I just thought it would be interesting to hear how YOU got got to play the whistle. Who or what inspired you? Where were you?
I myself, have always loved irish folk, and the whistle is an instrument you can take anywhere.
About four years ago i sailed with six new friends, on a 100 year old 50ft wooden ship, from Norway to Shetland. Sailing with the wind on her maiden voyage across the North sea was quite an experience. A couple of the guys on board played an instrument, one of which a whistle, so we spent a lot of time singing/making music.
It was on Shetland i bought my first Gen D, and proceeded to annoy everyone on our voyage home. I haven’t stopped playing the whistle since.
WOW you were on that boat
I saw a documentary on TV last year about it and was so impressed.
What a challange.
On a slightly smaller scale I was on a canoeing trip last year and a friend brought along a couple of her whistles, it was great having some music of an evening and that was me hooked
There was a documentary made a few years back, unfortunately i wasn’t on that trip. I think they sailed to the north of Norway, if that’s the one you saw?
It looks like we have water, boats and whistles in common. Great backdrops! Fantastic memories!
‘t Was at a folkfestival about three years ago were friends of ours, who play in a folkband, starting playing on the campsite. People with instruments gathered and started playing along. I then said (encouraged by too much Belgian beer) : “By next year, I’ll play at least one song with you guys.”’
I then started to think about an instrument : had to cheap, lightweight and not too hard. I therefore picked the whistle. Cheap and lightweight, yes. Easy, eeeh, no !
But I did manage to learn one tune so I could play along (thanks to the indulgence of my friends). The funny thing was, when we finished, I received a massive (though totally undeserved) applause from people who had heard me make my vow the year before. The innocent bystanders who knew nothing where totally bewilderd why such a bad musician (and I use the term lightly) should get even the tiniest bit of applause !
Well, I was a 5-string old-time banjo player with an interest in tenor banjo. I’d also always liked “Celtic” music and found out a guy I had gone to high school with played flute at the local session.
But, I was too broke for a banjo, and found out the whistle had fingerings VERY similar to the saxophone I’d played in marching band in high school. So, I got a Sweetone, and fell in love with whistle so much so that for a while my interest in tenor banjo waned. Now, almost 2 years later, I’m still whistling, but a lot of my time is spent trying to learn flute and banjo at once.
My husband put a Clarke Original in my Christmas stocking. I fell in love with it, but I’m pretty sure he regrets giving it to me. He thinks it’s too high pitched, but he still lets me hold him hostage when I learn a new song. What a good guy!!!
Walked into an Irish shop on the eastern shore of Maryland. They had Waltons with a book so I got my hubby to but it for me as an early bday gift. No I couldn’t wait till my birthday to play it so that was it for me! Fits nicer than a baby grand on a boat too!
I was visiting my brother out state, and he was watching Celtic Woman on PBS. I was really impressed with the women’s voices and their ability to sing and blend so well together, although I’m still not sure what to think about the rest of the “group”, except the whistler, who had a whole set of metal whistles - and that was what started my interest in whistling.
I later learned that while I was in Texas watching PBS, Cherish the Ladies played in Knoxville - 40 miles away from my home!
I was a wee lad of 8 years old growing up in Belfast, an old fella across the street used to send me to the shop for a quarter loaf, half a pound of butter and a tin of sardines. I would sit and watch as he made a sardine sandwich, eat it, and then play me a few tunes on the whistle. He taught me the basics and how to play by ear. I learned lots of tunes, grew up, forgot about the whistle, learned other instruments and then came back to the whistle. I still find that a tune comes out of me that I had long forgotten about, it is just magic when this happens.
Good morning whistlers!
Like Belgium Waffle (a friend from the sessions) I live in Belgium and have to go way back towards my 18th or 19th birthday when I visited Cambridge folkfestival. I was blown away by Vinn Garbutt a singer songwriter and whistler. I was fond of his album : youg tin whistle pest and on arrival home I bought a cheap high D and did virtually nothing with it having no example or teacher to guide me through the first steps. I started life and met my lovely wife Karen who was also very fond of the celtic way and music and we started out to go to festivals and Scottish/Irish fests. Later in life I became a Bodhran player and I think I am not the best player but also not the worst so I amused myself at sessions near Gent where I live. Belgian Waffle’s teacher pulls those sessions and I became again interested in the whistle, could play a few tunes but never “decorated” them with the little spices for which Irish music is known. I found a teacher in Holland who is the same age as me and I like his style:slurring the notes and toss them around to make the final tune. Now I am at the stage where I can’t let go of the little instrument and feel the urge to play it every time I go pass it. I am glad I followed my instincts to play it even when it took me a while to get started, but the saying goes : better late then never. All the best to all!
