So, I was sitting on my porch today playing the whistle, because it’s spring. The Occasional Saturday Mailman, whom I don’t know, was so taken by my whistling that he made me write down website addresses where he could buy a whistle, and the names of tinwhistle CDs.
I am very flattered, because I’m a beginner (OK, about two years, but I’m a slow learner)–I mean, my rolls have only been rolling for a few months, and my A rolls are still crappy, that kind of a beginner. Even so, there’s something about tinwhistling in the spring.
I bought my first whistle after I went to a concert at my son’s high school. Before the choir came on stage, while people were getting seated, there was a whistler in the front of the gym. I realized immediately that the whole purpose of my life was to play the tinwhistle. So I sold everything I owned and bought a sweet-tone on the internet for $2.95, and the rest is history.
I grew up with my Dad being a Highland Piper. I was constantly exposed to Celtic culture and music which, naturally, cultivated a love for such things within myself. He is also a historical re-enactor and so I was constantly exposed to old styles of music. He happened to play whistle when he wasn’t piping and I picked up his whistle one day(I was maybe 11 or 12) and started playing “the minstrel boy” by ear. I learned several tunes by ear and when I entered middle school I learned how to play sax and therefore to read music. Naturally, armed with the knowledge of notation, I took off with the whistle. Fifteen years later, I’m still in love with whistles.
When I was 25, I saw a package which consisted of the Bill Ochs tutor, tape (in C) and a Clarke original in C. I think it’was about $25, and I thought “that’s not much to have lost if I find it impossible”.
A little later I saw an article on a new ‘school’ of Irish music in Montreal, and went to find out about it. I discovered the whistle teacher (Nancy Lyons) was a former student of Ochs in NYC, so I signed up for her class.
And it worked.
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All my life many things have come very easy to me, particularly anything that happens in words. I just get it without having to work all that hard.
Learning to play music was the thing I did in order to prove to myself that I could learn something that was hard; that I had no innate talent for at all.
I persisted despite the slow progress I was making in comparison to the other students in the group. I could tell I was making progress, even if no one else could, and that was enough to keep me going on.
What got me into whistling was an initial interest in the Uilleann pipes. I was reading the FAQ on Seth Gallagher’s website and saw that while you wait for your pipes to arrive(approx. 2.5 years), you should take up the whistle to get a feel for the songs and to have some basic musical knowledge before taking on the beast. So I read all I could about whistling and ended up with my Feadog, and most recently, my Dixon Trad. The whole thing has reopened my eyes to music as I had grown bored with all the instruments that I already play.
I honestly don’t remember… Scottish music was always listened to in my family, Irish was pretty natural to me then; but I don’t remember ever taking and interest in Irish music. I remember reading about tinwhistles on some web page; and I remember seeing one at the store and buying it cause it was cheap. I don’t remember when ITM came into it; I mean I’ve always known it was there but I don’t remember ever consciously “getting into” is. It just kinda grew.
I honestly don’t remember… Scottish music was always listened to a bit in my family, Irish was pretty natural to me then; but I don’t remember ever taking and interest in Irish music. I remember reading about tinwhistles on some web page; and I remember seeing one at the store and buying it cause it was cheap. I don’t remember when ITM came into it; I mean I’ve always known it was there but I don’t remember ever consciously “getting into” is. It just kinda grew.
i always wanted to play music, especially celtic. i tried piano, harp, guitar, mandolin, and concertina. but none of them were for me. i really never thought about playing the flute or whistle, becaues i thought people would laugh at me for playing such an instrument as the whistle. i saw a clarke at a music store and bought it, the moment i played it, i just knew that was the instrument for me. everybody in the world has an instrument for them, just a lot of people never find it. well, this was the instrument for me. i am always playing it, i never had any real influences or music instructions except for the one in the clarke box, i just played songs by ear and using my own types of ornaments(that i thought i invented lol). but then i got some books and cds to learn more, and a lot of the ornaments i thought i made up were in there. so there is the story of my whistle finding and loving every bit of it.
Years ago, I saw the Chieftains on Saturday Night Live on or near St. Patricks Day. I had no idea who they were, but I NEEDED to learn how to play that stuff. I already played recorder, so whistle was the natural choice.
Many years ago I went on a vacation trip to the Pacific Northwest. I was in the aquarium in Newport, Oregon and heard this soothing music as background music, most likely Native American flute. Later during that trip I was in Pike’s Place market in Seattle and there was a vendor selling clay flutes. I thought to myself, great, I can learn to play the tune I heard.
I picked up one of the flutes, and of course, nothing. The vendor gently suggested I try an ocarina. I bought one with a fish painted on it. I started with that. Some time later I found the Bill Ochs whistle kit and tape in a bookstore. Since that time, I have played almost every day. It has been such a blessing to me, and I have shared my music with many other people. I’m not much for the Irish tunes, mostly I play my own compositions.
Finding Chiff and Fipple open up a new vista. I was a one whistle person for so many years, now I have ten whistles, two keyless flutes, one Native American flute, and a recorder.
