To play a tin whistle well you must use good form. To start, hold the whistle
so that your thumbs are on the bottom, and your fingers are covering the holes.
Your left index finger should cover the top hole, and your right ring finger
should cover the bottom hole (if you are left-handed, you can reverse these
directions). Your other fingers should cover the respective holes in between.
From here on in this manual, I will refer to your fingers from the top down
according to their corresponding holes (i.e. "first finger",
"second finger", etc.) Do not arch your fingers much; you should cover
the holes with the pad of the finger, not the tip. If necessary, let your
fingers extend over the holes so that the holes are under the middle joints of
your longer fingers. Keep your fingers relaxed; too much tension will slow your
playing and make it difficult for you to learn to cover the holes easily. Now,
raise the whistle to your lips. No special way of gripping the mouthpiece is
required; some players hold the whistle between their teeth, and some use only
the lips, so find a method which is comfortable, and stick with it (if using
your teeth, over time you will wear indentations into the mouthpiece. This can
be an advantage in that it helps you grip the mouthpiece, but you may need a new
whistle a year or two down the road). Keep your back straight, your shoulders
and stomach relaxed, and blow very gently. You should hear a low, steady tone.
If you are doing everything correctly, this will be a low D. More likely,
however, you will hear a wavering, squeaky sound. This means one of two things:
either you are not covering the holes well enough, or you are not blowing with
the right pressure (or both). To sum up the elements of good form:
- 1. Fingers flat, not arched.
- 2. Fingers relaxed.
- 3. Back straight, shoulders and stomach relaxed.
If you are not getting the sound you want, then either:
- 1. You're not covering the holes well enough, or
- 2. You're not breathing with the right pressure.
EXERCISE 1: Low D
After reviewing the above
instructions, practice simply blowing a low D. Continue until you can make a
steady note at will. Remember not to squeeze the whistle tightly between your
fingers; use a minimum of force, and try to keep your fingers fairly straight,
but not tense. Your pinky fingers should be up and out of the way. Don't let
them curl up underneath. At this stage, you may find it hard to space your
fingers properly to cover the holes, but this will quickly get easier with
practice. Also, keeping your stomach relaxed should help you control the amount
of breath pressure you are applying.
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Additional Comments:
Posted by Samuel Herwood on 8/4/2007:
Just a quick comment to make based on my personal experience. Being a saxophone player (among other things), and one trick I've been told to do, in order to maintain good embouchure is to place some electrical tape on the mouthpiece (about 3-5 strips thick) in order to cushion our teeth. This also prevents our teeth from wearing indentations in the mouthpiece and I thought that that would help to all of those players who like to sink their teeth into their instrument!
Just make sure you wipe the slobber and stuff off the mouthpiece...and then cut a few strips of electrical tape (good high quality stuff is best because it usually has more rubber than plastic which cushions better) stack them on top of eachother and cut the borders off to make a nice even piece...once again it should be 3-5 layers thick or whatever you think works best...then cut it in a friendly shape...like a tombstone shape is what works best for me...and then just stick it to the mouthpiece.
Hope that helps.
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Posted by Gregor Seidelmeier on 6/7/2001:
Oops...got the wrong lesson to comment on!
sorry!
...yes,yes, I know:
those bloody beginners!
;-)
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Posted by Gregor Seidelmeier on 6/7/2001:
hi,
I'm one of those bloody beginners, so forgive me raising my voice...but:
;-)
Having learned to play the trumpet for quite a few years I prefer to pronounce triplets with "T-T-K" or "D-D-G". This may take even more practising than the "T-K-T" or "D-G-D", but in my opinion taking the speed to a higher level can be easier this way.
...ok, I've been growing up on another instrument, so:
other instruments, other techniques
Well, I just wanted to tell...
;-)
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