Whistle with your lips!

Whistle
1

Actually, this is about whistling with a whistle…but your lips have a job to do, they can’t just wrap around the fipple and call it a day. Lazy lips lead to bad whistling.

One of the first things that amazed me when listening to really good whistlers was the way they can make notes “pop out,” giving them a heavy emphasis. Then I started really watching them, and I realized that, at the time, when I was playing whistle, my fingers and tongue were about the only things moving; however, on the good players, the muscles of their throat, face, and especially lips were just going nutzo as they played.

Not coincidence.

Grey Larsen writes about this in his “Essential Guide” book, and calls it “whistle embouchure,” but it’s more even than just the lips.

And if you don’t have it and can’t do it, certain parts of playing whistle are going to be hard for you: your playing will sound flat. You won’t be able to add emphasis either on the beat or off of it. Your upper octave will tend to be painfully loud and shrill except on the most forgiving whistles.

I’m still learning the ways to use the muscles of the throat and lips to control the airstream, having realized that the aistream for a whistle doesn’t just go the length of the fipple: it starts at the diaphragm and goes all the way up through you and then the whistle until it hits the blade.

It all starts with a good column of air, well-supported by the diaphragm and abdominal muscles. The jaw, throat and lips control the volume of the air, where the abdomen controls the speed of the air.

I wish when I had first started picking up whistle I had realized this, as I would have come along much faster.

So I’m posting it here as having been one of the most valuable things I’ve learned about playing the whistle.

Disclaimer: my whistling and my music are still very much a work in progress. However far I’ve come, I’ve got that much and then so much more to go. But the journey is a lot more fun, having added this bit of technique to my toolbox.

–James

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I also learned about this idea from Grey Larsen’s book. I haven’t got all the speed and volume and abdomen stuff down, but I do know that thinking about what you do when you whistle just with your lips has really helped me get low notes and high notes. I just didn’t have any concept of what to try. I am not to the point of refining anything yet, but just hitting the notes is better than not hitting them. :laughing:

I do agree that it is a really valuable idea. Maybe to some people the idea comes naturally, but it sure didn’t come that way to me!

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Hmm… I don’t think this topic could have come at a better time… While recenlty making video of me playing the whistle for a friend, I noticed that muscles on my lips and face also moved while I played… I thought this was a bad thing when I first noticed it… Maybe it’s not after all. But, I never read anything yet about this topic, or that doing it helps your playing, and how you sound. I guess this is something I just naturally started doing over time since I started. I’ve never noticed it since these past 2 years, as I’ve never seen myself actually seriously play, untill now. So I guess, my subtle facial motions are a good thing?

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My friends make fun of me because I look like I’m really having a hard time of it when I play. I mean, it sounds good (I think so, anyway :laughing: ) but they say I really look like I’m in pain or something the whole time.

Now I can tell them it’s because I’m talented (whether it’s true or not).

I suppose I need to go read that passage in Mr. Larsen’s book again. I remember it, but only vaguely.

5

So true! Everytime I play, everyone thinks I’m angry or that I look very concentrated, when, I’m usually very relaxed and just enjoying the music!

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i really get into my music when i play,or when i sing. i like to play blues on other instruments , and i express through the music and my face shows the pain and emotions. it was kinda natural for me to transfer it to my whistle playing, so im not surprised that that infact gives the playing. also, if people can see your face, they might also connect with the music a bit better. kudo’s!

7

wow I also have been told that I look angry when playing, now I know why..and I also use face expressions while I play, my way of connecting with the music, but i didnt know that it helps with playing..the things that you learn..

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Yeah, I’ve seen some pictures friends or family took of me playing, and I look like I’m gonna kill somebody… But, I know, I’m just focused on the music, and really just having a grand old time. Music eh? :slight_smile:

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I’ve noticed stuff like this before, myself. For example, my teeth can easily affect the sound of a whistle (especially my Walton and Clare). If the fipple is placed past my teeth, the sound is a little purer, though more shrill. And if I just put the fipple in my lips, but allow my teeth to come together a bit, I get a much breathier sound.

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its really amazing the kind of stuff we find when we just play music for the fact of loving to play!

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I’ve found my eyebrows move around a lot if I’m putting a lot of feeling into it. I don’t know if it’s the feeling first then the eyebrows or visa-versa.

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Does your nose twitch too?