In September last year I became unwell & have had to spend much time off work. Shortlyafterwars I noticed a Kerry low D in the window of a local music shop. I had not touched a whistle for some 15 years, and had never even heard of a low whistle but impulse took over and I bought it on the spot. Since then I have been playing the whistle for an hour or so each day.
Consequently the following has occured:
The stress & anxiety that I was feeling towards life has been replaced by frustration and impatience aimed directly at a metal tube ( I believe that in psycological circles this is called ‘transferrance’)
I have purchaced 7 more whistles. (A ‘Compulsive Disorder’?)
I think that I am a much better player than I really am. ( A ‘Cognative Distortion’?)
I have purchaced whistles as presents for friends and family ( ‘Group Therapy’?)
And finally,
I do not think that any of this is a problem (Denial)
Well, can’t claim any health problems…but I’ll admit to using whistle playing as one of many (reasonably healthful) opiates used to numb my life-long existential angst.
There must’ve been something in the water, or the air, last September, which drifted from zummerzet all the way into Wiltshire. That’s also when I bought my first whistle. Acting on a strange impulse of unknown origin, I picked up a really bad Generation D for 2.99 The notes above 2nd G were so shrill, bats were exploding in the night air over Swindon and my neighbours (fearing my flat possessed by a malevolent banshee) called an exorcist.
Since then I have suffered the same Compulsive Disorder… I now own a dozen whistles. I also suffer from the following as a result:
Delusions of Grandeur: I believe that one day I will be a fine player and my neighbours will boast proudly that they once lived next door to me.
Paranoia: If someone whistles tunelessly in the car-park outside the flat, I believe they are taking p*ss out of me.
Impulse Control Disorder: Someone on C&F posts a review of a whistle and says it’s The One which has cured their WhOA. I immediately order one.
Separation Anxiety Disorder: When I’m not at home and actually whistling, I’m at work and logging on to C&F.
Transferrance: The reason I can’t play like Mary Bergin is obviously because the latest whistle isn’t as responsive as the C&F reviewer suggested it was.
Transferrance By Proxy: Clearly the C&F reviewer lied.
Dysrhythmic Disorder: My Jigs sound like hornpipes played in 3/4. Oddly, so do my Reels.
Somewhat oddly, despite having all of the negative effects mentioned in this thread (only seven whistles? You call THAT compulsive? Amateur!) whistle playing (loosely used in my case, of course) has a strange calming effect on me. I’ve had heart problems for years and stress makes me nervous (which is rather ironic since I’m one of the best achievers UNDER stress that I know).
Picking up a whistle for even just a few minutes rapidly disperses both feelings of anxiety and stress-related symptms such as rapid heart rate and related hysterical neuroses.
It isn’t as effective as a mountain dulcimer. but I’m still working on how to carry one of those around in a pocket.
Just think what i could accomplish with the addition of actual talent…
For me, playing the whistle, flute or bodhran is an addiction. When I play either, either for myself or with others and my playing is good, it is a natural high…an adrenlin rush and I want to it over, and over again. It is what drives me to the next tune and real sense of accomplishment and a deep satisfaction.
Though this thread started semi-seriously, there are interesting answers. My two centavos:
I will say that whistling is a very direct emotional release for me. Having played guitar for many years, I find whistling to be much more immediate with less fussing about strings, and fingers, and tuning, etc etc. I have backed up a flute player in a duo for 24 years, and getting to be the melody person has been nearly personality-altering.
Opening up to a whole new world of the Celtic-y musical style has also been very fun. Playing on the whistle, especially in the upper register, is also very assertive and sharp, as I have been basically a soft and introspective guy on the guitar, having played lots of Spanish Romantic era music and Latin stuff. Hmm…I guess you could say I played “night music” for years and years and Irish/Scots tunes seem like “day music.”
Being able to play along with cds is addictive to me. Time and obligations melt away.
Interesting stuff…it just occurred to me that much of my playing geared toward expressing something akin to emotion if not always emotion itself. Being a male, not in touch with his own feelings, and so forth, I suppose…it’s a guy thing. Music is an acceptable mode of wearing my heart on my sleeve for a time, and I get to put it away and put back on my more dudeworthy mien and regain any compromised street cred. It’s almost like a double life.
