Whistling

21 Feb 19 - 05:23 AM (#3978076)
Subject: Whistling
From: Jack Campin

It has been a long time since I heard anybody whistling tunes in public, except me.

Also except a boy of about 14 (presumably a Midlothian local) who I saw getting off a bus a few weeks ago. Can't recall what the tune was, but he was clear and accurate.

Is it making a comeback?

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21 Feb 19 - 05:31 AM (#3978079)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: Andy7

When I was growing up in east London, I'd very often hear people whistling while walking down the street, and in other public places. Not any more!

Maybe if we all make an effort to start whistling more, other people might start also!

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21 Feb 19 - 05:36 AM (#3978081)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: Acorn4

Could it be because modern music is just so tuneless?

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21 Feb 19 - 03:07 PM (#3978187)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: Steve Gardham

Modern technology I'm afraid. Music coming at us from all angles whether we like it or not, coupled with the fast pace of modern living.

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21 Feb 19 - 03:41 PM (#3978196)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: Jack Campin

It was on the way out before they invented the CD player.

And it's not that unusual to hear teenagers singing pop songs in the street.

The odd thing to me was, where did that kid get the idea?

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22 Feb 19 - 04:19 AM (#3978298)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: The Sandman

CCE has whistling competitions, undoubtedly some on this forum would condemn this

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22 Feb 19 - 05:10 AM (#3978309)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: The Sandman

Perhaps EFDSS should start whistling competitions, with the stipulation that it has to be a trad tune.
0r even better funded the teaching of whistling in schools

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22 Feb 19 - 05:31 AM (#3978314)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: Andy7

Human sounds (those made intentionally) can be divided into 3 types:

1. Vocalisations (talking, singing, screaming, groaning etc.)
2. Mouth sounds with no vocalisation (whistling, hissing, clucking etc.)
3. Two parts of the body striking against each other (hand clapping, clicking fingers, etc.)

Of these, only the first two can produce a reasonable tune, but the third can provide a mean percussion accompaniment!

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11 Feb 20 - 04:26 PM (#4033688)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: FreddyHeadey

bbc radio
Out of the Ordinary
Whistling
Released On: 02 Mar 2018
Available for over a year

