We’re always told that practicing in the solution for most of our musical instrument problems, including the whistle.
I’m interested to hear from people as to what they do for practice. Coming from a classical flute background I grew up with scales, arpeggios etc, exercises and of course pieces. Being new to the whistle I’d be keen to hear what people do in their whistle practice.
thanks
Play tunes, then play more tunes and after that play some other tunes.
Feadoggie
I think you need to throw a few exercises in with the tunes. Gray Larson has exercises in his books, and there is another book for fife players called Better, Stronger, Faster that works on smoothness and scales. But tunes are great too if you stay on the lookout for snippets in tunes that can become exercises. Make a note of those places that trip you up and add them to your exercise regimen. For example I have trouble with ‘pedal tones’ that are found in tunes like ‘Reconciliation’ and ‘Mooncoin Jig.’ I try to do a few of those as exercises.
Classical players are taught to do exercises for a reason–because it works.
Hahaha, that’s funny, but it’s exactly what I do everyday.
yup pretty much me too, not as structured as to when I practise my clairnet
Learn tunes, play tunes. Learn fiddly bits while playing tunes with fiddly bits in them. What’s the use in exercises when there’s a tune with every technique you need to learn in it that you can learn to play instead. It’s much more fun! 
I used to play classical brass so i do know that it’s much more fun from real experience.
I never liked exercises so I don’t often, if at all, do them. Instead just play tunes, play the ones you know already atleast once a day to keep them sharp and/or try to add in some variations. And then just pick a new tune and practice that one.
Some people like doing scales and other exercises but I find it to be boring and it doesn’t give me much incentive to pick up my instrument and play. Besides by playing tunes and enjoying yourself you’ll develope the same skills as doing exercises too while enjoying yourself more.
I keep mine on the desk near me along with some sheet music. When I’m sitting there thinking, I pick up one of the whistles and play ten seconds of a song I’m working on or I might just play nonsense that is perhaps scales or rolls or some other ornamentation. Every once in a while I might try blindly honking out a bit of a tune that I fancy on my CD’s to see if my memory of each note is getting better thus making it easier to play by ear.
I’m very sloppy with my practice. I never play scales, or practice rolls, except in tunes. Somehow, however, I did learn cuts and rolls, though I need more speed with the rolls. I play whatever song is capturing my fancy at the moment. Sometimes I play all the tunes I know, and I can’t do that in one sitting anymore.
And so, in spite of all my efforts, I’ve improved.
I play tune after tune, then practice any tricky parts in the tunes, and then try to add some ornamentation (this part is new since getting The Essential Guide…). I also pick a song I like and practice it a lot until I have it and then I find another and do the same thing.
I agree. (I asked this question once and got similar answers) I would add a couple ideas, though:
Practice tunes at a variety of speeds. Remember that accuracy and “life” are more important than speed. Sometimes I force myself to slow my barn-burner tunes way down and work technique. They always sound so good when I speed them back up after a week or so of that!
Get a good metronome and use it regularly. I don’t like practicing with a metronome, but try to spend part of my practice time with one. It will do wonders for your playing.
Frequently learn new tunes by ear, listening to recordings. Even if you don’t get the tunes memorized, it’s great training for the ears, it will make it easier to pick up new tunes when playing with friends, and it’s fun.
I’m a classically trained brass player too, Freefeet (euphonium), though I generally wear shoes when performing. My whistle practice is a lot less regimented than my euphonium, though I actually love playing Arban exercises–what a nerd. 
Tom
I guess the thing is if I only play the tune, then the tricky part comes around once every minute’s worth of playing, and if I mess it up, then it’s another minute before I get a chance to try again, and if I mess it up, then that’s twice now I’ve reinforced the mistake, so I hope that in a minute or so I’ll try again, but nope, I flubbed it again, so maybe next time round…
So exercises, even if they consist of difficult pieces from a tune, ought to focus your attention better than just tunes.
iam new what i do it is watch youtube vids listen to mp3s read books then try it out . once i can play it a little i add to my book and when i get time i play through my book most days to the end slow but hey whos in a hurry
It took a while, but I’ve finally convinced myself that I MUST play each tune correctly the first time through during each practice. On tunes where I have a known problem area, this means I play that tune VERY slowly the first time through each day, slow enough so I’m sure I can get the difficult part right on the first try. No surprise to the regulars here, going slow is the way to get fast.
All the tunes you already know, the tunes you are working on learning, the scales on every whistle you own, those little parts that are giving you a hard time, the half-hole or alternate fingerings you choose, tunes from your memory that aren’t necessarily in the genre you want to play but that you already know the melody of well, patterns of scales with triplets, doubles, singles, taps, rolls, crans, etc., any little ditty you like the sound of… getting your fingers to know where they are, your mouth to know where the note is, your ear to know what the note is and where to go next… and anything else that gets you more in touch and in tune with the music and the instrument, therefore more comfortable and confident in what you are doing.
edited to correct multiple typos
If there’s a tricky part in a tune, just play the tricky part! You don’t have to go through the whole tune just to get back to the tricky part again.
So, if part B of a tune is a real problem and part A is a doddle, then you don’t need to keep playing part A, just part B. Or even if it’s just a bar or two of a tune, just play that bar or two until you get it sorted out.
Break tunes down into bits and practice the bits that are causing the problems more than the bits that aren’t.
I have 2 sheets - one for jigs and one for reels each with the tunes I know listed by the key. When I practice tunes, I look at the lists and try new combinations of tunes/keys. That way I’m practicing in sets - the way you play at sessions. Sometimes I discover some new, good sets and also some that don’t work so well. Either way I’m learning!
Add some slides. They can ooze back and forth between your two sheets! 
Heck, add some airs. They can evaporate from one sheet, and condense to the other!
Well, gotta polkalong now…
Don’t forget lots of listening.
I practiced cuts, taps, and rolls, but I never learned them properly till I found the appropriate tunes that exemplified them. The most important thing, at least early on, is to find tunes you like. Listen to them over and over, play them over and over.
And make sure you’re three sheets to the wind while you’re at it.