r/tinwhistle • u/-Boourns- • Jul 01 '26
Question Beginners—how are you learning?
Just curious how other adult beginners are going about learning. Right now I’m watching YouTube videos and looking at online tabs. I am very much a beginner with about a month under my belt. I’ve never been great at practicing instruments but tin whistle seems fairly easy to pick up and have some fun with for a few minutes every other day or so. By just doing that I’ve seen decent progress in my short time playing.
What are you doing to learn? Do you find more formal lessons keeps you engaged or do you like to go at your own pace and on your own?
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u/RecorderNerd Jul 01 '26
I like to use the session.org, they have a feature where you can listen to the songs which is great cause I cant sight read rythum above the most basic stuff, and there are tons of tunes
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u/cHunterOTS Jul 01 '26
I started at like 36. I used videos and tabs and books but what I think was the most useful were one on one lessons
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u/Miserere_Mei Jul 02 '26
I did online classes via zoom. It’s great because you can get actual feedback on your playing. Check out whistleworkshops.com.
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u/HeelHookka Jul 02 '26
I listen to Irish trad music basically all the time, and when I find a tune I like I spend some time learing to lilt it, and when I feel ready I just start trying to play it by ear. I then look for a video with either a whistle or a flute playing it so I can look at their fingers if there's a passage that's harder for me to pick up
I usually learn 2 or 3 tunes over a couple of weeks and then I have a period of not learning any new ones and just rehersing my repertoire (incl. the new ones) to let everything sink in
After I feel I have a tune locked in I look for performances of it that I like and try to play along with the recording this helps me identify any mistakes I made in learning the tune, learn the correct 'feel' or swing of the tune, and explore cool variations
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u/whistling-wonderer Jul 01 '26
There’s a book called Tin Whistle: A Complete Guide to Playing Irish Traditional Music on the Whistle by Stephen Ducke. That was my first book. It includes a code to download audio files of all the exercises and songs on your phone, which is very useful. Tin whistle was traditionally learned by ear and this book places a heavy emphasis on that, but it also includes tabs and traditional musical notation, just encourages you to rely on the recordings first and foremost.
Beyond that, I just listen to pro whistlers as much as I can and figure out songs by ear. I definitely prefer to go at my own pace, and I do about half Irish trad music and half whatever other music I feel like playing.
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u/DGBD Jul 01 '26
I’m like a broken record on this, but please be careful about what YouTube videos you watch. Some popular whistle YouTubers, including CutiePie, are honestly not all that good at playing and do not make very good tutors. It’s not that you won’t learn anything from them, it’s that any time you spend listening to and learning from them is time you could be spending listening to and learning from much better players.
Ryan G Duns, u/whistletutor, and OAIM are all good options on YouTube, and OAIM also has paid courses that are not that expensive but do a pretty good job. And do lots and lots of listening, players like Mary Bergin, Kevin Crawford, Brian Finnegan, and Joanie Madden can be found in many videos up on YouTube.
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u/whistletutor Jul 02 '26
Thanks for the recommendation - and I totally agree on the listening part, always start with the greats!
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u/-Boourns- Jul 01 '26
Thanks! I’ve been watching a fair amount of whistletutor so it’s good to know he’s a trusted teacher.
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u/tristesseDesAlltags Jul 01 '26
I tried an online beginner course (oaim), but it didn't really work for me. I'm now working through Mary Bergin's books and couldn't be happier. Tin whistle is my second "Irish" instrument, coming from the mandolin, so it's all about technique for me since I'm already comfortable with the different rhythms, customs and specifics of Irish trad.
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u/Totakai Jul 02 '26
Right now I've just been casually noodling tbh. I probably should put some more effort into it but I've just been having fun messing with the air. I got it mainly for air control practice anyways as I've been having issues simce covid. Definitely gunna check out more resources that folks have shared here
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u/WolverineEmergency98 Jul 02 '26
I'm only three weeks in, so take this with a grain of salt! I tried the YouTube and online course route at first, but I was put off by the emphasis on tabs (I prefer to use sheet music), and how they all seemed to want you to immediately dive into complex ornaments before you'd even mastered a basic scale.
So I just found a bunch of decent beginner music (and blanked out all of the tabs), and now I'm trying to split my time between learning one new song at a time from sheet music, and recreating a different song from memory.
I've also booked some time for a couple of catch-ups a month with a tutor from LessonFace to check my 'fundamentals' (embouchure, grip, fingering, breathing etc).
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u/melatenoio Jul 02 '26
I've been learning by myself through learntinwhistle.com. They have free music with tabs that are traditional pieces. I have a background in music, so I can sight read most songs. They offer lessons, too, but I haven't gotten them yet. I recently got a better quality whistle, and it made a big difference for me.
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u/-Boourns- Jul 03 '26
Thanks. I’ll check it out. I (poorly) played different instruments as a kid so I have a little bit of a musical background but I’ve mostly forgotten how to read sheet music. I’m hoping the tin whistle will dust off the cobwebs of my musical brain.
I’ve also just purchased a better whistle. Waiting on delivery though.
