covered in detail before, some recently. For example, a search of “tonguing” will turn up a great deal of … advice. :wink:

If you have usage questions, PM myself or Nanohedron. Thanks and good luck!