I’ve been learning the low D whistle for about six months, also a high Bb at the same time. I would actually like to buy a Low F for more variety but my question is simple: it is easier/better to learn to play the whistle focusing one one instrument/one key only (and diversifying later) or to have a few whistles of different keys and the resultant challenges of changing between them. What are your thoughts?
Yes and no. I believe it depends on your motivation, your goals and what drives you to learn and keep playing. What would make you spend the most time playing - more whistles? Some people make progress best on one whistle. Some players need the challenge of multiple whistles in different keys to keep them going.
I played a high D and a high C for 20+ years before I started buying additional keys. Irish repertoire doesn’t require much beyond a good high D. Other music traditions might require different keys. If you play song accompaniment you might need one whistle in each key available. What music do you play and want to concentrate on?
I will add that going from one whistle to another before you develop good technique and a decent repertoire on a single whistle can be self defeating. I’ve coached a few players that only learned a few tunes and not well that just kept reinforcing their poor technique on new whistle after new whistle. Concentrate on getting new tunes not new whistles for a while. Six months isn’t a very long journey. How many tunes do you presently have?
In my experience learning the whistle is more about the tunes than it is the whistles. So regardless of what whistle you play, learn the tunes well. Another whistle or another key doesn’t usually improve ones playing. What’s that Lance Armstrong book title? “It’s Not About the Bike”? Well, it’s not about the whistle. Just my opinion.
Another alternate view of things might be that a player acquires tunes from CD’s or the Internet and they learn by playing along. If that player doesn’t want to deal with pitch shifting they might have to acquire a few whistles in different keys to play along with the recordings. Mary Bergin has probably kept the sales of Gen Eb whistles going for a few years in that regard. And Lunasa (as well as others) have driven the market for low F whistles in a similar manner. So if that’s how you roll, buy your low F and learn “The Last Pint”. Just get those tunes down well.
Feadoggie
I’ll second that!
Thanks Feadoggie. That’s helpful, but my position is not quite so simple. I’m not really into straight traditional music per se; most fast reels and jigs do little for me but they take up the vast majority of any whistle CD and seem to be the way most written tutors go to begin with . . .easier in many ways, I guess, than airs. Consequently, while I practice them, I haven’t learned or tried to perfect any in particular. I was drawn to the whistle initially and primarily by Davy Spillane (finding a few others like Marc Duff & Eoin Duignan along the way) for the haunting airs/tunes he manages to get out of a low whistle. My primary whistle then is a Goldie Big O low D with large holes which is a bit of a beast for a beginner but I’m getting there with it and it does produce some wonderful sounds even though with practice I know there will be much more. I’m trying to transpose some of Davy’s tunes to “practice” them but no way can I get anywhere near his sound/tone/anything at my stage of playing. So I’m wondering whether a Low F with smaller holes and breath requirements would allow me to focus more on getting technique right and getting some reels and jigs under my belt; though I don’t especially like them maybe they ARE a good and necessary stepping stone to playing the slow moody stuff. I also have a Generation Bb but prefer to be practising on a low whistle since that’s where my interest is. Any more thoughts would be appreciated.
Please keep in mind that I’m in no way trying to say anything controversial here. OK? I do understand your dilemma as you describe it but I would offer that the whistle player doth protest too much.
Spillane drew many of us to the low whistle. He and Cormac Breathnach pulled me in that tonal direction many years ago.
The music of Davy Spiillane is firmly rooted in Irish tradition. His technique is based on a lifetime of playing the music you do not find particularly appealing. (which is fine and understandable) So perhaps it would help to “walk in his shoes” a bit, so to speak. I doubt Davy just picked up a whistle one day and instantly sounded like he does these days. So how did he start and what path did he take to get him to where his technique and sound were fully hatched? Doubtless he had instruction and he likely built a base of traditional repertoire well before he crossed the Atlantic Bridge. That is surely the foundation that allows him the to play as he does. (So maybe take up the pipes! 
)
That’s not faulty thinking, IMO. You shouldn’t have to struggle with your whistle. A low F isn’t necessarily going to be radically lower in breath requirements from a low D though. You still need to drive a whistle to get the most out of it, IMO.
Most low F’s would offer smaller hole sizes than your “big O”. But please realize that a low D does not require such big holes to play well. The physics predicts that bigger holes benefit the second octave tuning and response of the higher notes. Notes at the pitches played on low D’s don’t need to be that large to do their job, IMO. So maybe another low D layout would work for you. But we all have different preferences.
If a low F helps you playing more and longer then that’s probably a good thing.
That’s not very long. So stick to it. You’re probably playing better than I did after six months. Don’t you wonder what Davy Spillane sounded like after six months at it? Of course he was probably a youngster then and I doubt his hands could handle a “big O” either.
Feadoggie
I don’t think it matters much.
If you have several and spend your time divided, then you’ll learn some about each one. If you have one and focus on it, then you’ll learn more about it, and less about the ones you don’t have. Kind of like if you had two guitars or two pianos or two cars.
