Comparing learning the whistle with learning the pipes is interesting in this regard. On the pipes you don’t have the option of tonguing, or of stopping the airflow any other way as a means of articulating repeated notes. In practice, this means that you have to learn to use cuts and rolls from the beginning to get through virtually any tune. This might sound terrifying, but in fact just leads to different emphasis on learning. For example, the first tunes I was taught on the pipes were the Rambling Pitchfork, the Kesh and Garrett Barry’s, all of which feature prominent rolls - this is precisely why they were chosen. Of course I played them VERY SLOWLY INDEED.
And this is just the point. None of the ornaments used in whistle playing are “difficult”, in the sense of requiring any particularly complex motor skills to perform (although I might leave crans as an exception); it’s not usually the movements themselves that cause the problem, but coordinating them at speed. Most people can play a perfectly good cut or tap in isolation, from the first time they pick up a whistle. The struggle comes in stringing them together. So the solution is to play slowly.
Another benefit of learning ornamentation from the beginning is that it gets you quickly out of the habit of gripping the whistle/chanter too hard. It’s virtually impossible to play a good cut when you’re hanging on to the instrument as if your life depended on it.
So my advice would be:
1 Begin by practicing a long note, puntuating it with the appropriate cut at regular intervals (say 1 per second, getting gradually faster as you you get the hang of it). Repeat with other notes, and repeat with taps. Concentrate on keeping the hands relaxed.
When you’ve got this licked (you’ll find it won’t take more than a day or so, if you’re diligent about practicing properly)..
2 Do the same exercise with rolls (i.e. cut followed by tap). Make sure to practice on E, F#, G, A and B. You’ll probably find that notes where the cut and tap are done by the same hand (i.e. A and B) are the most difficult at first.
I’ll bet that after a couple more days you can perform some good, reliable rolls at a moderate tempo. At the piping club in London, we usually find that absolute beginners can be playing reasonable rolls on all notes after a week or two. AND that’s with learning to coordinate bellows and bag as well - on the whistle, no problem!
Then, pick a tune with some prominent rolls (the Kesh, Rambling Pitchfork, Rose in the Heather, Boys of the Town, etc..). Pick a SLOW tempo and stick to it.
Sam
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Strangely, I think I actually prefer the button accordion sound to that of the concertina, but 'tinas are just so enticingly small and handy in comparison - and that counts too.