I’ve decided this hobby is driving me crazy and I’m going to line all my whistles up in the driveway and slowly drive over them, as each whistle screams out in agony I am going to laugh with maniacal glee..BWAHAAAHAAA 
I suck,suck,suck at this …I cant keep a decent rhythm..And I cant play one single tune without looking at the music..And forget cuts and rolls…
Alright, make believe I’ve just smacked you across the face; there, that’s better isn’t it! Now pick out a simple tune or two that you like, relax and practice them a lot nice and slow and easy. Got it? Keep breathing…pay attention to the phrasing that you hear…listen to lots of music to get that lilt going…Sing into the whistle…Buy lots of whistles…Go crazy…Never mind…It’s hopeless
PhilO..I realy like that last part…go crazy..buy lots of whistles..its hopeless! I feel so much better now. 
The biggest problem I have is which one to play! I end up trying to play them all during a practice session and THAT is not so productive! I wonder how other of you folks handle the which whistle to play today dilemma?
Now to the subject at hand. Listen to PhilO grasshopper! It is good advice. I remember when I first started to play and that was only like 10 months ago. I didn’t think I would ever play smoothly, I KNEW I would NEVER play a 2nd octave E, let alone a B!!! Well I can do both now with no sweat. It just comes with time. You have to be patient with the process and just keep on trying. And don’t get obcessed with it. Do the best you can at this moment and have fun.
Oh…and I don’t have a clue about cuts and rolls either! Bill Ochs says in his tutorial that the student shouldn’t even be thinking about them for quite some time…surely not after 10 months unless you have been born gifted. (I added that part!)
Good luck..don’t run them over!!
Cheers…AndreaZ…edited for typos!
I won’t think about it now, I’ll think about it tomorrow..after all, tomorrow is another day. Scarlet Ohara
Now then; if you have been trying to play for like four years and you feel this way I would say ya go ahead run them over. But when you go to practice the next day what will you play? Take PhilOs advice to heart, and I would add one thing DO NOT READ ANOTHER NOTE OF MUSIC. Put your sheet music away, put it in the cat box what ever. Listen, think, and breath. Another good thing that I like to do is just make music. Not nobodies. Just your own. Pop your fingers around, jump octives, have some fun, and above all buy more whistles, cause there is always the posability that its the whistles fault. 
Tom
What does this mean: possibility??? 
IT’S ALWAYS THE WHISTLES FAULT!!! 
(I think I’m in denial) 
Hoping you haven’t bought lots of Serpent whistles, C4 - them whistles are gonna just giggle as the car tyres tickle them. grinning
Personally I reckon Blackbeer’s comment is wise - about “what will you play to practice tomorrow?” Because if you care that you suck (and if you have more than one whistle in the first place!) - you will want to have ‘just another go’.
Rhythm - stick to solos where you can show off / enjoy your “own groove”. Or play with a metronome or to backing tracks (I credit my bassist rhythm skills to this - surely wasn’t talent or obssessive practice.) Forgetting cuts and rolls sounds like excellent advice to yourself!
I’m just going through that worry - what to take to Willie Clancy Week? Logically I should only really need one D whistle. At home it’s not a problem, I just grab my current favourite and start playing.
Do I take the Susato because it’s loud, virtually indestructible & totally in tune, or a Feadog because it’s slightly softer in case I keep playing wrong notes. Which Feadog, the black anodised one or the brass one? I have a nice Oak body with a Feadog head, that would sound nice. I usually carry my 2-piece Clare everywhere, but if I have other whistles on hand, do I really need it? For practising outside the class, should I take the Susato VSB or a lower pitched whistle? AAARGH!
I may be in for a rude awakening. I just read that there are no beginner classes at WC Week. Am I still a beginner? How good do you have to be to consider yourself intermediate?
C4 - Rhythm is the most important thing, this was drummed into me at a recent fiddle workshop. If you can play just one note throughout, but inn rhythm, people can dance to it, and this is dance music we’re playing (except slow airs…). Tapping your foot to keep the beat is not merely accepetd but encouraged by many teachers - it’s almost part of the music. Use your feet to set up a beat, and then play to that beat, using scales to practice. Once you have that, try tunes you know, Christmas Carols, advertising jingles, anything you already know the tune to.
Forgetting cuts and rolls is actually a good idea. They can be slotted in later when you have memorised the tune. When you’ve played a tune 500 times, almost enough to have it hardwired into your fingers, you’d be suprised how you’re longing to vary it a bit with ornaments or melodic variations, and because you already have the rhythm established, it shouldn’t throw your timing when you attempt them.
Just play. And play. Tootle around with one for awhile and you’ll suddenly hear yourself playing part of a tune. You’ll jump with joy.
It sounds to me like you are expecting too much from yourself.
If you think your rhythm is off, I’ll bet your trying to play to a CD or something where the other people playing are pros. How could you keep that rhythm?
