There seem to be several on-line whistle courses, including OAIM among others. I’m talking about the paid part of these courses and not just the free samples, as I am looking to make an investment of both time and money to get better at the whistle but don’t want to play out until I get a little more facility with this thing. Anyone have experience with one of these on-line courses or, better yet, more than one?
Gee, it sure is quiet around here. 
Welcome to the neighborhood.
I have no experience with the current lot of paid online courses. And I am not sure exactly what you are looking for in terms of instruction, however, there are free resources which can give you a lot of what most players need to get going - minus the individual critique dialog. If you haven’t seen them, take a look at the online series presented by Ryan Duns. He taught an introductory whistle course at Fordham and that serves as the basis for his online video series.
The series of videos is available on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6B230B321F47198B
There is also an accompanying blog which has links to notation and comments on the goals of learning each tune. Look for that here: http://tinwhistler.blogspot.com/
Maybe this will draw some comments out on the other online courses from individuals who have used those.
Have fun “playing”.
Feadoggie
Thanks Feadoggie,
I have seen some of Ryan Duns videos and they are excellent and helpful. In fact they are really the reason I got interested in the whistle in the first place. Thanks for the link to the notation as I have been looking for that as well. I am still interested in some of the complete courses like OAIM if anyone has experience with any of those.
And thanks for the welcome to the neighborhood. Nice place you’ve got here.
Bill
I have experience of Oaim and Blayne Chastain’s video based courses. They are both excellent courses. With the former the learning is structured (unless of course you don’t want it to be) working through pieces in order, at the same time as learning ornaments. Blayne’s course is different (though he is working on structuring a foundational course that has the same ordering of pieces). Generally he has a section from which you can learn ornaments, as and when you want to or need to, and then he has a growing library of pieces to work on that are graded in terms of suitability for beginner, intermediate and advanced players.
Although I’m a Brit, I prefer Blayne’s relaxed but professional videos. I find the Oaim’s video a little formal and stiff for my taste but others may view them differently. Blayne’s pieces come, in the main, with detailed teaching firstly of the music without ornaments and then with and with fully ornamented sheet music (using Grey Larsen’s system) to help. Oaim’s teaching I find I little less thorough, but again it may be a matter of taste, and any music they provide is not ornamented preferring a learn-by-ear method. On the plus side, Oaim’s monthly fee provides access to teaching videos on many other instruments too whereas the similar payment to Blayne pays only for access to flute and whistle lessons. And Oaim’s teaching covers more esoteric and advanced ornamentation that many whistlers don’t bother to learn but it’s there if you want it.
Of the two I much prefer Blayne’s lessons and approach though I now find Mary Bergin’s lessons in book/mp3 form to be my preferred learning method. I find her teaching to be more thorough than the two mentioned even to showing you where to tongue notes and where not to. And buying the book gives access to more advanced lessons that will eventually be available on-line in her teaching “club.”
Hope this helps.
Welcome to the whistle forum. You don’t mention where you’re from.
I haven’t replied earlier because I have not taken any of the paid online whistle courses (yet). I have purchased a few book/CD tutorials. And, I’m still newbie-ish after a couple years. I chose to locate whistlers/instructors in my local area… and the instruction has been free. I like free… but I do support the events.
You have to do what you have to do… so they say.
I would suggest utilizing the free resources online to find a style that fits what you like and want to play. And then pursue the paid tutorials, and nowadays with Skype, there are many whistle/flute/piping instructors available so I think its more about what you want to play then just choosing any tutorial. Don’t overlook the flute tutorials as well because there is some overlap that fits with the whistle.
I would also suggest that you (firstly) seek resources in your local area. What interested you in the whistle to begin with? Seek out local players, workshops, festivals, and organizations that play the music you like. A local instructor can offer immediate feedback on your playing, one-on-one, without any technology influences. I’m not discounting any of the online courses or tutorials, if they fit your interests they’re wonderful. The tutorials already mentioned may work out for you. Look for the whistle workshops for beginners… as they may also interest you so here are considerations depending on your location/budget:
http://www.scoilsamhraidhwillieclancy.com/index.html
http://www.catskillsirishartsweek.org/
http://www.swangathering.com/
https://augustaheritagecenter.org/
http://www.oflahertyretreat.org/
Most importantly… have fun! Learning to play the whistle shouldn’t be a chore so keep enjoying it.
Welcome!
Hi Billgh,
I’d like to nominate another free site.
The author is a 30-year Irish musician who goes by the moniker “Brother Steve”. I found his pages very useful when I was getting started. I really liked his narrative on how to “get” ornaments. He shows sheet music, gives sound samples, and explains what the fingers should be doing.
Here are his site and bio:
http://www.rogermillington.com/siamsa/brosteve/index.html
http://www.siamsa.org/pages/bio/Steve.htm
Welcome to whistling !
trill
Thanks Everybody,
I appreciate all of the links. I live in Pleasanton in the San Francisco east bay. There is an Irish group that meets semi-weekly in the next town (Dublin, if you can believe that). I’ve played guitar and mandolin with them before, but I am reluctant to play whistle with the group until I can successfully follow sheet music on the whistle in real time or alternatively pick up the music by ear quickly and accurately. While I don’t expect to have great sound or be able to add much ornamentation in the near future I do want to be able to keep time and follow the melody at least fairly closely. I’ve found with guitar most of what I do is chordal and fairly straight forward. With the mandolin I could always play quietly if I was lost, or just play chords. The whistle seems to me to be pretty loud and hard to hide. Have you all found this to be true? Anyway I’ll start with some of these and I think I may try both Blayne’s lessons as well as OAIM for a month consecutively and report back in a few months. I’ll also keep an eye out for Mary Bergin’s book. And I think I’ll add a good dose of practice to any learning material I try. I do want to join that session sooner rather than later. As the saying goes, I ain’t gettin’ any younger. Thanks again.
Bill
Feel free to ignore this, since it’s rather off-topic and takes issue with the premise of this thread.
As good as I’m sure some on-line courses can be, there’s really no substitute for sitting down with a teacher. Can you really not find one in your area? The west coast of the US isn’t exactly a Irish Trad drought. I know that from sitting down with my teacher every week or so, I learned a hell of a lot more than just technique. There’s so many little nuances about the culture and tradition that will improve and deepen your experience before you even get to the instrument. And with the instrument, what on-line course is going to listen to your playing, help you learn the style and help you develop your own niche within the tradition? For example, my teacher noticed I had a certain way of playing certain parts of tunes, and was always suggesting, “well, now that’s a nice way to do it. Here’s where you can go further…” Or, “Up in the North of Ireland, they play like this, and you could try using a Northern expression for this part…” etc. Anyway, of course your experience may differ, but I found this incredibly valuable and quite frankly irreplaceable in my own musical journey. At any rate, my personal and highly subjective opinion is that if you want to play at a “baseline” level that most traditional musicians would consider, “correct,” an online course will do that for you. But that’s all it will do; it’s just the limitation of the medium. If you’re aiming to really pour yourself into your playing and see where you fit into a larger community, you’ll need a (good) teacher for that.
Anyway, no offense intended, but I hate to see a tradition based on connection and kinship be severed and distributed by the internet. It’s a great way for people who live far from any source of Irish music to at least have some background, but tradition is something I think you have to see in the flesh.