New Fellow Saying Hello

Whistle
1

Just got into the whistle (well, not literally…that would make me a tiny little fellow, now wouldn’t it?) and am having fun learning. Once upon a time, I played the concert flute, so it’s been easier than I thought to get the hang of fingerings on the whistle and get back into the groove of sight reading music again.

I’ve been playing around with a Clarke Sweetone tweaked by Jerry Freeman, and I just ordered a few more whistles to try out–a Walton’s Little Black D (Andrea Corr, eat your heart out), a Dixon Trad. Brass D, and a Dixon Tunable Polymer in D.

Can’t wait till those three arrive. I’m assuming I’ll eventually need an entire wing of my house devoted to whistles, so I’m already lining up building contractors to interview for the addition work.

No, I don’t look as good as Andrea when I play (see below), and no, I still don’t quite know who the C-people are. However, I’ve already benefited from posts here and over at thesession.org, so I thought I’d register and say thanks.


2

Welcome, and definitely be careful about getting into the whistle – did that myself a few years ago, and it’s been a tight fit ever since.

What tunes are you learning?

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squidgirl, just simple tunes. Some worked out by ear (like Amazing Grace), a few tunes from the Clarke book by Bill Ochs (The Parting Glass, The Eagle’s Whistle, etc.) and a couple of tunes from the online tutorials by Ryan Duns (so far, The Dawning of the Day and Egan’s Polk).

Funny how the brain works. On the guitar, I tend to learn by tab and place a heavy emphasis on memorization. But because I studied the Boehm flute and sight reading together when I was very young, I find it a lot easier reading the music for the tin whistle. Just on the simple tunes, I tend to forget them more easily because I’ve learned them with an eye on the notation. Just need more reps, I guess.

4

A cross-fippler, eh? Welcome. :party: