Hello all, I’m new here as I’m also new to tin whistling. I used to play recorder a while ago, so I know what I’m doing, and I also play guitar which helps with theory and the like.
I just have a few questions that are unclear to me as of yet.
How do you blow into the tin whistle? Do you just blow regularily, or do you do a sort of “too too” thing?
My whistle is a Generation in D, however I heard these whistles aren’t too great and I’d like to upgrade in the future. What other companies that aren’t too rare (available to get in Canada) are out there? The store I went to also had Clarke whistles in boxes, I believe they were made of wood, are these better?
Well, the “too too” stuff, that’s not quite blowing, that’s another thing called articulation. You breathe into the whistle (don’t blow! at least not for the first octave), and one way to separate notes is by making stop sounds (t, d, k, g, etc) with your tongue- this is called “tonguing”. Irish music is usually played with very, very little tonguing.
All the Generations I’ve ever tried have been awesome. My favorite whistle is a Feadog head on a nickel Gen body. The most expensive whistle I’ve ever had is a clarke. If you like your whistle, then keep it
boy did you find the right place. how did you come to have a whistle? where did you buy it? do you know anyone else who plays the whistle? we were all new at one point. welcome.
Welcome Blackfire! I’m rather new to the tin whistle as well.
I think in recorder is much more used the tonguing (“too too thing =)”) than in whistle. Maybe it would be good to practice a little playing without tonguing at all to begin feeling comfortable with it. You will be able to cut the notes using simple ornamentation like ‘cuts’ and ‘taps’.
I have a Susato VSB in D which is SUPERB. I recommend it a lot, and it’s not that expensive (about u$s 38 for the tunable one and u$s 22 for the non-tunable).
I’m the only person I know who plays tin whistle, and I found out about it by listening to folk music, and then looking up videos on youtube of the tin whistle, and I got interested in it.
Does anyone know any fairly simple jigs/reels or anything to help me get started?
Hi Blackfire,
I’m a relative noob myself but I can pass on a few tips I picked up from my instructor.
When you are starting, try to blow in a relatively continuous stream of air - tonguing is usually avoided as a beginner but can be brought in for variety by a more experienced player. You may get a lot of squalks and squeaks at the start but that usually only lasts a few days, especially having played the recorder in the past.
The Generation D is a fine whistle to learn on and you may never need to buy another whistle. (Do a search for Whoa and be warned - I’m playing since august and I have six whistles already)
Try to get yourself a Tin Whistle tutor book and CD combo. they’re not expensive and have easy to very difficult tunes categorised throughout.
Also search youtube for ‘ryan duns’ - he has lessons online.
Good luck and enjoy
Jigs and reels aren’t simple. If you think your really ready I would say the Irish Washerwoman is a fairly good one. It’s the first jig I played. As far as songs that are a bit better for beginners goes, I would recommend the Foggy Dew and the Minstrel Boy.
Blackfire: I recommend you to visit whistlethis.com, there you’ll find some whistle lessons given by Ryan Duns, he’s very good.
Besides, I can tell you that some easy tunes to start with could be “Star of the county down”, “The Foggy Dew” and “Scarborough Fair”.
Thanks to everyone. I already checked out Ryan Duns lessons before I got my tin whistle, and I figured out Scarborough Fair by ear soon after I got my whistle.
I’ll check out week 2 and after for Ryan Duns lessons, and the tunes you guys have suggested, thanks.
Welcome to whistling! Clarke’s and Generations are a good cheap start as well as Feadog and Oaks. As many on this board will tell you, many famous and recording whistle stars play the cheapies very well. If and when you want to step up to the next level, there is a very good one called the Dixon Traditional and also the Susato for around $25 to 35.00. Susato has as many that love it as hate it. No middle ground here. Others are around. Then the next level is $80 to 170. Be Careful, WHOA is just around the corner.
Is it natural for the higher octave to be louder than the lower octave? It’s causing problems when I try to record, cause it clips a bit when I move to the higher notes.
I’ve found for the upper octave that trying to blow air into the whistle faster rather than harder decreases the volume disparity between octaves. Especially when it comes to the high a and b. Some whistles are more balanced than others.
Some suggestions/observations (from somebody who has played whistle for around 30 years)…
About the octave thing, you’ll find that the relative volume, and tuning, of the first and second octaves varies from maker to maker, and sometimes from whistle to whistle from the same maker. The ideal of having completely balanced volume throughout the range is rarely achieved. As far as tuning goes, the traditional Generation-type whistles tend to have a flat 2nd octave so that you have to get into the habit of blowing the low octave softly and the 2nd octave strongly. The tuning can be helped by packing some substance into the cavity under the windway inside the mouthpiece, which raises the pitch of the 2nd octave and also tends to smooth out and sweeten the tone overall. (See the numerous threads on "tweaking’ whistles.)
Also there’s the matter of the scale that’s built into the whistle. Most Generation D whistles have a flat F# and that hole has to be carved out a bit. Some Generations have a sharp G and tape has to be put on that hole (or carve all the other holes, which I did to my Generation C.)
You’ll find that the quality control with Generations is hit-and-miss, and you might have to play a dozen or more Generations to find one that plays well. Look for better tuning between the octaves, smooth high notes (particulary high B which tends to screechiness), and a full round low register. Generations like this DO exist, I have a couple of them.
Or, you can take the plunge and start buying whistles from a lot of different makers in search for that Holy Grail of whistledom, the “perfect whistle”.
By the way, when discussing whistles, people name the notes as if a D whistle were being played, even though in fact a B flat or C or whatever whistle is under discussion.
As you play various makes of whistles you’ll find that the approach to the tuning of the octaves varies from make to make. Susato and Burke have sharpish 2nd octaves so you have to blow the low octave strongly and blow the 2nd octave lightly, the opposite of most Generations. It’s all a matter of what the player gets used to. If you have a good ear you’ll blow the whistle you play into tune.
About playing, the crucial thing about the traditional Irish style is that a lot of the things that on the recorder are done with tongue and diaphragm, on the whistle tend to be done with the fingers. This probably reflects the influence of the uilleann pipes, where the air is supplied by a bag and all articulation, note bending, and vibrato (in short all expressive devices) have to be done with the fingers. So get used to articulating between notes not with the tongue but with either a very quick gracenote above the note (called in Irish parlance a “cut”) or below the note (called a “pat”). People coming from recorder or Boehm flute invariably play these things far too slowly, so that the pitch of the gracenote comes out clearly. With Irish players these things are done so quickly that you dont’ hear a note at all, but only an articulation between the melody notes. It’s very difficult to get the speed quick enough at first. To practice upper gracenotes (cuts) play DD EE F#F# GG AA BB and back down without tonguing, using cuts to seperate the notes of the same pitch. For pats, play EE F#F# GG AA BB C#C# and back down, seperating with the quickest possible flick of a finger on the next available tone hole down.
Combining a cut and a pat in sequence creates the “roll” which is the basic building block of Irish wind playing.
Vibrato is also done with the fingers by most traditional players, on note that finger vibrato is possible on, usually F#, G, A, and B.
Learning to do these things will help you sound like a whistle player and not a recorder player who happens to be playing whistle. (The difference between the two is immediately obvious.)
I used to cut with index and ring finger of the left hand, as Ryan Duns explain in their lessons, but now I’m cutting more with the finger above the note. For example, if I want to cut two D I cut with the E finger, or if I want to cut two G i do it with the A finger.
