I tried waering my penguin suit to a session once, but the beak kept getting tangled up with my whistle. - and you can only get D, G and C# with your hands inside those wingy flipper things.
The misconceptions that classical musicians hold are one thing, but are you saying some people in the ITM world think that whistle is just a starter instrument?
I suppose it is for some, but our session has a whistle player who plays only whistle and he’s one of the most valuable members of the group. We’d never suggest he’s not playing a real instrument or that he ought to grow up and get a flute or something. That just wouldn’t make any sense.
In my opinion, the whistle adds a great deal to the session and that a session wouldn’t be as good without a whistle player.
I play whistle and flute. I play the flute only because that’s what I really wanted to do. I like the whistle and want to get better at it but I find for me personally the whistle is actually harder to play than the flute.
Well, I am not saying it’s regarded as a starter instrument but the reality is most people move on to other instruments. Very few, if any, only play the whistle. And many wellknown for other instruments are well capable of playing the whistle. Bobby Casey was a lovely whistle player, Jackie Daly has whistles all over the house because they’re easier to pick up than the accordeon when a tune comes into his head. Brid O Donohue, while quite happy thinking of the whistle as her first and foremost, will play the flute mostly when in company. That’s just how it is.
Most people think it is a toy, or a recorder, or a child’s instrument. They also think the Irish flute isn’t great because it has holes instead of keys.
I haven’t played whistle for very long, but I can say that I like it better than I did clarinet (and I liked my clarinet a lot!!). Although I like the flute and pipes, I can say that I have no interest in learning them. I can proudly say (in the right company 
)
I am a whistler player
Go, Tucson Whistler, You Rock 
I am also a raw beginner and having a ball. Give me my whistle and my dulcimer and I am a happy camper. The only problem is, it is pretty lonely in my neck of the woods. There are no other dulcimer or whistle players that I know of
Not ‘acceptable’ to whom?
For many of us, around the world, (not Ireland) the whistle is an instrument in it’s own right. Has nothing whatever to do with childhood, or progressing to other instruments.
For me, Irish music (and the whistle in particular) was the impetus to keep playing music. But “Irish” music is only a part of what I like to play.
I love to whistle, and happily don’t feel like the whistle is superior or inferior to any other instrument. It’s a “simple” invention with a tremendous propensity for pure joy.
Brilliant!
very few flute players can keep up with full speed ITM all through a session. I’ve seen them switch to whistle when the going gets tough. Yes, the whistle is easier to play.
Peter, I am sure you are right. The whistle is a good starting instrument even outside ITM. And historically, many do move on to other instruments even here on C&F. I do think that, at a minimum, the people participating in and running this competition should know that the whistle is well established in this kind of music and that very accomplished adult whistle players do exist.
Personally, I would like to think they would notice that whistles are gaining in popularity and focus, but maybe I’m too close to it. 
I don’t think a whistle is a ‘starter instrument’.
Okay, maybe it’s easier than flute and uillean pipers, but what the heck?
I started playing whistle because I love its sound and its character. I’m not interested in playing uillean pipes and I don’t think I’ll ever be interested, although I like to hear it, of course. The same with fiddle and concertina.
On the other hand, I’m also a ‘flute learner’, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t play whistle anymore, because although they’re similar instruments, they’re quite different too.
I’d like to be able to play both in a good way someday. I think they’re both nice and they complement each other.
If someone descredit the whistle as an instrument, then, that person don’t understand nothing.
I am learning the flute and pipes because I love how they sound, but if somebody didn’t want to I wouldn’t think less of them. I don’t think of my whistles as more beginner and I don’t think I will ever grow out of them. In fact, I love them so much I have to keep them locked in a drawer when I am doing my homework so I don’t get distracted.
Soccer is a ball and a flat, grassy spot. Poetry is verbal rhythm and two words that sound alike (or not). Computer science is turning switches on and off. A novel is one of a dozen or so universal plot lines with a good yarn woven around it.
Fun starts with a simple premise then explores all the possible nooks and crannies.
I like the whistle more than most people on the planet, but maybe not as much as some of the more rabid folk here. It’s great to hear in the session, but it will never bring the meat to the barbecue the way that the flute, fiddle, concertina, or accordeon does. It’s just limited in terms of expression and drive as compared to these other members of the session family. As Peter said, few people in Ireland get on the whistle and stay there exclusively. After all, if you can really “go” on the whistle, what’s to stop you from grabbing a flute and kicking it up a notch? Cheers,
Rob
Yeah the ‘problem’ with the whistle is that it’s a cheap instrument and very easy to get, so you get tons of ‘whistlers wannabe’ around. It seems to me that people tend to play the whistle without mastering it properly. It happens with all instruments, but it seems to me it’s happening a lot more with the whistle… and because it’s such a high pitched instrument, it can go on your nerves quite easily.
