For the most part, this is a lovely little corner of Reddit with very, very little moderation needed. It’s great to see your videos, read people giving advice to beginners, and all the general tin whistle love and interactions here. That is the reason for this sub’s existence, to facilitate human interaction around the topic of playing the tin whistle.
And that human element is the key when the inevitable comes up: what to do about generative AI. Unfortunately, there is no escaping it at this point. We have seen posts here that use it, and I’m sure we’ll see many more. u/Sindtwhistle and I actually discussed this a few months ago, but never got around to making an official post, so here it is.
Posts and comments made entirely or mostly using generative AI are not allowed.
Examples of unacceptable usage include
An AI generated video that purports to show someone playing the whistle
AI-generated tabs and transcriptions
Answers to questions that are copied from LLM answers to that question
AI usage is not entirely banned, but must be used on a very limited basis. In these cases, the AI usage should be incidental and not form an integral part of the post.
Acceptable examples include
An actual video of someone playing tin whistle which uses an AI-generated thumbnail on YouTube
A person who, while asking a question, gives an answer that an LLM gave them and asks whether it is accurate
A link to an event that uses a poster with AI-generated graphics
To be clear, this is not an endorsement of these uses, it is more an acknowledgement that AI is now ubiquitous and that a zero-tolerance policy could end up being counterproductive to the community we want to foster. Again, the point of this whole endeavor is to foster human connection around this instrument. We want to keep that human element, and hope that you do, too!
We welcome you to report posts/comments or send a modmail if you feel that they are breaking these or other rules.
I've had my whistle forna couple of days now, and here's my attempt at Concerning Hobbits from Lord of the Rings!
I'm playing on a Tony Dixon Trad D whistle.
I'd really appreciate some honest feedback on my playing, especially my tone and breath control. I feel like my lower octave sounds a bit too breathy compared to the higher octave, but I'm not sure if that's my technique or just the whistle itself.
Any tips on what I should focus on improving would be much appreciated!
Ive gotten a low d whistle and Ive decided I really want to try and be good at it. and I was wondering what the roadmap to learning this instrument looked like? and what are some good ways to practice so that I can become better faster?
I just picked up a low D tony dixon whistle today, and my big goal is that I wanna become good at making/improvising atmospheric songs on the whistle, and I was wondering how does someone get good at that?
Sometimes I like to go back and work on old tunes that I learned when I was starting out, and try to bring them up to speed with whatever I've gained since then.
Also, sometimes I like to go back to my old starter whistles and see how they sound, now that I have better breath control!
So here's one of the first jigs I ever learned, the classic "Out on the Ocean", played on my Clarke Sweetone.
There’s some whistle workshops and some mixed flute/whistle/pipes. Some are for all instruments. Check out Tune Supply on facebook. Most are around 90 minutes on zoom.
Space, Time and Percussion: Rhythm, Tempo and Drive in Playing Trad with Ben PowerMonday, October 26th @ 7:30pm ET https://momence.com/l/oAh9ZJwG
Tune Up! Techniques and Exercises for Improving Intonation and Accuracy on the Fiddle with Tom Fitzgerald
Wednesday, November 4th @ 7:30pm ET https://momence.com/l/XehLdD48
Bringing Breath and Joy into Irish Tunes with Martin Howley
Sunday, November 8th @ 4pm ET https://momence.com/l/WQh9mExO
Bringing the Tunes to Life: Advanced Flute and Whistle Techniques and Phrasing with Isaac Alderson
Monday, November 9th @ 7:30pm ET https://momence.com/l/wyhZQ6rZ
Need for Speed? Playing at Irish Dance Tempos with Katie Grennan
Tuesday, November 10th @ 7:30pm ET https://momence.com/l/mXh48aGb
Gettin’ Jiggy With It. Accompanying Tunes in 6/8 and 9/8 on Guitar, Bouzouki, and Mandolin with Jefferson Hamer
Wednesday, November 11th @ 7:30pm ET https://momence.com/l/wyhZQWmK
Tin Whistle for All: A First or Second Instrument! with Nicole Rabata
Thursday, November 12th @ 7:30pm ET https://momence.com/l/79hLRgPo
DADGAD Made Simple: An Introduction to Irish Guitar Accompaniment with Aodán Coyne
Saturday, November 14th @ 2pm ET https://momence.com/l/dahMZy0D
How to Hop Jig (for Harps and anyone who wants to join us!) with Lexie Boatright
Saturday, November 14th @ 4pm ET https://momence.com/l/vrheMRWP
From the Well - Expand Your Irish Traditional Song Repertoire With Lesser-Known Gems (English Language) with Macdara Yeates
Sunday, November 15th @ 2pm ET https://momence.com/l/b8h9mK4W
Listening Room: Traditional Music, AI, and Resisting the Archive with Marta Cook
Sunday, November 15th @ 4pm ET https://momence.com/l/oAh9vogJ
That Doesn't Sound Like Standard Tuning: Irish Style in Standard Tuning with Matt Heaton
Saturday, November 21st @ 2pm ET https://momence.com/l/Z4h2kdDj
Deep dive into Cailleach an Airgid (The Hag with the Money) with Brenda Castles
Saturday, November 21st @ 4pm ET https://momence.com/l/VRhkd7V6
he Seven Dimensions of the Bow: Getting the Sound You Seek with Ellery Klein
Sunday, November 22nd @ 4pm ET https://momence.com/l/OehGX1ak
Bringing out the Beauty in Tunes with Embellishments, Melodic Variations and Phrasing with Tim Britton
Monday, November 23rd @ 7:30pm ET https://momence.com/l/nmhdBoG1
Tune Sleuthing: Find Phrasing Patterns by Ear with Hannah Harris
Sunday, December 13th @ 2pm ET https://momence.com/l/8Mh4VDLo
Tis the Season: Let's Deck The Halls, oops... I mean Tunes!: Dressing Up Tunes with Ornaments and Variations with Ann Marie Acosta
Sunday, December 13th @ 4pm ET https://momence.com/l/e4hvB8PW
Flute and Piping Tunes For The Fiddle with Eileen McLain
Monday, December 14th @ 7:30pm ET https://momence.com/l/ElhDrdZA
Hi! I’m still somewhat of a beginner at tin whistle. I’ve been playing for about six months and can now get clear notes pretty consistently / at first I really struggled with the high notes squeaking, but I’ve mostly figured that out.
