Any info at all on how to

[RockinRick]

I know I have to be the millionth person to ask this question. Is there anything anywhere that can help a completely inept person learn how to blow the infernal things?

 

I was given a plastic one along with a 3 year old female smooth coat from Scotland. I thought HAHA... clever Scottish device to make me blow my brains out without making a sound.

 

So, I got a brass whistle with little tabs on it that was billed as dead easy to blow. HAH! A clever western trick to get me to spend lots of cash for nothing.

 

Please help if you know how to show or explain how make beautiful loud sounds come out of this device.

 

Thanks!

[Bo Peep]

you've gotta put it in your mouth and roll your tongue with the tip of your tongue pointing out- wow, this sounds hard, but not really- and blow slowly.... It's like an instrument. I've brought it out at parties long ago to barely get a sound out of anyone. Practice, practice, practice..... the plastic ones are easiest to learn on. Then start playing "happy birthday to you" once you have that mastered, move on to other show tunes- LOL. It helps if you have a friend that doesn't mind working whistles with you over the phone. Some people claim buffalo are easily better to blow. I like stainless. Plastic are cheaper and still get the same message out.

Did you buy a trained dog with whistle commands? Oh boy- you have your work cut out for you. IF you did, I would try word commands- and don't forget about the accent- Good luck and let us know how you are doing.

[stockdogranch]

You might try a search of the archives, as there have been some nice detailed explanations before. You want your tongue to rest against the back ridge (the closed curved edge). you want to make sure the hole in the middle is not covered, but is inside your mouth. You want the open outer curved edge to be open and not covered with your lips. The air comes through the hole in the middle and out that open curved edge (gees, I wish I could draw on here!). Think not so much as blowing, but as breathing down through the hole. Keep messing with it till you can get a squeak out of it (you'll have no idea of how you did that), and that can take hours or even days for some people. Then, keep messing with it some more till you can get that same squeak with a bit of consistency. You're well on your way now. Once you can get a consistent squeak, try simple tunes--Happy Birthday, Popeye, Twinkle Twinkle, Jingle Bells, whatever. It's your tongue moving that makes different tones.

 

most adults have a hard time at first, unless they have experience playing a wind instrument . A two year old? They make great sounds immediately. Go figure,

A

[DeltaBluez Tess]

It took me months of trying that blasted whistle while I drove my hr long commute to and then home....finally after many months I thought I had mastered it and then went home and played "Mary had a little lamb" to the musician spouse who (tactfully) said " WOW, I never heard Mary had a Little lamb in one tone before"

 

so then I kept playing with it and then one day, it worked....and I have never asked Jeff to listen to my attempts at a song again.

 

Diane

[Alaska]

There's this: Whistle CD

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

Give it to a three to seven year old child. You will not be furthered much in your quest to learn, but everyone needs a regular lesson in how children learn so much faster due to not being hampered by preconcieved notions of how to do things. Dogs do this too, so it's a relevant principle to keep in mind as you work with your new dog (congratulations, by the way!).

 

And really that's the answer. There's a way the air comes out and makes a noise, but because your mouth is shaped differently than everyone else's, you have to come up with the exact configuration that makes the tones you want. One musician can't tell another exactly how to get the tones he gets from an instrument, only basically how the instrument works, and then models the tones that are most desirable. Trial and error is the only way you'll get it - and keeping an open mind.

 

Figure out how to get something, anything, out of the darn thing. Then take it with you everywhere (most of us take it in the car) and blow it until you can get recognizable tune out of it. My friend who got me into this, said if you can blow "Yankee Doodle Dandy" in a way that doesn't have people scratching their heads wondering what that was, you are ready start attempting most whistle commands in the presence of an actual dog.

 

I agree to start with verbal commands. Keep your voice even, don't yell the commands if you don't get a response - back up to where the right thing to do is very obvious (like with the sheep quiet and facing you for "down"), and give the command again.

 

That will be good practice for when you have to go through the whole process again with the whistle commands, because even if you are the world's best whistler, it takes a bit for a dog to adjust to each new person's whistles, even if they are the same ones.

[Janba]

You might try a search of the archives, as there have been some nice detailed explanations before. You want your tongue to rest against the back ridge (the closed curved edge).

 

Thank you. After hours and hours of trying and only sometimes making a sound I tried again when I read this and got a sound. I have put it down and then retried again successfully several times. I think I had my tongue to far forward before. Now I just have to get different notes.

[stockdogtta]

I found this when I started to learn whistling-helped me alot--picture is worth a thousand words

 

http://www.wellscroft.com/farm/dogs/dogsWhistle.html

[RockinRick]

very cool! I got it to squeak and even got a loud whistle out that lasted about 100 milliseconds that I haven't been able to reproduce, but hey I got it make a noise. It's all gravy from here right?

 

Thanks for the tips!

 

Ah, the accent! Hadn't thought of that. my son says this is the dumbest BC he has ever met. I don't think so...

 

We were in PetSmart tonight and saw the dumbest stoopid people trick that I have even seen perpetrated on a BC. The dog was being groomed ( clearly an AKC animal) The dog used to have a half white face. Now it is pink! That's right, this owner had her dog dyed pink!

 

Who would do such a thing?

[Maizy]

RockinRick - Makes you wonder, huh.

 

Diane - I feel ya...I tried to play a tune for my husband and he said "what was that supposed to be" and I told him (can't remember now) and he said...."there was no variation in your tone". Alas, I was back to the drawing board...and I really thought I had it!!!!

 

I still can't get anything other than one tone out of it so I need to start practicing again.

[1sheepdoggal]

Have you only tried the plastic whistle? For me, that was the hardest one to try to get any sound from. Ive tried several different kinds, and the Montana light is my fav, and for me the easiest to blow.

[scmense]

Have you only tried the plastic whistle? For me, that was the hardest one to try to get any sound from. Ive tried several different kinds, and the Montana light is my fav, and for me the easiest to blow.

Where can one get the Montana Light whistle?

[rac]

To change the pitch try imaging the space between your tongue and the roof of your mouth as a chamber. If you change the shape of that chamber you can raise or lower the pitch of the note the whistle is playing. So if you make the chamber smaller while continuing to rest your tongue on the back of the whistle, you should raise the note. Making the chamber larger will lower the note.

 

When I was learning I had to have a paper towel with me 'cause the whistle made me drool. I found a good tune that's fun to play is 'Sweet Georgia Brown'. It fits within the whistle's range, and you can even improvise a bit. 'Happy Trails' is a pretty good one too. Good luck.

 

Ray

[bcollie]

Where can one get the Montana Light whistle?

 

You can get the Montana Lite whistle from Hope Dennis at www.bordercollies.com . She produces and sells them. Also, Ray Coapman makes a really nice buffalo horn whistle.

 

Geri

[scmense]

You can get the Montana Lite whistle from Hope Dennis at www.bordercollies.com . She produces and sells them. Also, Ray Coapman makes a really nice buffalo horn whistle.

 

Geri

 

Thank You Geri