I went to a irish folk gig for the first time this week and it inspired me to try and learn the whistle.
I’ve bought a Clarke original and a Walton to try and I have to say I really like the ‘woody’ sound of the Clarke.
Anyway I’ve read the forums and it seems to be the consensus that Bill Ochs book is the best for the beginner. I’ve ordered this mail order.
In the meantime can anyone recommend any sites with Whistle Tab so I can get learning some tunes. I’ve found some with sheet music but I don’t read yet.
Also please recommend some good tunes for learners. I love slow tunes (airs?) at the gig it was a version of ‘She moved thru the fair’ that really got me thinking ‘hey won’t don’t i learn to play the whistle’.
I don’t know of many sites off the top of my head that have whistle tab in addition to standard notation, but there are a few here on the Whistle & Squeak:
That might at least get you familiar with which fingers go with which notes.
And of course - this is a whistle, basically just up and down for a major scale - so try picking out tunes by ear! That’s the way to go. When I first started, I found that a lot of Christmas carols were easy to pick out by ear; very familiar and simple melodies.
With ABCExplorer you can print ABC files with whistle tablature for whistles in all keys. You can download the software for free here: http://abc.stalikez.info/abcex.php/
ABC-files can be found all over the net but The Session is always a good place to start. http://www.thesession.org/
One of the best things you can learn at this stage of the game is how to use the C&F search feature.
Up top, in the list of options under the header, you’ll find “Search”. When you get to the entry page, put in “whistle tab”, and be sure to check the “search for all terms” option.
Voila! Umpty-two discussions that will have info for you.
Nobody here is an idiot… well… at least not often , and it’s my conviction that nobody needs to be belittled.
It’s amazing how long it took many of us to actually recognize the value and convenience of that search function. Just sharing a bit of hard-earned wisdom.
The problem with newbie questions on here is that you may get newbie answers… Moral of that story is, be ware.
I’m no expert, far from it, but I didn’t have anyone teach me whistle, or the music. I learned through desire, self-discipline, online sources, billions of trad cd’s, some books here and there which is all good and fine, but what I found to be the best “teacher” was recording myself, and listening to my own playing, seeing if it sounded like the better players. (trad of course) No reverb or any fancy business, straight, raw, Eric’s whistle playing. Boy when I first did this, it was a real eye-opener. Made me realise I needed to take some steps backwards before I could go fowards, and I strongly believe it’s helped improve my playing. Even so, I’m still currently not totally impressed with my playing, and I doubt I ever will be, however it’s that discipline, that always has me striving to better myself.
I still record myself, like I said it’s such a good method of seeing how your playing really sounds, like what could I have done here, or how could I have done this better, things like that. Course, if you have a good teacher, you probably don’t need to mess with that.
Well, I never played an instrument all my life until about 5 years ago this January… So I never really understood or valued the methods of learning music until I started playing myself. Still haven’t stopped learning, and I never will!
Agreed, learning firsthand from more experienced players can definitely be the best resource for learning. Assuming they’re nice, and know how to pass on the information smartly.
, and it’s my conviction that nobody needs to be belittled.