I think also one of the reasons why most musicians don’t stick to the whistle is that it’s very hard to lead a set and have the same leadership with the instrument you’d have with a flute, fiddle, box, pipes, etc…
Anyway, I havent been playing for that long, but I just get the impression the whistle is a very, very nice second instrument, while people usually want an instrument with more ‘potential’ as their first. But playing whistle is such a treat. When I’m frustrated at my slow progress on the concertina and weak mechanics I pick a whistle and then suddenly I forget I’m holding an instrument and it’s playing all by itself.
… and the sad but honnest truth is that if you want to eventually get ‘respected’ as a musician, at least with proficient players, don’t stick to the whistle only. (and I don’t mean bodhran!)
Peter, I am sure you are right. The whistle is a good starting instrument even outside ITM. And historically, many do move on to other instruments even here on C&F. I do think that, at a minimum, the people participating in and running this competition should know that the whistle is well established in this kind of music and that very accomplished adult whistle players do exist.
Personally, I would like to think they would notice that whistles are gaining in popularity and focus, but maybe I’m too close to it.
I don’t think anyone has any doubts about how well established the whistle is in Irish music.
I don’t know a whole lot about competitions other than that I think it’s a silly pursuit, but these days it’s something you participate in during your teens at the latest, if at all.
I don’t know what it means the whistle is ‘gaining in focus’. All instruments have seen a surge in popularity, I am not sure the whistle has gained more, relatively, than others.
Seems like there are at least three related topics being discussed:
- attitudes towards the whistle within the ITM community
- attitudes towards the whistle held by the “general public”
- attitudes towards Irish music and instruments, and indeed “folk” music and instruments in general, held by “legit” or so-called “classical” musicians
About the first, seems that within the ITM community the whistle was, in the “old days”, regarded mostly as a stepping stone towards playing a “real” instrument such as flute, box, fiddle, or pipes. And, when old flute players lost their teeth, the whistle became the only option. As such, the whistle was mostly played by the young and the elderly.
Seems to me that it was The Chieftans that helped launch the whistle as a mainstream ITM instrument.
I myself looked down my nose at the whistle for decades. While there were fantastic whistle players, both here and on recordings, that I highly respected, nevertheless 90% of the people I ran into who played whistle were tossers looking for an easy, cheap entre into the ITM world. My attitude was that if they were serious about playing ITM they would learn how to play the flute or pipes or something. Now I know better!
About attitudes held by members of the general public, in my experience they usually respond well to the whistle. They don’t know what it is, but they like the music.
About attitudes held by “legit” (or so-called “classical”) musicians, that varies from person to person. There are narrow-minded and broad-minded people in every profession. Yes there a people who stick their noses up in the air and are dismissive about non-“classical” instruments and music, but for every person like that there is another who is interested in music of all sorts and is open to appreciating various “folk” instruments and music.
I happen to play in a Scottish pipe band that is chock-full with people from “classical” backgrounds. They love playing trombone (for example) and they love the brass ensemble they perform with; they also love the pipes and they love the pipe band. The wise know that music is music, and good music is good music.
Personally, if I heard someone make great music on a kazoo, I’d respect that musician as well as any other. But people do listen with more than their ears; they listen with their life experience. Nothing you can do other than to make the best music you know how.
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The comment about whistles being cheap and a first instument. In most cases yes, but i played classical oboe for seven years (not in a penguin suit as I agree with Mitch on this, the beak does get in the way) with a flute with keys as my second instrument (which i continued playing for another ten years).
The whistle is the instument i progressed to when i became good enough, and they cost more than my flute (i do have very nice whistles). I find to play well on a whistle (paticularly when trying to play classical music) is so much more difficult than on the flute and i swap to flute to hear how the song is meant to sound if im having problems.
So whistle is definatelly my first and favourite instument now. And I dont really care what other people think of me playing it (though a low D wooden whistle does look a little more impressive than a cheap gen). I mainly play with my children anyway and they love it (they play cello and violin).
That’s a remarkably wise observation. Everything is simple when reduced to its basic pattern.
For the record, I play the whistle mainly because I love the sound, but also because it was easier to start to learn. I’m not very talented, and for those of us who struggle a bit musically, we can still produce a beautiful tune on it. But hats off to those who can do more, often much more.