And where’s the sin in sheet music. I use sheet music. I keep every song I know in a binder. I go them one by one. For many, it’s just to keep order of the ones to play. For others, I need the first few notes to get my finger’s memory going. And still others are too new and I don’t remember at all, so I go note by note.
Eventually your fingers remember each song.
So don’t run over the whistles. It’s not their fault.
You are just expecting too much, too quick.
And poop on the heads of those that tell you…NEVER use sheet music…you HAVE to be able to play with others…you HAVE to be able to play THESE songs.
It’s your whistle, your life, you get to pick what, when and how.
ENJOY!!!
And if you really want to play with others, find a slow session near you. Or make one up. Trust me, you’re not the only newbie in the world. And there is strength in numbers.
Good luck!
Mike
Go get 'em Mike! And don’t forget the “you have to use a billion ornaments or your crap…” argument. Which I have seen on these very boards more then once.
Did Bela Fleck let himself be pigeonholed? Did David Grisman? Ian Anderson?
And don’t pigeonhole yourself either. I know I have spent too many hours thinking “that isn’t the way it is supposed to be…”.
By golly!!!
Hi,
Keep trying, don’t give up!
And YES, USE the SHEET MUSIC. Its NOT a bad thing.
Have you ever seen an Orchestra play without the sheet music?
Keep a binder of the ones you can play, as stated above, and go thru
it every day. If you really insist on memorizing them, it will happen
by itself. Don’t push it; just relax and play and enjoy hearing yourself
and the tune.
A Metronome can help with keeping the rhythm going, but if you set it
too fast is will just discourage you, so the tapping the foot idea is the
best.
Pick little hornpipes first, as they are (or can be) the slowest and lots
are the cutest melodies. They will make you feel that you ARE doing
o.k.
Good luc,
Lolly
Play for the fun of playing. If it is not perfect, who cares? Learn by ear, by music, by listening, just keep learning. The popular oil painting teacher Bob Ross always said,“It’s your world color it the way you want it.” I like that. It’s your music play it the way you want it to sound. In time you will wonder why you ever had a problem. Keep whistling.
Ron
Really? Where? I’d like to flame whoever said that, so please let me know where you saw it on this board.
Thanks.
I’d go along with that - I usually find that I can lip-whistle a tune sooner than I can play it on a whistle, but at least I can hear the tune in my head. I’ve commented on this lip-whistling quite a few times, it works for me, though I don’t recall anyone else using this technique. Translating that onto the whistle is acutally quite a simple step.
A while ago I commented that I found hornpipes more melodically interesting than reels and jigs. Peter Laban raised a virtual eyebrow, but I still like those hornpipes, though a few reels have now permeated too.
Don’t forget that the majority of Irish dance tunes are only 16 bars long with a deal of repetition, so you often only have 10 or 12 bars to remember. Orchestral pieces are generally somewhat longer. 
AHA!!! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!! That is your problem! Try blowing INTO them! None of the books seem to cover that important aspect of the instrument. It is as if they assume you already “know”.
Put the books away and just make up your own music. It will come
The people who post here are dumber than I thought.
This thread went through 13 responses before Stewy stated what was painfully obvious from the original question.
You all are sooo witty. ..Thanks for the encouragment. My whistles thank you as well..I knew deep down in my heart I am really too hooked to damage my babies anyway.I think this is a conspiracy from the whistle makers,maybe they coat the tip with some addicting substance.
I dont have any nearby sessions or get togethers here so I cant get any assessment on my progress, I just know I am not where I want to be. Anyways this board is great and does keep me going even when Im tearing my hair out in frustration… Thanks Cece
C4,
I also don’t think using music notation is a bad thing but unless you are an expert and can sight sing a score then you need to listen to a recording of the tune you are learning. I always have to be able to sing a tune by memory before I can learn to play it. If it’s in your head well enough to sing it then transporting the tune to your fingers is not as difficult. I use the music notation as something to jog my memory. The only tunes I need the music for are the ones I am just learning and the ones I haven’t played for a while and need to refresh my memory.
Also, maybe if you stick the other end of the whistle in your mouth and suck hard enough…nah, nevermind.
Mike B
Well. I may have been overzealous. It is an impression I have gotten from reading several responses to Clips and Snips posts where the commentator indicates that the tune is merely OK but now the player must go that extra mile and ornament.
But I’ll see what I can dredge up to backup my statement even if I have to make one up!
-Blackbeer said it! -Put away the music for a time and play by ear, or use notation just to get the opening phrases/passsages indecipherable by ear down pat. The rest falls into place by ear if you’ve had much exposure to the tune. I need notation to get the sense of a new tune in its first measures, but find it easier after those first wretched renditions to play by ear/memory. This is not a slam on people whose note reading is developed into a real asset, but an indication of my own lack of skill in it.
-Playing by ear for a while may help you get your whistle-smile back.
(apologies to Billy Crystal in “City Slickers”)