Okay, I think I need therapy now. Last night I had this dream that I couldn’t play a whistle for the life of me. I kept trying to interlock my fingers over the holes, or trying to play whistle like instruments, but anyone that heard me would make rude comments or nasty faces. Today, I don’t even want to pick up my whistle.
What does it mean? Am I doomed?
PS: If I’m not doomed, does anyone have any good finger excecises to increase playing speed and accuracy?
So basically you’re whistle doesn’t work. Is that iit?
Steve
Jason,
Sounds like you are suffering from anxiety dreams! Try to relax, enjoy the learning process, and don’t be too hard on yourself.
Take your time, and you will become a good solid player. For simple warm-ups to help dexterity and hand co-ordination try this:
Starting on the lowest note (all 6 holes covered), play
D E F# G F# E,D E F# G F# E, D E F# G F# E…
6 5 4 3 4 5,6 5 4 3 4 5, 6 5 4 3 4 5,…
Then:
E F# G A G F#, E F# G A G F#, E F# G A G F#..
5 4 3 2 3 4 , 5 4 3 2 3 4 , 5 4 3 2 3 4,..
Then:
F# G A B A G, F# G A B A G, F# G A B A G,…
4 3 2 1 2 3, 4 3 2 1 2 3, 4 3 2 1 2 3,…
etc.
Play each pattern slowly, keeping the notes steady and repeat each pattern as many times as you can in one breath before moving on to the next pattern. Gradually, as your dexterity improves, increase the speed a bit, making sure that your notes remain even and don’t speed up on the easy bits and slow down on the hard bits! Work your way up so you do the pattern starting on every possible note of the scale. Good luck!
Sue
I agree, the dream almost surely means that you’re stressing out too much and working too hard on your whistle (or, alternatively, you could be stressing -instead- of working hard, I’ve seen people do that, but it’s less likely. I, of course, have never done so with any topic… yeah, that’s the ticket… 
)
Anyway, I recommend against doing any kinds of ‘exercises’ with the whistle… speed comes by trying to play faster, and eventually succeeding. You can do this by playing exercises, or by playing tunes… and tunes are -much- more fun (usually). Of course, if you get sick of the tunes that you know and still would rather practice speed than learn a new tune, you can do exercises, and I certainly did enough scales until I could do a running-trill up and down both octaves from low D to d-above-high-D and back down. Do not do this when other people can hear you, at least not at first… there’s a -reason- that D-above-high-D is not listed as a possible note in most whistle instructions. Or you could just play around. The most important piece in the book ‘how to play the piano despite years of lessons’ (which I recommend to anyone interested in western music of any flavor on any instrument, for its wit and for its explanation of ‘music theory’ in easy terms for the musical enthusiast … not a ‘made easy’ book by any means, but a ‘made clear’ book…) … where was I? Oh yes, the most important line is ‘As ye fool around, so shall ye find!’ … in otherwords, when lacking for a tune to play, just mess around. Learn which notes go together in which orders and still sound good, and which don’t… even if you never intend to compose a tune, ever in your life, no matter what… it’ll still help train the ear, and prepare for learning different settings of tunes or learning tunes by ear… and, most importantly, it’s (to me, anyway) -more fun- than doing rote exercises. On the other hand if rote exercise are fun for you, well, go for it… some people find repetition like that relaxing, so, that’s cool if you’re that kind of person.
Anyway, I’ve always been able to play the whistle in my dreams, usually at about the ability I can play it in real life, or sometimes better. I’ve also found myself having dreams about taking whistles apart and studying the mouthpieces, inventing new whistle tunes, and so on. I’m sure if/when I build a whistle or two, I’ll have dreams about that too…
–ChrisA
Forget about it, it was just a dream.
Ah, you are obviously suffering from GFPW syndrome (“Gotta Find the Perfect Whistle”) syndrome, a precursor for WHOA. In your dream, you can’t play because they’re not (drum roll please) the “PERFECT WHISTLE”! The only known therepy is to take all your money and buy lots of whistles in hopes of finding one! Try a couple of dozen assorted “cheap” whistles, and several Burke, Dixon, Rose, Copeland, Overton, Sindt, and anybody else on the “high end” category or with a waiting list. Oh, and send me all the “not so perfect” ones!
[ This Message was edited by: curioso on 2002-04-30 12:08 ]
Greetings all.
This is obviously a job for you resident Whistler’s Phsychiatrist, yours truly.
