Hi. I got an account on this site one or two weeks ago, but I haven’t been on much.
I am 13. In 4th and 5th grade, we were requiered to take recorder for school. After I graduated from the school, I continued to play my recorder for the next year or so. Then I found the animation The Yuyu, by Adam Phillips and decided to learn the music for it. After a while, I realized that it was played on a tin whistle. I looked them up and read about different kinds and eventually decided on a Waltons D, which I then got for Christmas this year. I am now learning The Old Grey Goose on it.
Welcome Oatmeal!
You’re really lucky to be learning the whistle at your age-- youngsters learn a lot quicker than we old fogies
Try to listen to as much whistle music as you can. That’s the best way to get a feel for what this little instrument can do. Keep us posted on how you’re doing.
welcome to the whistle, oatmeal! i hope you have years and years and years of fun. always keep the whistle fun and you’ll play it until a week after you die!
you will some of the best whistler’s in the world on this forum (i am NOT one of them. i just learned a few weeks ago which end of the whistle to blow into!) learn lots. have fun. play forever!
I often wonder how my life would have been different had I learned the whistle at a young age, rather than as an old man. You’ll have to tell us what adventures come your way because you play the whistle.
I’m curious, why did you choose the name “Oatmeal”?
Check it out! It’s a bunch of old folks living vicariously through you!
Welcome to the forums and to the whistle. It’s a blast to play. Careful you don’t get too involved or you may well find yourself branching out to Irish Flute and Bagpipes, too!
Hey there! I’m 14 and I’ve been playing whistle and flute for about a year, and I’m just starting out on uilleann pipes. Great to see a whistler my age!
One of my friends somehow came up with it a long time ago and it just stuck. It’s what a lot of people call me now. It is kind of weird now that I think about it.
Lots of jigs have a million parts to them, which is annoying, but I found it because it was on the tin whistle wikipedia page.
Do you two always carry a whistle with you in your bookbag or backpack? I would think that kids have a little bit more down time than adults and would have more time to practice. It’s not like you two are driving the car.
Last week the Clarke I ordered to compare to my Waltons arrived. It is lighter and sounds much more soft and muted. It was a little weird at first, but now I think it’s better. It’s more even and less screechy and I can change octaves more easily. The only thing I don’t like is that it looks and feels like a giant chopstick.
Welcome to C&F. I don’t have time to come here often, but I am one of the board’s youngest members and started out playing ITM on whistle when I was about your age. It wasn’t until I started going to sessions in high school that it really took off, though, and my only regret is that I didn’t play my whistle often before then. Best of luck with your whistling. I hope you know it’s very addictive (in a good way)!!
Just to echo everyone, you’re lucky to be starting so early, relatively. Linguistic and musical ability are a bit slower in the acquiring when you get to be an old fart. Keep up with it and good luck!
