:roll:
I’m just a beginner, and my whistle collection’s quite small,
but I was wondering if it is okay to use my teeth at all?
The books don’t tell me, they don’t even say,
If grasping the fipple with my teeth is okay.
Do you have an opinion? Can you tell me what to do?
For I’m gripping so hard, my lips are turning blue.
Obviously, I’m a rank amateur in more ways than one. (Sorry)
Rod
One more.
No, don’t use your teeth at all. Just don’t do it. Only lips 
To avoid being rank, the answer’s quite plain:
Go take a bath before playing again!
Why bite your whistle? If your lips turn blue,
it’s a sign that you’re trying, but don’t know what to do!
Hold it firm with your lips, but no harder than you must,
Though it feels too loose you should learn to trust,
That “just enough”'s right. If it sounds, with no leaks,
the whistle’s just fine. And it won’t hurt your beak!
OK - enough of that rhyme! But really, hold it with your lips rather than your teeth. Try to make sure that you’ve got a good seal, but that’s about all you need. As long as all the breath goes through, not around the fipple, it’s firm enough. You’re playing whistle here, not sax or trumpet - your mouth has (comparatively) little to do with the sound you get - it’s mostly the fipple and your breath control.
And the looser grip makes a huge difference in how long you can comfortably practice.
Good luck!
You’re pretty good, and I want to thank you for the tips.
I guess I’ll just have to get used to using only my lips. 
(Too many years playing the horn.)
Rod
As long as you’re holding the whistle out at something like a 45 degree angle, you won’t need to put any pressure on it with your lips at all.
And good job to DCrom for that poem!
Such people are described as ‘cannibals.’
No teeth. Best
think of the fipple as a woman…part of her anyway. you must be gentle.
Sometimes you have to if you’re trying to change the radio station while going around a bend.
jb
OH MY!
Good idea huh steven? 
I am going for a full set, does anybody want a half set…
…of teeth that is 
MarkB
I have to plead guilty to gripping wid my teeth sometimes. I know I shouldn’t do it, but otherwise I too find myself gripping hard with the lips (or worse, gripping with the teeth but with my lips between teeth and fipple… Ow!).
I could try to deny it, but all it would take is for one whistler to glance at the plastic heads on my instruments and I’d be busted. I’m trying to break the habit by practicing more on a Clarke original. Much harder to do the dreaded teeth thing on a Clarke…
you will enjoy playing longer, if you learn to play without teeth.
you will enjoy playing longer, if you learn to play without teeth.
And we may well enjoy having teeth longer if we learn to play without teeth…
I’m just thankful I don’t play one of those heavy metal (material, not genre) low octave whistles - I’m English and our teeth are bad enough already, as any Simpson’s viewer will know.
The dreaded teeth thing I don’t want to do,
So a new Clarke I will purchase, on advice from you.
The habit I’ll break long before it’s begun,
And whistle playing will continue to be fun!
Actually, it’s way way more than just fun; it’s ADDICTING!!
Rod