After ‘lurking’ for a couple of weeks in this forum - it’s time to bite the bullet and admit my new obsession and join in the discussions.
“Hi, my name is Bill and I’m becoming a whistlaholic…”
A few weeks ago, I picked up a kit from Lee Valley (a Canadian speciality chain) that contained a Clarke Meg and a tutorial book and CD by David Harp.
I’m just getting to the point where I can play some simple tunes without butchering too many notes.
My question is this: It seems to me like breath control is my major challenge in producing clear, clean, “pure” notes. Is this just a matter of practice and experience or is there some tricks or tips that can help with this?
I’ve enjoyed reading thru the past posts in this forum and know I will benefit from whatever guidance you can give.
First off, welcome to our little niche in cyber space!
Secondly, I have no idea if there are tricks or not…for me, practice is what has helped me with my breath control. I do agree with Cran though…a few more whistles NEVER hurts, especially when you need to practice more
The one thing I found is to pinch in your cheeks as if you were sucking through a straw. Slight differences in how much you tighten your cheeks make a big difference in the speed of the air stream.
Angelo
Seriously, once you’re hooked you’ll be acquiring more and more whistles obsessively. Like me, I have more whistles than the tunes I can play!
If you have questions, be sure to ask Crystal People still lurking in this C&F board. They can help you find a better whistle////slgoius987g6579g–sdfage5e7g7"(“$')”%CHIFF
I will first say that you need to make sure you have a good whistle so that your breath control is not just compensating for a poor whistle and I have found that it helps to practice concentrating on breath control on its own.
I picked up 2 new whistles on the weekend - a Clarke original D and an Acorn D.
The Acorn is horrible - I may have to try ‘tweaking’ it.
But the Clarke original is great! I can get much cleaner notes out of it than the Meg; and even though I require a ton more practice to be able to play ‘across the break’ well, at least it doesnt sound like I’m performing a vivisection on a duck when I jump it to the upper octave.
Thanks for the concern, Amar; but I love living on the edge!
Just this past weekend I ripped all those little tags off every mattress in my house. Then I returned a video tape WITHOUT rewinding it. And I finished off my weekend by going through the ‘8 items or less’ checkout in my grocery store with 11 items.
You have already recieved a lot of knee-jerk reactions about getting more equipment. (admittedly I would have suggested getting more whistles too) If you really want to try more breath controll there was an exercise I used to practice while developing both lung capacity and breath controll.
While walking a brisk pace, take in a full breath over four steps. then out for four. Do this a couple of times being mindful to start completely empty and end completely empty. Take note of the halfway point while filling up and letting out.
Then start increasing the time for letting out.
In for 4 out for 6
In for 4 out for 8
In for 4 out for 10
In for 4 out for 12
In for 4 out for 16
Increase by 8s until…
.
.
.
In for 4 out for 64 (this one is really tough. you have to work up to it.
Then go back down and try go the oppositi way
In for 4 out for 2
In for 4 out for 1
In for 2 out for 2
In for 2 out for 1
In for 1 out for 1 (repeat about 8 times.) Remember, All the way in all the way out.
Then sit down from hyperventilation.
Sounds goofy but it will give you excellent breath controll while increasing air capacity. (the idea of playing a jig in one breath actually becomes a possibility. not to mention a spectacular party trick)
This tip is probably one of the Top 10 bits of info I have gleaned from this forum in over 300,000 posts. My breathing practice is generally tied in with my playing, but this method can be practiced anytime, especially when I am stuck in traffic and need to take a few deep breaths!
if you look you can see she has hairy legs or she could just live somewhere where that is the norm.