I don’t know if this has been covered before, but I was curious as to how many other tinwhistler players are compulsive whistlers (without a whistle). I often find myself whistling tunes - esecially in big stairwells or open hallways.
Sometimes it is a tune I am working on (trad), but more often it is something random (like The Flinstones song, the toys-r-us jingle, the Family Guy song, etc.). The frustrating part is that I can whistle much better on my own than with a whistle.
Just wondering.
Yep 
Even though I’m just learning how to play the whistle, I too just whistle without a whistle. I have fun listening to Tony Hinnigan’s Peso Whistle (to/from work) and whistle along. I can’t keep up with Mary Bergin on her Feadoga Stain 2 CD, but still love the ITM.
Personally I need to hear how something should sound before I can try to play it. So for me whistling without the whistle helps.
Glad to hear someone else does too. Thanks Kerry.
I would agree those TV commercials can get caught in the 'ol noggin. There’s a Hyundai commercial on right now driving me nuts because I have to start whistling.
Scott
There’s some Old Spice deodorant commercials that have whistling towards the end of them and they always wind up getting stuck in me head. I also star to whistle tunes I’ve been playing a lot because they’re just in my head all the time.
Best part of it is, I hear my brother walking around the house whistling the tunes too.
my dad is a whistler, i became one too. i’ve noticed that learning to play the whistle has improved my whistling skills greatly.
I seem to be doing more whistling now that I am learning the tin whistle. On thing I haven’t yet solved to my satisfaction is how to do rolls…
Rolling takes a lot of tongue movement that dries out your mouth really fast. Sometimes I overdo it then my tongue really starts to hurt and if I am stuck in a car I get thirsty with no relief.
yep i always whistling, usually tunes im trying to learn on the whistle. I cant stop whistling sixpenny money a la mikey smiths cd at the moment.
I do, but oddly enough, if I’ve been playing the whistle, it is hard to whistle without an instrument for a while… I guess the muscles are differently used in each case… I often know a tune well enough to whistle it, but not to play it on the whistle, so I whistle along in the session (open, not a problem)… (I’m working on overcoming that silly self-imposed blockage)
Yes, I whistle the tunes I’m practicing. It helps to fix the tune in my head. I am blessed with the situation of being able to walk to work, and whistle down the street. If I have nothing else in mind, then “Banish Misfortune” is a charm against the evils of the day.
A short while ago I was helping someone practice (on their recorder!).
We took a break to look over the sheet music. I pointed the notes out with a finger and whistled them at the same time. She said “You don’t need a whistle, do you!”
I wonder how good one can get at mouth-whistling?
It’s a musical skill, yet it’s seldom developed.
suppose one practiced, did arpeggios, etc.
Is there a way to ornament? Probably not.
I’ve heard some popular music from the '30s and '40s that used mouth whistling as a musical instrument. Those whistlers were real good musicians too. They had fantastic control and perfect intonation. But it is kind of a lost art, at least in recorded music today.
I’m a compulsive whistler too. Nothing helps me get a tune in my head better. I had a music teacher who would make his students sing everything before they played it. He said it ‘internalized’ the music, and that you had to have the tune inside you before you could make it come out of you.
Oh, and check out some of the recordings by Leon Redbone. He uses whistling a lot as well as a thing called ‘mouth trombone’ where he imitates a trombone very convincingly. I also remember seeing a short clip of a young guy who plays ‘mouth trumpet’. It was pretty cool, but I don’t know where I saw it.
So has anyone figured out what “key” they whistle in? As in whistled into a tuner?
I was just wondering the other day … “I wonder what key I’m whistling in”. I imagine everyone is different, but if I were to guess I think I sound like a C whistle (could be way off). And I also think my range is one octave
Scott
Whistling as a real skill sounds cool. You can get going real fast if you are someone who can whistle on an in-breath as well as an out-breath. Of course you’ll probably pass out from hyperventilating at some point.
I’ve heard a whistling choir before at some random state fair thing I attended a few years ago. They were pretty good, and lots of fun since anybody passing by would also start whistling if it was a familiar tune. It’s like handing out tamborines in music class, it’s easy for everyone to get involved.
Scott,
I’m not sure just hwat key I whistle in, but I just checked my lowest really solid whistling note against my tin whistle. My ‘bell tone’ is C natural, but I can whistle all the sharps and flats and have a range of about an 11th. I guess that makes me modal?
For me the worst thing is that I can whistle in one key, but have to sing in another. That doesn’t help much when I’m trying to get an actual song melody down.
i suck at whistling, so i dont do it. i hum though.
It is a recognised tradition here in Ireland,and here is a list of fleadh winners in whistling(mouth):
1966, Tom McHalew, County Roscommon
1975, Paddy Berry, County Wexford
1976, Seamus O’Donnell, County Sligo
1977, Paddy Berry, County Wexford
1996, Michael Ryan, County Tipperary
1990, John O’Connell, County Antrim
1999, Sean White, County Waterford
2000, Frances Donahue, County Galway
2001, Séan Seosamh Mac Domhnaill, County Mayo
2002, Séan Seosamh Mac Domhnaill, County Mayo
2003, Aníde Uí Bhennéis, County Limerick
2004, Aníde Uí Bhennéis, County Limerick
2005, Aníde Uí Bhennéis, County Limerick
2006, Aníde Uí Bhennéis, County Limerick
Deffinitly whistle all the time, if i’m not humming, and I think it depends on which key the song is in, as to which key I whistle in, because when whistling along with songs, I’m in the same key.
It strikes me that one of my favorite CD is by Manhattan Transfer, titled “Swing” in which the singer imitate many different instruments with their voice. To my ears, even with the words, they seem to steal the personalities of various jazz instruments. I have heard some fiddle players lilt a dance so fine I could not keep my seat. I expect that it all depends upon being able to listen. Any way, i whistle, when I can get away with it, and I notice that both of my children have picked up the habit, to one degree or another.
I whistle a lot, and have done so all my life. And yes, I can whistle on the inhale as well as the exhale.
Very often, it’s unconscious, or nearly so - I’m working on something, or thinking intensely, and notice that I’m quietly whistling. I’ve read that the areas of the brain that process music are quite distinct from the areas that control speech and logical thinking, and this would tend to bear it out.
I tend to whistle a little of everything (as others have mentioned, theme songs, commercials, and other random music tend to show up unexpectely) but mouth whistling is a big part of learning a new whistle/flute tune for me. I can’t sight-read a piece and mouth whistle it, but I can pick up a tune by ear and mouth whistle it pretty easily, at speed and with the correct phrasing, much faster than I can master it on an instrument.
For IrTrad, this helps a lot - the process goes something like:
Hear tune & listen until I can mouth-whistle it
Start learning on whistle and flute
Get stuck - refresh memory of difficult phrases by mouth whistling
Get the basic tune down (but with lousy tempo)
Practice mouth whistling tune until I’m sure that I’ve got the correct timing down
Work on getting the correct timing on whistle and flute (sometimes easy, sometimes not)
And I can mouth whistle a new tune while walking, driving, or working.
Overall, I’m not that great a musician - I’d classify myself as low intermediate at best on my instruments - but I am a pretty good whistler.