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Complete beginner question............


Kiwi_Steve
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Hand it to a two year old. Watch what he does when he gets it to work after five minutes or less.

 

Seriously, hang it on the front of your mouth, touch yur tongue to the back of it, shape your mouth like you're going to say "Phew", and just kind of experiment at it. It's different for everyone exactly where the whistle comes from. That's why a two year old can get it so quickly: they have no preconcieved notions as to how it "should" work.

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Don't try to blow too hard and don't clamp your lips or teeth hard on the whistle. You're more likely to get a sound with a relaxed mouth and medium air flow. Don't try to blow it like a trumpet or a police whistle...more like a flute.

 

Keep trying....you'll get it eventually.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Don't feel bad - it took me almost a year to learn. Hang it around your neck, and any time you can, just play with it - that helps speed it along.

 

I put it most of the way into my mouth, with my tongue behind it so I can move it around, then kind of blow down on it. Doesn't take a lot of air, but lots of spit helps. I have to have it "wet" to do anything - I've heard others say that too. Just keep playing with it, moving it around with your tongue as you blow and one day, you'll get a beautiful whistle - then say, "How'd I do that" - but it will come. B.C.s have helped me learn to whistle on my own some, but I'm still hopeless at it - to get any real attention, I need the plastic one - and boy, once you learn, you can get attention with it - dogs, spouse, kids, you name it. Good luck.

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I think you should hand the whistle to a six to eight year-old who will tootle away in next to no time, and then can coach you on how to get a noise. A two-year would also be a quick study but might not be able to explain how they did it.

 

You can think of getting some sound out of the whistle this way: it is very similar to whistling over the top of a coke bottle only you are blowing up through the hole instead of down.

 

Take the whistle with you in the car when you are by yourself and try. I stress *by yourself* because once you get a few tweets out, you will drive family, friends, and dogs nuts if you practice when they are nearby.

 

Once you can get some sounds out, try doing simple songs from childhood. "Yankee Doodle" and "Jingle Bells" are good. It doesn't matter if no else can recognize the tune and even if you aren't sure you can. I think "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" is too difficult but some people like it.

 

I managed to get the first tentative sounds out of a whistle while lying down flat in bed. I don't know why that worked.

 

Penny

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All I can tell you is that there was a long period of time that I couldn't get anything but a strangled squeak out of my shepherd's whistle. Then, all of a sudden one day, I could play anything on it -- Yankee Doodle, the Star Spangled Banner, you name it. I have no idea why.

 

Just let it come to you.

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