I have been playing music since I was six. I got my music degree from SF State in classical guitar and played many concerts as a soloist and in a flute-guitar duo. I also sang a lot and even wrote songs.. I was manager of a music store for my day job in the late 70s and bought a Feadog and Larry McCulloughs old white tinwhistle tutor, where they sat at my house for quite a few years, with periodic attempts to play.
In the mid-90s, I got into a folk group, doing historical music of California. For Gold Rush gigs, I started using the whistle for some of the tunes and bought different key Gens. I had always liked trad music, but owned more Scots than Irish cds and was a big fan of Battlefield Band and Ossian . I went to the Scottish Games and really liked pipeband music and even thought about playing Highland pipes.
Sometime, maybe around 2001 or so, I really wanted to play along with a Patrick Street record with the whistle. The tune was one version of Lad Obeirne’s reel. I found CF that year, got more information and started whistling for real. Through CF, I met more players, went to whistle parties, got more whistles, etc etc. In 2002, I joined a “celtic” band, more Scots than Irish, but it was fun till it broke up in 04. I am currently music director of a historical music group and we gig a fair bit, but am not playing Irish music out anywhere.
My wife bought me the first whistle, just last Christmas. But for years I had been talking about wanting to take it up. I’ve always loved the sound of a slow Irish air on the whistle. It’s melancholy in an affirming way, sort of like my ancestors themselves, I think. Something about the music transports me and I have a need to produce it somehow. Anyway, I’ve been working at it and I’m making some progress.
BTW, where in the world is anyone where it’s spring!? In Michigan it’s still pretty frigid.
Blue skies, green grass here. Flowering trees, mostly cherries and ornamentals. Apples haven’t popped yet, but getting close. Probably 70 today at its warmest.
Our family always goes to the Florida Renaissance Faire and my wife must have noticed how much I hung around Eric the Flutemaker’s booth.
Years pass and many visits to the Faire and the booth and a Soprano D ends up wrapped up for me for my 41st birthday. So it’s her fault - God bless her!
That was what did it for me. I heard Eoin Duignan play a slow air in a pub in Dingle, Ireland, and I wanted to be able to make that kind of magic myself. I’ve been hooked on Irish slow airs ever since. In Irish music, it’s 99% of what I listen to and play. I love how they sound on my Bb and A whistles.
I’ve been playing flute since I was 11, but my interest in Irish traditional music began about ten years ago, when I was given a Feadog by a friend who spent a semester studying in Galway. I learned to play the Road to Lisdoonvarna poorly, and then killed the whistle trying to tweak it. (Better, better, better, ruined.)
Then five years ago I saw Cherish the Ladies (Father Charlie Coen opened for them), and I decided it was a waste of my life not to learn Irish music. The past several years have been the most musically satisfying of my life.
I was thinking about taking on a second instrument to give me a reason to learn sheet music and maybe give me a different perspective for playing my main instrument, the guitar. I saw a locally produced photography documentary one day, where the photographer was taking a picture of a guy about my age sitting on calton hill in Edinburgh playing a tin whistle. Dunno what he was playing but it sounded great and didn’t look all that hard.
One quick trip to my favourite online instrument shop had aquired me the bill ochs book and a clarke D package. Just wish I could put my guitar down long enough to play the thing…
Well…I have Irish blood and this has always facinated me
My Grandfather on my dad’s side was Irish. I have lived in England all my life so I’ve never really been surrounded by Irish musicians. I do remember celtic music being being sort of in the background, like when I was younger I remember watching Riverdance whenever it was on T.V!
My interest grew when I started listening to The Corrs. I always found that out of all The Corr’s albums it was their instrumentals that I loved the most.
Then recently I found YouTube and starting searching for random artists that I liked, I typed in The Corrs and noticed Andrea Corr played the Tin Whistle. I thought it sounded awesome and did a search to find out more about them. I also did and search ‘Tin Whistle’ and found that there were lots of people who had uploaded videos of their playing, this really inspired me
I’ve always wanted to learn an instrument. I’ve ‘dabbled’ with a keyboard on and off but could never really afford lessons and never really thought about teaching myself. The past few months I have been listening really intently to all kinds of music wishing I could play an instrument. The Tin Whistle seemed perfect for me! It’s small so I can take it anywhere! I can just pick it up and play it, It’s not an instrument that takes effort to set up (I’m lazy like that).
I’ve been playing for two weeks now. My mum used to play the guitar and I suppose you could say I’ve inspired her to pick it up again! She’s teaching my brother to play too! We’re currently learning Scarborough Fair.
It seems that spring never comes to the vast, frozen tundra of upstate New York
I’ve been “musically inclined” for most of my life. I started out with voice…all the training and whatnot that involves that. I was actually going to go to college for it (even more formal training, perhaps operatic type stuff), but in the end went for Biology I also played flute for a few years, but I was never all that good at it. I would love to try an Irish flute.
I’ve always had a passion for Irish music, even when I was young. I’ve just gotten more passionate as the years wore on. I bought my first whistle about 4 years ago, and now I have 5. Unfortunately, time doesn’t allow me to practice nearly as much as I’d like, so I too would more than likely be considered a beginner. My A rolls stink too
I also played flute for a few years, but I was never all that good at it. I would love to try an Irish flute.