MGoH -

I'm surprised it took you two days to jump on that!

Whistles are a fine instrument - once you learn how to play one a little.

The problem with whistles as a "kit" project is that it's a very tough job to make one that will play in tune - and if the kit's already got the parts that are tuned, it's too simple a kit to be much fun for any but those with low expectations.

As far as popularity in my part of the world, too many people learn a little bit about how to blow one, but never really learn how to play it. And because you can get one "on the cheap," too many of the people who show up with them are in the "I want to be friendly, but I don't really want to have to work at it" category. It's pretty easy for anyone who's played clarinet, sax, flute, or oboe to figure out how to make the notes - but then they've gotta learn the tunes...

We have a couple of people in my area who are pretty good with a whistle as far as fingering the "right" notes, but they never seem to be able to get in tune with each other, much less with the other players. We enjoy their performances - in reasonable doses, but they tend of their own accord to yield to the other instruments.

A contributing problem here is that even our "Irish" groups don't seem to have any coherent concept of "traditional Irish music," and the "commercial/sanitized" stuff they play is adapted heavily to the guitar, and leaves out (any time-space for) most of the decorations the whistle might add.

At least my comment about the whistle was aimed at the horror of having new hordes of "squeekers" unleashed by giving them kits - not by any objection to musicians, folk or otherwise, who happen to use a whistle to play music that they enjoy. I've got a good dozen whistles myself, although I don't play one nearly often enough to be any good at it.

And lest someone else object - I don't mind a bodhran or two, if their players are musically inclined; but please don't teach a bunch of people how to make war drums - unless you're sending them to a war (or a playground).

WyoWoman alluded to including some hints on "etiquette," so maybe I worry too much(?)

John