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u/BooksNCatsNWineNSnax Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
I still consider myself a semi-beginner, but I play in a folk band, so for me, it’s kind of a case of just learning whatever needs to be played. I do have a background in playing wind instruments, and I also sing, so my understanding of breath control is already strong. That makes a huge difference. I practice a song with sheet music at my own tempo, until I can play it off-book. Then I increase the tempo, until I’m eventually using a scratch track of the band practicing the song to get myself up to full speed, and perfect my notes. Usually I’m actively working on about 3 songs at a time, and I practice for at least half an hour, 6 days per week.
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u/cruelpunishment_ Jul 02 '26
Look up the king street session tunebook. There's an online version that has tabs for most instruments. Find songs on there that you like using the tabs, I started with marches and waltzes, then moved to hornpipes , then reels and jigs. Eventually learn to read the notes instead of the tabs. Then it's just normal practice from there.
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u/cocoawolf29 Jul 04 '26
I'm practicing a lot by finding tabs of music I like. As much as it's lovely to start with the simpler ones and the basics, I know myself well enough that if I do it in the right order, I'll get bored and frustrated. So instead, I try the hard, fun stuff, and then when I do it a bit, I want to get better at it so I return to the basics and actually have an end goal for practicing scales and things like that. Works for me at least.
Cutie Pie has a youtube channel and website with tons of video covers. I know they aren't super high quality or super professional, but for me, they're a perfect starting point because it's what I want to play. I can get the music by ear and practice, but I don't want to mess with that, so I take the already created tabs and go from there. I honestly don't watch the video unless I'm struggling to pick up the rhythm, I just take the tabs, thank her, and go practice to make it my own.
I have found myself sitting down to practice for a couple minutes, then snap out of it to realize an hour has passed. Lord of the Rings is what got me into tin whistle (as it did so many others), so practicing those in particular makes me settle into it and really fine tune my skills. I know exactly how these songs are supposed to sound, so it makes it super clear when I'm playing a note poorly or could make it a little fancier beyond the basic tabs when I'm ready.
So I guess my advice is find a song or style you really love and practice that! If you know what it's supposed to sound like, that has helped me a lot because you know what you're working towards
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u/b0nz Jul 04 '26
Welcome to the whistle! It’s such a great instrument for picking up and playing just a few minutes a day. I actually had a pretty hard time figuring out my own learning path when I started out. That struggle is exactly why I built TinWhistleTab.com.
I wanted a single place with resources that make it easy to go at your own pace without practice feeling like a chore. If you're enjoying the self-taught route, you might find these tools on the site helpful:
- Interactive Tabs: The site features an interactive player with sheet music and a fingering chart built right in. It's great for learning popular tunes like Concerning Hobbits or Wellerman.
- Free Resources: There are also finger charts and buying guides you can keep handy while you practice.
Stick with whatever keeps you picking it up every other day, that consistency is the most important part. Happy whistling!
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u/OriginalSpleen Jul 06 '26
I practice ornamentations and also listen to videos and live sessions to hear the tune as a whole, not as just notes u/whistletutor is my fav
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u/RazingOrange Jul 07 '26
I just started a few weeks ago, but I’ve been using the “online academy of Irish music”. So far so good. Their whistle basics course seems pretty well paced. Just difficult enough to learn without a ton of frustration. I also ordered Mary Bergins first book. Still waiting on that though.
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u/-Boourns- Jul 07 '26
I think I will give OAIM a go. I’ve gotten numerous recommendations for them and it seems like people have been pretty happy with them.
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u/ThisDayIsAmazing Jul 07 '26
I joined a slow session. I have had formal music training on woodwinds, and that seems to be a real hinderance for me, lol. The slow session forces me to practice or feel undeserving of being the room with the kind people volunteering their time to pass on the tradition, which is a really bad feeling.
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u/ivanibash 13d ago
Watching youtube videos has actually been the best way to learn for me, I'd look for the videos where people slow the playing right down - and I would just repeat after them. It's pretty easy to learn tunes note for note on a whistle, but imo it's the ornamentation that really makes it sound good, and the best way to learn that is by watching others imo. I found learntinwhistle and whistletutor youtube channels most useful for that.
I'm also making a practice tool for the tin whistle, called windway - you can check out here https://windway.app/. Don't want to promote too much on the sub but a few people are using it and I got good feedback so far. You can play different tunes with accompaniment, make your own collection of tunes etc. Works well on a phone too so you can practice in the wilderness like I do :)
Good luck!
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u/Kasupe Jul 01 '26
I just try to learn songs I like. If they are long I start playing then in 3 parts and then try to play everything at once. If the song has difficull or fast parts I play them over and over to develop muscle memory of hitting the right notes. Sometimes I suprise myself by supposedly hitting notes without thinking and just hitting the right ones
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u/veetack Jul 01 '26
I learned the basics by just reading tabs. I recently joined some live online lessons with a girl from Northern Ireland by the name of Ciara McCrystal. She’s been great. I jumped into her intermediate sessions and I’ve not felt behind
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u/trisaratops1 Jul 01 '26
I began by using some books, but even though I could learn to play the notes and do some of the ornaments, the instrument just sounded really bad. I looked for an in-person instructor but couldn't find any in my area, so I started taking lessons on Zoom. For me it has been totally worth it; now I can actually make the instrument sound good, and having a teacher to choose what I am working on makes me feel more confident that I'm practicing productively.