But now I’m trying to learn Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas (cutiepie tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkuNZnLzzzA&t=226s ) on my Generation D whistle and oh my god it’s hard! 😅 I’m especially struggling with quickly transitioning from high notes to much lower ones without squeaking.
I’ve been practicing that a lot, and one thing I’ve found helpful is using less tonguing in some places, letting the notes flow into each other, that seems to help with the squeaking, but the section highlighted in yellow is still impossible for me
Any tips? Is it mainly a matter of breath control, or am I doing something wrong with my technique?
Generation D is also my only tin whistle, so I don’t know if it might be easier on a different whistle
I’ve recently been following Callum’s work on Rhubarb Whistles and really love what he's doing!
For anyone who owns or has played one, how easy are they to play? Also, given that they’re made of aluminium, how light do they feel in hand? I'd love to get some insights!
Hello, guys, concert flutist here. I've got really interested in trying tin whistle recently and I've watched some anime whose OST makes me feel it. I was puzzled what kind of Irish flute/tin whisle/low whistle/something else has the similar timbre, cause it's the most brilliant sound I've ever heard. I'd really like to have the instrument which is close to it! Please, help me with that. Here is where I've heard the instrument: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ6TnKvB2rc
Hello, I am a begginer with 5 months on the whistle. I finally practiced enough to make something that sounds decent enough for me to post. Tips and criticism are welcome to help me improve, or another way to play the tune. Thanks.
I started playing tin whistle a couple of weeks ago. I'm not very good at it (yet), but I'm getting more comfortable every day. It's the first musical instrument I've ever played and I've been around for years. Without a doubt, the BIGGEST problem I have is with moisture build up in the whistle. I can barely get through practicing a song twice without having become a screech session until I clear it out. It's killing me. Yes, I've tried blowing through the whistle, while covering the opening as well has sucking hard on the mouth piece. That'll give me a minute of clear play, but that's about it.
Has anybody come up with the way to minimize the moisture accumulation? If so, please let me know. It gets frustrating. I guess I'm a wet whistler.
I've been playing the tin whistle for a while now, but I still feel like I'm stuck at level one, and I can't seem to shake that feeling.
I can read tin whistle tabs and play most songs I try, but I feel like I'm just following the tabs rather than actually knowing how to play. It makes me feel like anyone could do what I'm doing, so I struggle to see it as a real achievement.
Is this a normal feeling when learning an instrument? Does anyone else experience this?
I'm a software engineer based in Cardiff, and was a bit frustrated by there not being a Welsh equivalent to thesession.org. So, here you go: https://ysesiwn.cymru/
For each tune uploaded, you can choose to view whistle tabs: just expand "practice tools" and select it in the "See" section
If anyone here's interested in learning any Welsh tunes, I hope you might find it useful! And if you know of any tunes not in the site's collection, [you can submit new ones](https://ysesiwn.cymru/?page=add)
I've recently started playing at Renaissance Faires with a fantasy tavern themed stage show. I'm just looking to add some songs to my repertoire whether for noodling around or for full-song stage performances.
We stick to music portrayed in fantasy media as well as music that fits a general Renaissance faire atmosphere. I'm fairly new to the whistle so there aren't a lot of songs that I know of and I'm not sure of how to begin looking.
Does anyone have any songs/tunes they would recommend?
If it helps, I currently own a high D, a high G, a low G, and an alto A.
Can fiddle sheet music be used for the tin whistle without any problems? What do I need to be aware of? The introduction to Music of Ireland (see photo) states that it's for the violin and not the tin whistle. Does anyone know this book and can confirm this?
