Last night, I went over to the home of some family friends to pick up a food co-op order. I thought, “why not bring some whistles and do a little show and tell?”
So I brought five tweaked whistles: Shaw soprano E, Sweetone D, Soodlums wide bore D, Gen Bb and Susato Dublin low G.
When my friends came to the door, I asked if they would be interested in a little show and tell, and they said, “Yes. What do you have?” So I got the whistles out of the car and brought them in.
They had lots of questions about whistles – what they are, where they come from, how they’re different from recorders, etc. I told them about the tradition of tweaking cheap whistles, and my eBay tweaked Sweetone business.
And I played the whistles. I only know five or six, slow tunes, but I play them a lot and they’re sounding pretty good. Although I didn’t play without mistakes, the whistles did sound lovely, and my audience of two clearly enjoyed the concert very much.
What a pleasant experience! I was on cloud nine for the rest of the night.
Did you have any to give them? That’s the best part, when they ask what whistles are, just give them one. I love watching people smile. I just wish I had about five million megs so I could spread whoa around the world.
Show and tell is always fun. I’m in the same boat. I only know about 15 simple tunes but I play them for people (without ornamentation) and they really love it. They never say, ‘You have to be fluent with rolls and cuts or you are a sucky player’. LOL. I had my brother outside on a trampoline about a week ago and I sat on the grass and played old macdonald and allouette and jingle bells and other kiddie songs as he jumped. The birds were singing along with me (or so I imagined) and the sun was out and everything was right. I like times like those.
Very cool, Jerry! Its experiences like that that make you want to progress and play more. Personally, I’m plagued with ‘stage fright’ if I feel as if someone is actively listening, so when I actually pull something off without mistakes (albeit at 50% of the going tempo) it feels marvelous. You might want to line yourself up a bit of time playing at a nursing home or something along those lines. It feels tremendous to play for people who really appreciate the time and music, and are non-critical of performance.
I was watching to see if they would show interest in having a whistle for themselves, but it was clear that they just wanted to listen. These are older folks who have pretty well set up what kinds of diversions they pursue. But I do give away quite a few whistles.
I was watching to see if they would show interest in having a whistle for themselves, but it was clear that they just wanted to listen. These are older folks who have pretty well set up what kinds of diversions they pursue.
Everybody I’ve given whistles to is about my age. I asked one of my cousins if she wanted a whistle, and she said no, but then she came over and made a pretend whistle out of a paper towel roll by and was blowing on it, and I felt sorry for her so I gave her one anyway.
Great job, Jerry. The best part is they forgot their troubles for a while. For me, that’s what it’s all about. If the listeners are smiling, transfixed, or boogieing, I feel like I’m doing my job, and that’s mighty satisfying, no?
One of the coolest ad hoc audiences I ever had: I was playing outside of my work building after closing time, and a toad questing from point A to point B in front of me stopped in mid-journey and oriented itself to face me, apparently listening. It certainly seemed to be paying attention, and stayed there looking at this creature with a very long and Irish call for what may well have been half a minute. Then it seemed as if it remembered something (the hazards of standing still and tasty-looking in the open? Hunger? Both?) and continued in its original direction. Or maybe I just stank (“Omigosh, lookit th’ time…hey, it was great, but gotta run! We’ll do lunch.”).
You go Jerry! Playing for people is the BEST-- it’s the whole other half of the equation of making music. It’s a whole lot better when there are listeners on the other end of the whistle.
It’s amazing how many people NEVER hear live music. If they do, it’s in some concert hall, played by professional musicians. To hear music played live, impromptu, by “regular” people is pretty rare for many listeners.
BTW-- the first whistle I ever had was given to me back in about '71, and I never got around to really learning how to play it until '85, so giving a whistle away now may bear unexpected fruit years from now.