Ron
I bought a Clark or a Generation years ago when I was a teenager. I was blowing to see what sort of noises I could make that would sound nice and ended up working out the first few bars of Amazing Grace. I gave up on it after a while, and not being a very religious type, threw that whistle away at some point. Focused on guitar for a little while, sold the guitar to my mate who still has it…Gave up on that. Moved on to Harmonica…Gave up on that. Still have a Harmonica that was given to me by my grand dad when I was about four…Wonder if it could be classed as an antique now . Came back to Guitar, got good, bought a decent one…Then gave up on that . Came back to whistles about a year back and have started getting serious about them for the last three months. We’ll see what comes of it this time around…I still love my guitar and play occassionally but a whistle will be easier to carry on the motorbike .
when i posted this thread, i thought it would be really interesting to hear everyone’s different stories. i loved the tales already sent, I’m sure everyone’s got something different to tell.
I’m surprised the lack of reply’s
Maybe i should have written about cheapies/expensive?
I’m in the folk group at church. One Saturday night, the keyboard player’s son-in-law from out of town joined us. The sound was great and it seemed like such a simple instrument. Whistles and flutes work really well for church music.
When I was about 14 or so, I went on a school field trip to Old Washington Park.
One of the stores had a jar of Clarke whistles–the old kind in C–and I bought one, I think it was for $3 if I remember correctly. (This was almost thirty years ago.)
I had no clue what to play on it; in concert band, we had been playing a piece by Leroy Anderson based on the Rakes of Mallow tune. At the time I’d never heard Irish music, knew nothing about it, but it seemed to be a nice little melody that would fit on the whistle, so I learned it by ear.
That was my first whistle. I still have it, though it’s in bad shape and won’t really play anymore.
It was to be years later that I first encountered Irish music, and years after that when I started wanting to learn to play it for real.
It was 1987 or '88 and most of my friends were metal-heads. I was a sax player with a bit broader range in tastes. I particularly liked Jethro Tull at the time and would also catch Thistle and Shamrock on public radio. Anyway. I got dragged to some vintage guitar shop in Northfield, Minnesota by a friend looking for some guitar. (Most my friends were guitar “players”, nearly as obsessive as whistle players). I was entirely bored after what seemed like hours when I noticed small basket of plastic whistles on the counter. They were way out of place in this shop, so of course I was attracted to them. I realized pretty quickly that the fingerings were basic sax. I noodled on that sucker for about three hours while my buddy haggled about some guitar deal or another. The proprieter ended up giving it to me for free. (Probably because it had a couple hours worth of spit in it). I bought an Oak a couple week later.
My big revelation came when, about two years ago, I finally started messing around with computers and surfing the net or web or whatever. I was so happly to find so many people who shared what seemed to me such an esoteric interest. I haven’t played the whistle with anyone for the twenty years I’ve been playing. I just can’t seem to screw up the courage yet. I will, just not yet. I’ve learned a lot more reading the posts on this site than I have from all the books I’ve had over the years. Thanks to all.
In 1978, I heard Steeleye Span open at a Humble Pie concert in Houston, TX. I learned a couple of the songs, but did not really go anywhere with it. Then, in 1995, I heard The Chieftains on a recording, and I was hooked from there.
When I was in school (thousands of years ago) I picked up a recorder and how-to book on a lark. I learned a few tunes then put the recorder in the closet. Fast forward to my mid-50’s. I reviewed my mental bucket list and decided it was time to learn a musical instrument. I pulled out the recorder and started practicing. I looked for recorder music but much of it is Renaissance/Baroque/Classical which I’m not much interested in. I stumbled onto C&F, bought a Feadog and got a copy of “Song of the Irish Whistle.” The rest isn’t history yet, but we’re off to a great start!
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. Came back to whistles about a year back and have started getting serious about them for the last three months. We’ll see what comes of it this time around…I still love my guitar and play occassionally but a whistle will be easier to carry on the motorbike 
.