I’ve always been a fan of Irish Pub Rock, and I was listening to Shite N’ Onions Volume 1 last week.(anyone know of it?), and I couldn’t help noticing the fantastic tin whistles. I remembered my older brother used to be big into Ireland when he was my age, and he had some whistles, along with a few begginer books in his room. I found them(along with a Bodhran; my progress on it’s been rather slow), and I started up. I think it’s absolutly fantastic. I’m not very good yet, being utterly befuddled by high notes, but after a week of playing, I’m not exactly going to be an expert, ya know? I found this site, and it’s really cool. I decided to be a bastard and post something like this.
Cheeky’s ok here. Welcome. Join the rest of us urchins of questionable parentage.
Welcome here! Oh, and a quick tip. The sound of most whistles will be improved after one rather unusual tweak: be sure to shove it forcefully through the surface of the bodhran. Not the mouthpiece end, but the other end of the whistle.
Remarkably, the sound of the bodhran will be improved, too. 
Jef
Ah what a fun time it is in the beginning! I remember playing entire afternoons, and spending drunken weekend nights playing in the garage. Ah yes, befor the initiation rites and brandings. Oh, wait. I wasn’t suppose to say that last part.
Your durn’ straight you weren’t. You were given strict intructions to keep that brand under your smoking jacket.
…shite 'n onions…???
Hi Atrus, I’m still a beginner myself (and newbie in the forum). And I also have trouble with the high notes - who can help us out?
Hi Atrus, you are not alone in having initial problems. I’m glad my wife is tolerant, many a lady would have strangled her man for some of my attempts at the upper octave… 
I’ve yet to be relegated to the garage, but give it time.
I’m sure the regulars will join in with sage advice.
Cheers
Cal
Umm…right, then.
Use sage sparingly. A little can go a long way; too much and you WILL have shite and onions.
And don’t whistle and drive. Please.
…about getting them high notes right. It just takes some practice to become familiar with how hard you’ve got to blow to get the higher notes to sound right.
When you’re playing the lower/regular notes, you’ll notice that you don’t need to blow too hard. You will, however, have to blow quite a bit harder to get those high notes. There really is no big secret out there about this subject. It’s just a matter of practicing and getting familiar with your breathing.
Hope this helped…
It really is about practicing. The more you play, the more of a feel you will get for your whistle, and how much (or how little) air you are going to need to hit the higher octave. Also, this differs from whistle to whistle. So just keep plugging away at it, and you will eventually get nice sound in the upper octave. So play until someone threatens you with bodily harm unless you stop! 
Hope that helps, at least a bit!
And don’t get discouraged. When I started I found the high notes almost impossible, too - now, I don’t even think about them, just adjust automatically.
Now, the 3rd octave’s a bit different - but except for (maybe) 3rd octave D, which is still pretty easy, it’s very little used. The second octave doesn’t really take much more air than the first - it just needs solid support. Don’t be afraid of keeping the air pressure up, and (maybe) tongue the first note when you go from the 1st to the 2nd octave.
A decent tutorial (Like the Bill Ochs “Clarke Tinwhistle Tutor” book+CD) is a big help, too. And give yourself some time - I’ve still got a long ways to go, but whenever I get discouraged I just measure my progress compared to, say, six months back. Sometimes you don’t notice the slow and steady gains, but over time they add up.
It’s also a matter of not being afraid of them. When I started playing, I’d go up above High D and think “yow…that’s so loud…that’s so shrill…that can’t be good!” and I’d shy away from any tune that went above the first octave. Well, loud is as loud does, the “shrill” part goes away with practice, and the repetoire is decidedly limited if all you can play is a single scale in D, so I eventually just started “doing it.” Once you’re used to playing high, you won’t be so reluctant to give those notes the push they need.
Redwolf
Is it even possible to play the high notes without being loud?
Ah go on with ye! Starting on the TW is a blast no matter how a person does it!
All I can recall about early high playing is the earplugs and people telling me to blow around the end as well as through it. Took me forever.
Anyway all the best with learning !
I started with a few basic (cheap) whistles and had a hard time with the high notes too. I got a Mack Hoover narrow bore D and everything changed. The Hoover is sweet all the way up and has a nice balance in volume betweent the octaves. It takes very little breath so it is good for learning breath control especially for the low notes. Unfortunately, it does seem to clog up readily especially before it is warmed up but it is a wonderful practice whistle.
And after playing the Hoover for a few weeks I went back to the Sweetone and Walton’s that were so shrill and difficult to control and found that they had improved considerably.
Roger
I have a cheap D one, uh, the black kind… and a Generation Bb (is that cheap too?)
I gots me a Feadog D, Walton C, Guiness C(thats what the label says, I’m nto sure of they actually make Tin Whistles), and a Generation C. All my brothers. I had to do some digging around to find them, but I’m glad I did. I figure I just need more practice. Luckily I got plenty of time and a tolerating family. 
Cheap is not necessarily a bad thing. Some players prefer the “edgier” sound of the Clarke, Sweetones, etc. And you can get one heck of a collection for the price of a grade-school beginner’s trumpet.
Oh, BTW, you will have a collection. There is an affliction called WhOA or “Whistle Obssesive Acquisition” disorder and noone is safe.
Roger