Jolyon Jenkins attends an international whistling competition in Los Angeles to meet the people who want whistling to be taken seriously as a musical art form. The competition is organised by the "Whistling Diva", Carole Ann Kaufman, herself a former international whistling champion. "If it comes from the heart, it's art," she says.
But even though there have been featured whistling instrumentalists, in the big band era for instance, whistling struggles to be thought of as more than a novelty act. Even the whistlers at the convention find it hard to persuade their own families that their talent is worth celebrating. It's even led to the break up of marriages.
Occasionally, though, a whistler does make it to the (comparative) big time. Geert Chatrou is a Belgian whistler who won an international competition in 2004. he is now semi-professional and has recorded and performed with symphony orchestras and jazz bands. So - will a new champion emerge this year?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b09sqvxt

~~~~~~~~~~
there's a 2017 thread worth reading
thread.cfm?threadid=161764

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11 Feb 20 - 05:06 PM (#4033694)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: Steve Shaw

I whistle a fair bit. I can whistle equally well on the inhale and the exhale and I can do tremolo. I'm a bit too breathy. I'll never be on anybody's CD. There's a twat in Bude who whistles his way tunelessly round the aisles in Morrisons. I'll swear that he loses Morrisons money.

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11 Feb 20 - 05:59 PM (#4033707)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: WalkaboutsVerse

I Whistle on 3 of my 18 Chants From Walkabouts

And also on E-trad "Rose in June."

When I live in Newcastle, there was a chap at many NE festival singarounds called Whistling Ronnie who was very good.

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11 Feb 20 - 06:16 PM (#4033710)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: John P

I whistle a lot. Oddly, I don't sing in key very well, but I can whistle accurately.

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11 Feb 20 - 08:19 PM (#4033729)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: Joe Offer

I like to whistle, and people say I'm pretty good at it. I think whistling can be great punctuation for singing, but I get annoyed when I'm singing and somebody else is whistling.
-Joe-

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12 Feb 20 - 05:21 AM (#4033764)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: GUEST,Jerry

I get the impression that the popularity of karaoke and TV talent shows has encouraged many people to get over their inherent shyness about singing in public. Not so long ago anyone singing outside of an actual performance tended to be ridiculed, or assumed to be drunk, but now people are wont to sing lines from pop songs whenever prompted, when in the past they would have just whistled or hummed the tune for fear of rebuke. Look at also at the growth of community choirs, people getting together to sing pop songs, something that until recently had died out with the glee clubs and barbershop quartets, (apart from shanty groups and acapella folk groups valiantly keeping the faith). Or is this just another mad theory of mine?

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12 Feb 20 - 05:57 AM (#4033772)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: Gordon Jackson

To be honest, I hadn't really given it a great deal of thought until Jack brought it up, but he's right, whistling is pretty rare these days. As a kid I would hear builders, gardeners, painters, R&B men, milkmen, coalmen (always men!) whistling as they worked - not any more.

I could never whistle very well, and I seem to have completely lost the ability now. And I could never do loud whistles with fingers in my mouth either (I could make a decent enough noise with a blade of grass though).

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12 Feb 20 - 06:30 AM (#4033779)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: GUEST,akenaton

At village concerts in the 1950's there was always a "whistler" a remember "Wee Geordie Campbell", who was only a few years older than myself, but a firm favourite. He whistled pipe tunes, marches usually, with a couple of reels occasionally. As Andy and Gordon have said hearing people whistling at work or when walking used to be common, now we seem to have an inbuilt depression about life.
I whistle very often from the roof tops....sometimes the birds come and join in......the feathered variety of course.

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12 Feb 20 - 07:53 AM (#4033792)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: Steve Shaw

"And I could never do loud whistles with fingers in my mouth either (I could make a decent enough noise with a blade of grass though)."

Same here on both counts. Given the correct species of grass, I can do a fair rendering of God Save the Queen and the Ode To Joy. I'm not admired for this.

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12 Feb 20 - 08:53 AM (#4033804)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: Mrrzy

Got my top teeth straightened in college and lost the ability to whistle reliably. I remember my efforts at learning to whistle as a kid... Took a *lot* longer as an adult.

I can still whistle through my fingers, though.

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12 Feb 20 - 10:05 AM (#4033825)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: Richard Mellish

I don't whistle as much as I used to and the volume tends to fade, especially if my mouth is dry. But I do enjoy putting in lots of triplets, pitch slides and suchlike decorations; and on both inhale and exhale.

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12 Feb 20 - 12:13 PM (#4033857)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: keberoxu

The late Michael Flanders
liked to make "whistling" sound fancy by saying
"siffleur" instead.

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12 Feb 20 - 12:38 PM (#4033862)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: leeneia

You're right, Jack. We should whistle more. If ukuleles can make a comeback, why not whistling?

I still remember the day when I was four years old and I produced a faint, husky whistle. I was so thrilled! My father could whistle, and I so wanted to do it too.

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12 Feb 20 - 01:59 PM (#4033879)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: GUEST

I used to whistle a lot. Equally well inhale and exhale, the only real special effect I would do was humming and whistling at the same time. Anyway, while I was living abroad some "twat" started moaning at me about it. TBH it didn't take long to shut me up completely and I have never started again. Well occasionally I will whistle an "instrumental" verse as an interlude while performing a song, but that's not really the same thing. Plenty of "twats" in the world aren't there.

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12 Feb 20 - 03:44 PM (#4033894)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: GUEST,akenaton

In these parts there is a very old saying that its "uncanny tae hear a crowin'cock or a whuslin' wuman".

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12 Feb 20 - 03:45 PM (#4033895)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: EBarnacle

