How to Play the Tin Whistle
The tin whistle, also known as the Irish whistle, penny whistle and occasionally the fipple flute, is one of the most basic musical instruments in existence and is beautiful in its simplicity. It is a hollow tube with a mouthpiece called a fipple at one end, open at the other, and it has six holes in a line along its length. Notes are sounded by blowing into the fipple and covering the appropriate holes with you fingers. It is one of the easiest instruments to learn, almost anyone can learn to play a tune in a relatively short period of time, but it is also very difficult to master.
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Things You'll Need
- A soprano D tin whistle
- Your hands, mouth and breath
- A desire to learn to play
- A dedication to practice
Instructions
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1
Pick up and examine your whistle. If you purchased a soprano D whistle this means your whistle plays notes in the key of D and that D is the lowest note which can be played on this whistle. If you were to sing the scale in the key of D using Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do then the corresponding notes would be:D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D(# = sharp)
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2
Sit comfortably upright and relax your shoulders.
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3
You’re going to use the first three fingers (index, middle and ring finger) of each hand to cover the holes. Hold the whistle with the left hand at the top closest to your mouth and the right hand below closest to the open end. Using the pads of your finger tips cover the holes from the top down using your left index, left middle, left ring, right index, right middle, and right ring fingers. You do not need to press hard but the holes do need to be completely covered.
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4
With the whistle held as described in step 3 raise the whistle to your mouth. Form your lips as though you were saying the letter “P” and place the fipple between your lips. Gently blow through the whistle. You have just played a D note. Repeat this until you feel comfortable and can reproduce the sound consistently.
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5
Continue holding the whistle as before. Raise the third finger of your right hand, your right ring finger, off of the lowest hole. Blow the note as you did in step 4. This note is an E. Continue lifting your fingers one at at time from bottom to top and blowing gently. When you reach the point where all holes are open and uncovered you will have successively played the F#, G, A, B, and C#. Practice this until you feel comfortable.
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6
The higher, second octave is played using the same finger positions for the same notes with one exception. To play the high D, which is the next note in the scale after the C# (all holes open) you cover all the holes except the top one. With the first finger of your left hand (left index finger) raised and all others covering the appropriate holes, blow as before but increase the pressure of your breath, that is blow harder. You should hear the note “flip” up into the next octave. This takes some practice and it often helps to place your tongue behind your upper teeth and while blowing, lower your tongue as if you were saying the letter “T”.
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7
Practice playing the scale through two octaves. Refer to the chart below for assistance. Black circles are covered holes, white are uncovered. The plus signs refer to the second octave.
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Try playing this simple tune:Twinkle Twinkle Little StarD D A A B B A, G G F# F# E E D
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Tips & Warnings
As I said, simple to learn but difficult to master. The key is practice, practice, practice.
The best way to learn to play the kind of music you’d like to play is to listen to that kind of music.
The majority of music stores don’t stock tin whistles. If you’re lucky enough to live near one that does then by all means take advantage of it. The best bet for most will be to purchase one from an online source. Refer to the website below for an excellent list of internet stores.
An excellent primer for those interested in tin whistles can be found at the Chiff & Fipple website in the resources below.
If traditional Irish music is what you’re interested in playing an excellent place to find information and sources for hundreds of tunes is the Ceolas Celtic Music Archive at the link below.
Whistles range in price from about $5 to many hundreds. Many of the worlds top whistle players prefer the inexpensive whistles over the custom made models. In the hands of someone like Mary Bergin a $5 whistle can sound like it’s made of solid gold. You don’t have to spend a lot to get a good whistle.
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Comments
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I love it.
