I have never seen a whistler marching with anyone, yet we learn marches. Is it because of the obvious safety problem or is it just because a fife, and only a fife will do? Was a whistle used to play marches al fresco with troops in the past? My son is a member of an 1812 Guard Unit, and their fifer no longer fifes. Would it be out of order to whistle them along?
I don’t know that whistlers ever marched with units in the past. I think one of the problems with whistles while marching is in the past they probably weren’t really loud enough to be heard over the drum. So authenticity-wise it probably wouldn’t work. I don’t think safety is an issue - if you can march while playing sax or clarinet you can march while playing the whistle. Just roll your stride so you don’t move your upper body when marching.
If anyone has evidence of 19th century units using whistlers instead of fifers I’d love to see it!
Beth
Well, I realize this isn’t EXACTLY what you mean, but I always bring my whistle along to the peace marches & protests I attend (yes, I live in San Francisco), because it’s nice to keep the mood light & fun by playing music. And I’ve tried whistling and marching and it’s hard. I get out of breath easily. And then we hit a hill and it’s all over…
The RN is right. Whistles aren’t loud enough to be heard over the drums, let alone over the noise of battle. I think very few, if any, American troops would have been playing whistles even in camp during the War of 1812. By the Civil War, they certainly were playing them in camp (but not on the battlefield).
There are certain marching whistle bands in Ireland, notably in Kerry. These bands play their whistles in the second and third octaves in order that the sound carry better outdoors.
My recommendation is that the lad get a fife (the $6 plastic model from Cooperman is a great one to start with). Fingerings in the first two octaves are the same as on the whistle. There’s a web site called beafifer.com with lots of useful information on learning the fife. If I knew where you lived, I might be able to point you in the direction of a teacher. PM or e-mail me if you’re interested in that kind of help.
Jim
P.S. - I saw “way way upstate NY” on your avatar, but to a former Staten Islander like me, way way upstate is anything north of 23rd street. I live near West Point and my old neighbors all say I moved way upstate. I know of fifers in Saratoga, Albany, Ticonderoga, Rochester, etc., all of which could be considered way upstate by some (despite the wide geographic range).
Jim
By way way upstate, I mean around Watertown toward the lake shore, about fifteen minutes from Canada. To us, Syracuse is “downstate” 
Jean (that’s: John in ‘freedom speech’)
I believe I have seen references to whistles being played in the Civil War, but I don’t know if it was as a marching / military instrument, or if they just had a fella or two who played on a whistle from time to time.
I’ll see if I can track down the reference. I’ll post an update here when I find it again.
–James
i don’t know whether it was a joke, but a business partner in ireland, after learning that i play the whistle, said he could get me a place in the dublin st. paddy’s day parade.
so i guess they march…
- tom
We lost our fifer, unfortunately, and his efforts added a great deal to the spirit of the 1812 soldiers. My son plays the saxophone, and y’all don’t have top tell me that’s out of the question. They do make a camp site for the tourists to mill around and ask questions, and now I’m thinking it might be a good place for me to play some tunes. 
Would they have had tin whistles around in 1812 to play at the campfire? Probably no Irish tunes though… 
I would not be so quick to dicard Irish tunes played during the 1812 period. There are a number of tunes in manuscripts from that period. As an example, Saint Patrick’s Day in the Morning can be found in Giles Gibbs book published in 1777, The Jigg is another tune I believe is Irish and can be found in the Greenwood collection, circa 1800. O’Neills music of Ireland mentions Edward Buntings General Collection of the Ancient Irish Music published in 1796.
Some research might find simple whistles made in that period. There are a couple of camps in the authentic vs not authentic areas. Some believe if you can’t find some example of it, you can’t use it. Some, like me, believe that there would be much experimentation and if there was a simple whistle made during that period, I would say that is enough evidence to believe someone would have an idea to add length and holes. There were glass flutes made in the 1840’s.
I have only heard of pennywhistles made in production during the civil war, not to say silversmith’s or woodcrafter’s would not have made limited numbers of instruments. I am going to try to get more information for you.
Might be easier to learn the fife, though.
Thanks fifer!! We have a brass fife, very inexpensive, that I can play to some extent, but the embouchure is still a big challenge, and the sounds are not predictable to put it mildly. It might be fun to play the fife as the fingerings seem the same as the whistle, just across.
You’re welcome, Celtoid.
3 notes:
- For a fife, ask the group to purchase a wooden model for you or them.
- The fife has 3 plus octives. The bottom 2 have the same or very similar fingering to a whistle, the 3rd octive has cross fingerings, not difficult to learn.
- I remembered seeing a Tabor Pipe in a catolog from Lark in the Morning (www.larkinam.com). It appears to be a 3-holed whistle and the description states it appeared in France and Spain in the 12th Century.
I no nothing else of this instrument.