I am in serious need of some advice. Let me first introduce myself. I am in my 60’s, have never played an instrument, and doubt whether I have any musical ability whatsoever. However, I love Irish music and would like the opportunity to play it. I chose to play the tin whistle because I like it and it appears to be relatively easy to play. I’ll have to go it alone, I’m afraid, as I doubt there are any instructors nearby.
I bought the Feadog kit with D whistle, tutor book and CD a couple of years ago. My problem is very basic. I can get consistent B, A, G notes, but F# not so much. E and D notes are always an adventure, often shrill or with the notes “breaking” or “garbled.” I’ve concentrated on the fingering and blowing without much success. When I first bought the whistle, I practised for 2-3 months and finally gave up in frustration. I took the whistle out again today after finding this website and the problem is still there.
Is this mechanical error or pilot error? Can an inexpensive whistle of this sort be the fault? Are there other whistles that are more forgiving for beginners? Or is it me? It’s hard to understand how I could be having so much trouble with something so basic. Any ideas for me. Thanks.
G’day Wuness…
I wonder if condensation could be the problem ( one of 'em anyway ) ? ..
Blowing warm air into a cool whistle causes condensation to form on the insides of the whistle.This results in notes being hard to get and not sounding too well.
After you’ve played for a few minutes,cover the rectangular part of the whistle… where the blade is ,with a finger, and give a couple of strong toots of air through the mouthpiece.This will clear out any unwanted moisture.
Could be worth a try…
You wouldn’t happen to be left-handed? If I read it correctly, your troubles are with the notes of the ‘bottom’ hand? In addition to controlling condensation, give the plastic piece a twist to see if it’s loose. A loose, leakey headjoint can cause problems. Also inspect the edges of the plastic and the inside edges of the fingerholes. Are there any odd, extra bits of plastic or metal present? Everything should be neat, clean edges.
Where are you located? If you fill in your Location profile, maybe we can direct you to a local resource. It sounds like what you need most is an hour of hands-on basic instruction in holding, fingering, and blowing the whistle. Chances are that your whistle is perfectly fine.
Meanwhile, you can start by viewing Ryan Duns’ beginning whistle lessons on YouTube, starting with Week 1:
Pay very close attention to his hand and finger positions (flat fingers, etc.). That will probably solve most of the problems you describe - which are probably caused by not covering the holes properly.
You need to cover the holes completely by pressing down with the soft squishy pads of your fingertips, and you need to feel the holes under your fingers. If your 60 year old skin is a bit hard and dry, try a bit of hand lotion before you play to soften things up.
From your description, it sounds like the more holes you have to cover the worse you sound, which hints that the problem might be that you’re not covering all of the hole(s). If air’s leaking somewhere, you won’t get a note.
Try closing the bottom three holes with masking tape, and then see what notes you can produce. If you can get a note now, you need to adjust your fingerings until you can reliably cover the holes every time. That comes from nothing but practice. Do it enough times and your finger muscles will learn what to do and you’ll never have to think about it again.
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On the other hand, if sealing the holes with tape doesn’t change anything, then you’re probably overblowing. Try again, and s l o w l y increase the stream of air from almost nothing - ie, too little air to get a note at all - until you find the absolute minimum air pressure that will make a stable sound*. Practice until you can put the flute to your lips and consistently produce that amount of pressure. Do this exercise with two or three fingers down - A is usually the most stable note on a whistle or wooden flute.
When you can do that consistently, try the slow increase in pressure from here, paying attention to when the note starts to sound ragged, and how the tone colour changes. At some point, you will be blowing hard enough that the note jumps to the upper octave. Practice finding this point the same way as before. Every fingering/note will have a very slightly different set of pressure threshholds, but the general pattern is the same for all.
*If you ARE overblowing, you might find that this note is an octave below the notes you have been producing - some people find the upper octave first and struggle to find the lower. For others (and in all the how-to books) it’s the reverse.
Thanks for all your suggestions. I will address the maintenance issues and I have added to my profile. I watched the first 5 lessons of Ryan Duns and became excited again. In one of his early lessons, he demonstrated some of the sounds that can be made when some of the lower holes are not covered properly. They were very familiar to me. So it’s back to square one with fingering excercises, then on to “Twinkle, twinkle, little star” and beyond. Thanks again for your help. I’m looking forward to picking up the whistle again.
wuness
P. S. I’m German and Polish by birth, but I’m Irish by preference.
Hey, My ancestry is German & Slovak. My grandparents immigrated to the USA. I have managed to NEVER EVER call them the irish whistle and irish flute in front of my maternal relatives. I always call them the pennywhistle and the simple flute. No sense in upsetting the elders.
Excellent, glad you find the lessons helpful and inspiring. Ryan is a fine player.
Galesburg, IL … According to past posts, an hour north of you in Davenport you’ll find piper Jon Cooper and whistler/fluter Frank Claudy. They host an Irish session in Davenport, and Frank is also a teacher. For current info, you can contact Jon via his user profile e-mail here on the Chiffboard:
An hour in the other direction, you could contact the organizers of the annual Erin Feis in Peoria, who might refer you to other whistle players and teachers in the area.
No sense doubting. Pick up a whistle and prove it to yourself, and everyone in the house including pets. Then open the window and educate the neighborhood.
No worries, we all blow clinkers in the beginning. Stick with it.
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