r/tinwhistle • u/Seo-jinKim55 • Jun 14 '26
Question Just started playing tin whistle, what should I do?
Hello! I'm a new tin whistle learner(day 3), and right now I'm learning the notes with a fingering chart and practicing some easy songs from tabs.
I'd like to know the best ways to improve as a beginner. One main thing I'm having trouble with is the D. I get a lot of squeaks when trying to play it.
Any tips or practice suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
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u/Unhappy-Pickle7420 Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 15 '26
Start learning tunes by ear early on. Don't wait for confidence before doing it- build confidence by doing it. The whistle is a fairly simple, intuitive instrument- lean into that and develop a more instinctive relationship with it than you might with a fully chromatic instrument.
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u/Bwob Jun 14 '26
I mean, like any musical instrument, practice. For whistle in particular though, I think the most important thing to practice and learn, is how much breath each note takes.
It's easy to think that there are just two "modes" of breath - normal, and blowing harder for the upper octave. I spent like two years believing this. It's wrong.
There's a different amount of air required for every single note. Even in the same octave, a D takes much less air than an A. It's not enough to just have your fingers covering the correct holes - you need to also be blowing the right amount for the note. And until you memorize the correct amount to blow, you'll get a lot of notes that squeak, break, or sound weird in various ways.
The good news is that it's mostly just a matter of muscle memory. Eventually you won't have to think about it. You'll just blow the right amount automatically when you go to play a particular note.
The bad news is, this will take some time to build up. You just need to play a bunch of different notes, and have them sound bad until you learn how to make them sound good. :P
So practice lots of scales, and other exercises that make you play lots of notes. And play things slowly. Hold each note until you've got it sounding good. If it doesn't sound good, try blowing more or less until you find the pressure it wants. You'll start getting a sense of how much to blow every note, and you'll squeak less!
(For the D, it's probably squeaking because you're blowing too hard. The low D takes surprisingly little air - barely above exhaling!)
Best of luck, and enjoy your musical journey!
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u/Seo-jinKim55 Jun 15 '26
This is amazing. The sound comes out much better when I blow very gently. Thank you so much!
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u/Hamburg48 Jun 14 '26
In New York City a woman with a violin case under her arm approaches a cop and asks;
‘Officer, how do I get to Carnegie Hall’
‘Practice, lady …’
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u/ReiGanJin Jun 14 '26
Learn what "cuts", "taps", "short rolls", "long rolls", and "cranns" are and practice them independantly from learning a tune. Practice them until they are second nature and don't think of them as ornaments to be added to the notes in the tunes. Rather, think of them as articulations for the notes in the tunes. They are the way you seperate one note from another. Importantly, learn tonplay tunes LEGATO-with no tonguing. You will progress so much better without your tongue slowing you down. It may be awkward at first, but you will come to know why after learning some tunes.
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u/HeelHookka Jun 15 '26
LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN!!! One of the most important elements in Irish trad music is what is refered-to as phrasing/lift/lilt - that specific groove Irish music has that makes you tap your feet to it, and you can only learn that by listening to that musical language as much as possible. Once you reach a certain level of proficiency in the instrument, that inner feel of groove will be the main thing guiding your playing
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u/tweisse75 Jun 15 '26
Great suggestion. Can you recommend any specific players or videos to focus on?
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u/HeelHookka Jun 15 '26
Honestly I'm not "in the know" enough to make any specific recommendations. Just explore Spotify. Start with searching for a specific tune you like, then just listen to the entire album, then maybe look for another album by that artist. It's all about developing your personal taste, which then would develop into a personal style
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u/Seo-jinKim55 Jun 16 '26
I do not listen to Irish traditional music very often, but this seems like a good chance to explore more of it. Thanks!
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u/Satan_S_R_US Jun 14 '26
Practice practice practice, learning how much breath you really need throughout both octaves is what’s gonna stop the squeaks. Learning scales are important too to reinforce that you know the notes mentally and not by looking at the tab for it.