Ed, the Clarke whistle is very easy to play. Don't let the price fool you. Clarke whistles are used by a number of professionals (so I'm told). I use one, among others. I also have a Shaw, which I like for its tone and extra volume. I also have a Sweetheart maple whistle, which has a lovely woody sound to it, but it gets shrill above A in the second octave and it doesn't seem to have the fast response that the metal ones do. Hope this helps.

jeffp