Congratulations! I have found your mental condition to be so profoundly bad that I will take on your case FOR FREE! (As an act of inestimably sacrificial charity.)
Before we begin, make a quick jump to the main Chiff and Fipple menu page. Take a look at the “Braveheart” picture. (I believe it is under the “Department of Communications.”)
In the upper left hand corner is a picture of Mel Gibson embracing an object. Does the object appear to you to be a woman or a duckling/emu? If you see a duckling or an emu, you still have some traces of sanity left.
Regarding your dream, I would first like to take this opportunity to tell you how immeasurably proud I am of you for sharing it. (Remember: admitting you have a problem is the first step on the road to recovery.)
In order to begin to heal, I prescribe this therapy as a good beginning. It should set you squarely on the (aforementioned) road to recovery. Every day when you get up in the morning, look yourself in the mirror and say: Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better on the tin whistle.
Please don’t thank me. I am doing this out of the goodness of my heart.
For more on whistling dreams, see the topic “Recurring Whistle Dreams” which was discussed several weeks ago. Just do a search and you should find it fairly easily.
Nemo Pudsy*, M.D.
Your Resident Whistler’s Psychiatrist
*Not my real name.
[ This Message was edited by: Nemo Pudsy* on 2002-04-30 12:31 ]
Jason,
This is Al Franken.
I would agree with Dr Pudsy’s method but with a slight variation:
every morning, face the mirror and repeat these words out loud:
“I am good enough,
I am smart enough,
and doggone it, whistlers like me!”
So who is Nemo Pudsy? Dale? He’s in that field, is he not?
Just curious 
…and nobody else thought the dream sounded a little…Freudian?
Sometimes a whistle is just a whistle.
This dream means that you either need to
… drink more before going to bed…
…or drink less before going to bed.
Cheers !!
On 2002-04-30 15:38, Cees wrote:
So who is Nemo Pudsy? Dale? He’s in that field, is he not?Just curious >
I am a uniquely wonderful person, just like everyone else. I am also unbelieveably knowledgeable in the field of Whistle Psychiatry. THAT’S WHO I AM.
On 2002-04-30 11:12, jim stone wrote:
Forget about it, it was just a dream.
Yeah, I have to agree with Jim on this one. It’s just a dream and I don’t think they mean anything at all. I wish it wasn’t the case because I once had a dream about Andrea Corr … I think I’ll stop now
Well, HAVING actually heard Jason Play the whistle…
As a licensed clinical social worker it is m.h.o. HE suffers from W.P.A.D. or…whistle performance anxiety disorder.
There are MANY forms of treatment…but My favorite is…1. Relax 2. Have your favorite beverage. 3. Just PLAY the durned whistle. They call it PLAY because its is supposed to be FUN not because its supposed to be perfect.
Well, a Freudian would obviously see the whistle as a phallic object and your inability to use it well we know what that means. A Jungian would see the signifigance of the mandala in the holes of the whistle. You need to center your energies. A Rogerian would just say, “I see, and what do you think about that?” A transpersonal psychologist would suggest a holistic course of action. Perhaps you need completeness by teaming up with a bodhran player. If it is anxiety I might suggest a week vacation from playing and spending it at a nude beach on a Greek island, maybe Korfu or Lesvos.
Okay, if it wasn’t bad enough that I was having dreams about playing the whistle, now my wife is having dreams of being locked in a small room with a bunch of whistlers all trying to hit a high A.
Not sure what this means at all.
Fred Johnson wrote:
Well, a Freudian would obviously see the whistle as a phallic object and your inability to use it well we know what that means.
To paraphrase Freud, “Sometimes a whistle is just a whistle” ;>)
Hello,
I may be totally off in my analysis (I probably am), but it sounds as though, subconsciously, you might have a worry of not being able to play your whistle and thus that worry comes out through a dream.
I haven’t had any dreams like that, but I’m a worrier, so I’m constantly worrying something is going to happen that I won’t be able to ever play my whistle again - I think I worry about this because I love playing the whistle so much. I know, that probably sounds weird!
Peace in the world,
Sara
“Sometimes I talk about Karma like it grows on trees.” - Train
[ This Message was edited by: Sara on 2002-05-01 11:13 ]
On 2002-05-01 10:27, burnsbyrne wrote:
To paraphrase Freud, “Sometimes a whistle is just a whistle” ;>)
Sometimes that’s true but usually a whistle is a symbol for a cigar. Either that or the Eiffel Tower.
Steve