CONGRATULATIONS
ON choosing to play the whistle. No instrument is out-and-out easy to
play; each has its own advantages and disadvantages, but it might be fair to say that the whistle has a lot of things going for it. One major plus is that you don't need to tune it. (Well, that's not strictly always true, but compared to, say, the mandolin, it's a breeze!) Another two are its cheapness and portability. Next time you see a double bass player struggle into a pub session, take a moment to think what a sensible decision you made. This beginners tutorial is intended to get you started on the whistle, and give you an introduction to Scottish music, as well as Irish and other music of the world on the way. At times you will get frustrated at your seeming lack of progress, but unless you are
completely tone deaf and inept (and I doubt you will be), you'll end up surprising yourself.
The emphasis is on FUN. That's not to say it won't be hard work, but it will be worth it.
Holding the Whistle
Place the tip of the mouthpiece in your lips. If you can, just use your lips and avoid biting the mouthpiece.
Grip the whistle with your left hand and cover the top three holes with the pads of your first three fingers. Your thumb will probably be behind your index finger or your middle finger.
Now cover the remaining holes with the first three fingers of your right hand. Again, your thumb will probably be behind your index finger or your middle finger. Try to have a firm but relaxed grip.
Making a Noise
Say "tapsalteerie" and feel where your tongue goes when you say the tee sound. Now say too or tuh, and then say it without making the sound in your mouth. Say it onto the palm of your hand and feel how there's a sudden blast of air produced after the "t". This is what we need to do before each note, and it's called tonguing. Later on we'll learn that the best way to play is a mixture of tonguing and not tonguing, but for now, every note will be tongued. THE TONGUE STARTS THE NOTE.
Our First Notes
Start again with your left hand covering the top three holes. Blow a steady stream of air through the whistle, firm but not too strong. You'll soon learn the right strength to blow. This note is called G.
Now play three G notes. Saying tuh-tuh-tuh will help you make the right shapes with your tongue.
Next take your ring finger off the third hole down so that you're covering the top two holes of the whistle. Again, blow a steady note. This note is called A. Play three A notes in a row, remembering to say tuh-tuh-tuh. Experiment with going from two fingers down (the A note) to three fingers down (the G note) and back and forth.
Finally take another finger off so that you're now just covering the top hole. Blow the note; this note is called B. Blow three B notes in a row. Experiment for a while going from B to A, from A to G and back again.
You have just played your first three notes - well done!
Our First Tune
Time to change from noodling around with our three notes to making a tune out of them. This is a fairly well known tune called Au Clair de la Lune, also known as Jesus' Hands Are Kind Hands, or Silver Moonlight. Note that at the end of the line of music or the line of notes there are a couple of dots. This is a
symbol in music which means "play the section again", so when you reach the end of the line, go back and repeat it once.
Au Clair de la Lune
Two More Notes
Now we're going to learn the notes E and D. Start off in the first position, the top three holes covered by the index finger, middle finger and ring finger of your left hand (if you remember, this forms the G note). Now cover the fourth and fifth holes down with the index and middle fingers of your right hand, and blow the note. This is the E note. Once you've played a few E notes, put the ring finger of your right hand down so that all the holes are now covered. This is the D note, and in fact this is the first slightly difficult note to play. Chances are you'll be able to play it no problem, but some people find it difficult to play the low D to begin with. Don't despair: it gets easier with experience.
We should now be able to play five notes, and know their names as well: D, E, G, A, and B. There are quite a few tunes we can play with these notes, including Old MacDonald below. Remember, when you see double dots in the music, it means repeat that section once again.
Old MacDonald
Recap
Recap: you now know five different notes on the whistle, and it's important that you know the names of these notes, so your first homework will be remembering these note names: D, E, G, A, and B.
With these five notes, we're now going to learn a nice Irish polka
called Egan's Polka. It's a simple tune with lots of repetitions.
My opinion is that the way to learn an instrument is to play, play,
play. Learn lots of tunes and by doing this, you're going to start playing the penny whistle.
CONGRATULATIONS
ON choosing to play the whistle. No instrument is out-and-out easy to
play; each has its own advantages and disadvantages, but it might be fair to say that the whistle has a lot of things going for it. One major plus is that you don't need to tune it. (Well, that's not strictly always true, but compared to, say, the mandolin, it's a breeze!) Another two are its cheapness and portability. Next time you see a double bass player struggle into a pub session, take a moment to think what a sensible decision you made. This beginners tutorial is intended to get you started on the whistle, and give you an introduction to Scottish music, as well as Irish and other music of the world on the way. At times you will get frustrated at your seeming lack of progress, but unless you are
The emphasis is on FUN. That's not to say it won't be hard work, but it will be worth it.
Next take your ring finger off the third hole down so that you're covering the top two holes of the whistle. Again, blow a steady note. This note is called A. Play three A notes in a row, remembering to say tuh-tuh-tuh. Experiment with going from two fingers down (the A note) to three fingers down (the G note) and back and forth.
Now we're going to learn the notes E and D. Start off in the first position, the top three holes covered by the index finger, middle finger and ring finger of your left hand (if you remember, this forms the G note). Now cover the fourth and fifth holes down with the index and middle fingers of your right hand, and blow the note. This is the E note. Once you've played a few E notes, put the ring finger of your right hand down so that all the holes are now covered. This is the D note, and in fact this is the first slightly difficult note to play. Chances are you'll be able to play it no problem, but some people find it difficult to play the low D to begin with. Don't despair: it gets easier with experience.
Recap