It also depends how much time you have to practice. The more time you have available to practice the more easily you can optimize the benefits of using multiple instruments.
the greatest danger of a variety of whistles is the lure of becoming a whistle collector instead of a competent player. i am speaking of course more to myself here . . . i have been collecting whistles for many years - but only really started devoting myself to playing them in the last couple of years.
I have about 15 whistles and my problem is deciding which one I like best. Lately though I have been trying to concentrate one…trying is the operative word:)
Feadoggie’s response is spot on. As someone who has just completed his third year of dedicated practice and whistle playing and who had a modest amount of lifetime (60 years) experience playing guitar, dobro, recorder, various drums, voice etc. I can say that I found two specifically different useful motivations to play whistle. I started off by acquiring several instruments in different keys so I could experience which key and whistle were most comfortable for me. I then found that if I focused on a particularly key and whistle for an extended period of time, usually practicing for one hour more or less five to six days per week, I made tremendous progress. But I also found that I moved between instruments from time to time as I found a particular characteristic or tune that I wanted to learn. That is what kept me fresh. I play a lot of ITM but not exclusively. All this variety allowed me to focus on just playing as often as possible.
I’d advise you to get hold of at least one well made high D, one Bb or A and one Low G, F, or D. I don’t know how one could possibly settle on one high D though. 
YMMV and others herein will likely disagree.
Those three instruments will afford you the opportunity to experience a full tonal range and get used to the differences in feel and breath requirements.
Right now I’m stuck on a Copeland A that I just can’t put down. And I just today received my first ever Humphrey from Gary. A low E which is a new key for me and it sounds fabulous. So it goes.
ecohawk
I can relate. I’ve been collecting whistles for quite a while but only playing for a few months. For me the fascination started with collecting ( I collect everything ). I usually play at least 2 or 3 different whistles a day. But even if I never become a great player I still enjoy whistles from the collecting aspect.
I’m about where you are in experience. My first whistle was a Dixon D and I tried to teach myself but became very frustrated with overblowing. I play the GHB so it is quite a transition going over to a whistle. I finally got an instructor who convinced me to try the Low D since I already know the piper grip. I bought a Chieftain V3 Low D which has a little closer spacing to the Low D hole. It took a while getting used to this but now its very natural. I also learned to control my breath and now I play the Dixon D without the issues I had before. I use both almost equally when I practice. For learning new tunes I use the penny whistle like I use the practice chanter when learning new pipe tunes, once I have it memorized, I take the tune to the Low D. I find this much easier for me to concentrate on my fingering and phrasing technique and not have to be bothered with trying to learn the tune. Its worked well for me and has helped me improve on both whistles.
I just received a tunable Goldie Alto F on Monday and couldn’t be happier.
Frank
Thanks for the input. Addressing Feadoggie’s reply first, I wasn’t actually protesting but attempting to draw you out more on your thoughts. First, I don’t actually need the Big O but, seeing that my love is in the slow moody stuff, and of course realising that Spillane plays a big hole Overton, I tried both the Big O and the standard Goldie Low D before ending up buying both. And, wonderful though Colin’s standard Low D is, I just love the tone of the Big O; it makes the standard sound positively thin by comparison which of course it is not. Add to that the increased ability to do half-holing and more subtle note-bending, and I have everything I want in a Low D. But it is a little more challenging for a beginner to play than the standard is. With 13mm & 11mm holes it is difficult (now at least) to play anything but relatively slowly, easier to miss covering the holes properly. But now the standard Low D seems somehow redundant (I’d much rather pick up the Big O if I’m going to play a Low D) and I’m wondering if I shouldn’t trade it in for that Low F I was talking about, a whistle that I could perhaps focus on for a while getting technique right and learning some reels etc and which sounds really good. What do you think?
I like what firnatine says. That sounds good to me. It will probably continue to play my Generation Bb to work out tunes or learn them. Anything higher is too shrill and loud in the upper octave for me. Then I could practice on say a Low F and return to the Goldie Big O when I’m more proficient.
With those three whistles I think I would be pretty satisfied. I can’t afford WHOAD for one thing. And if I did come into more money, apart from the slight temptation to buy a Lochlan, I would probably want to invest in some Skype lessons with a low whistle instructor. l
If you have two expensive low whistles in the same key and you /always/ prefer one over the other, then I’d sell the one you don’t prefer and buy a whistle in a different key.
I thought all high D whistles were shrill and too loud in the 2nd octave until I got my Mellow Dog. Actually that’s not really true, because my Great Grandfather’s whistle is positively sweet and quiet throughout it’s range. But it’s a C, not a D.
Good advice. I’ve been in touch with Colin and, bless him, he’s prepared to take the standard Low D back in exchange for a Low F. That will give me Low D, Low F & Bb . . . but the Mellow Dog does sound interesting too!
I’m always of the opinion that each whistle you play tells you something different about your playing. My advice is to play a lot of whistles (play, not necessarily buy) and watch yourself get better at all of them.
A good idea perhaps but when you live where I do (it’s not the end of the world but you can see it from here) there’s little chance to play whistles unless you buy them!!
One thing I’ve done is play ‘Scarborough fair’ changing whistles on each verse (keeping to the key of course). So, my black Clarke to my feadog to my Walton to my meg. It’s probably a better exercise for your own learning than to perform in…