Several years ago, in the early '90s, Toshi got me to do whistling workshop at one of the Clearwater Revivals. Interestingly, my co-leader could not sing in a bucket although he whistled well.

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12 Feb 20 - 03:46 PM (#4033896)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: GUEST,akenaton

"crawin' hen or a whuslin' wuman".

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12 Feb 20 - 09:17 PM (#4033926)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: Tattie Bogle

Bring back Roger Whittaker!
Never been able to whistle that well myself, though will try "The Gypsy Rover" if it comes up in a session.
My daughter can do the ear-splitting 2 fingers in the mouth wolf-whistle, so why not me?

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13 Feb 20 - 07:03 AM (#4033969)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: GUEST

I haven't read all the posts, has anyone mentioned Ronnie Ronalde?

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13 Feb 20 - 01:29 PM (#4034050)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: leeneia

Well, Guest, you are probably a free citizen of the free world. If you enjoy whistling, do it.

A friend once heard me whistling a little and said, "A whistling girl and a crowing hen; both will come to no good end." I looked at her and said, "Does it bother you that I'm happy?" That was the last time I heard that jaded, hick wisecrack.
===============
Once I was watching at a dance session in a home. They announced that they were going to do a number that had lyrics and a descant, so I felt free to whistle along in harmony. There was a parakeet (budgie) there, and the parakeet heard the whistling and broke into joyous tweeting.

At the end of the song, somebody exclaimed, "That bird! That bird is incredible!" I decided to keep silent about my part in the duet. Why burst somebody's bubble?

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13 Feb 20 - 02:01 PM (#4034062)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: WalkaboutsVerse

Re Ronnie Ronalde, Guest, don't think so but he seems almost as good as a lyrebird!

https://youtu.be/cjUIFYKrtn4

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15 Feb 20 - 01:43 PM (#4034444)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: leeneia

like this amazing set of sounds?

listen to a lyrebird

One thing's for sure: this bird has heard the ratchety click of a camera many times.

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15 Feb 20 - 06:30 PM (#4034471)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: Karen Impola

Like Tunesmith from the 2017 thread, I whistle often, without being conscious that I'm doing it. I used to have a coworker who was annoyed by it. He would ask me to stop, and I would obligingly do so, only to find myself whistling again two minutes later, completely unaware. This could go on for hours. Fortunately, he's retired now.

I used to find it much easier to harmonize while whistling than while singing. Somehow the fact that I was producing words kept me tethered to the melody. I've gotten better at singing harmonies over the years, through practice.

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12 Mar 24 - 08:44 AM (#4198962)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: FreddyHeadey

BBC Alba - Trusadh - 2016
Sealladh inntinneach air saoghal sònraichte feadaireachd
A fascinating look at the world of whistling.
2 minutes
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04dgp80

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12 Mar 24 - 12:55 PM (#4198974)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: Rex

I've known Vic Anderson for many years. He reminds me of the cowboy singers from the 40s. Whistling is a big part of his performance.
Play I'm a Rollin' on the link below.

https://www.reverbnation.com/vicandersonwesternentertainer

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13 Mar 24 - 10:13 AM (#4199018)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: r.padgett

Simply whistling a tune that is popular is one way to learn it ~ I play by ear on 'tina and new tunes if they are "regular" may lend themselves to be whistled and so may be transferable to being played ~ at least that is what I try to do!

Ray

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13 Mar 24 - 11:46 AM (#4199028)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: The Sandman

https://www.google.com/search?q=birdma+n+whistler+you+tube&client=firefox-b-d&sca_esv=09fdf5ad3c7db8b8&ei=k8nxZY6WAeG3hbIP-NGv2A

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13 Mar 24 - 01:14 PM (#4199040)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: r.padgett

I remember those Sandman ~ years ago, never mastered them

Ray

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14 Mar 24 - 02:39 AM (#4199066)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: GUEST,RA

What about traditional songs which mention whistling?

Eppie Morrie
The Lichtbob's Lassie

Any more?

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14 Mar 24 - 04:17 AM (#4199069)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: GUEST,Peter Laban

The Whistling Thief?

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14 Mar 24 - 04:37 PM (#4199118)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: leeneia

I like to whistle, and Jack, you have reminded me to do it more often.

I still remember the day when I was four years old and I managed to get the very first, very faint, whistle out. My dad was a whistler, and I had the idea from him.

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14 Mar 24 - 08:20 PM (#4199124)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: GUEST,keberoxu

Whistliing even turns up in pop tunes on the radio;
I am thinking of
"Moves Like Jagger" .

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14 Mar 24 - 10:19 PM (#4199129)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: NightWing

I realized recently that I've lost my whistle. When I was little, I whistled all the time, could get good tone on both exhale and inhale, and had a fairly large range: 2.5 octaves? 3?

But I stopped whistling for a long time and now (62) I find I can't do it. I'm trying to re-learn it, but it's going very slowly.

Kids: Don't stop doing stuff once you learn to do it! You'll want to do it again, even if you don't really want it right NOW.

BB,
NightWing

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15 Mar 24 - 05:05 AM (#4199131)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: Thompson

It's a funny thing that in modern films set in the times up to the 1950s, whistling doesn't feature, despite the fact that it was the norm for workmen and deliverymen to whistle tunefully as they worked until the radio destroyed personal creativity and made music a thing for consumption not production by the ordinary person.

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19 Mar 24 - 02:39 AM (#4199305)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: The Sandman

well said, Thompson

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19 Mar 24 - 02:52 AM (#4199306)
Subject: RE: Whistling - Lyrics - Kevin Baker Superstar
From: Sandra in Sydney

from the late Australian songwriter Kevin Baker - Superstar video

I still hear my mother whistling as she hung clothes on the line
While our neighbour did the Monday wash and sang away the time
Down the road on a building lot where hammers kept the beat
Workmen sang and shared their lunch with the boy from up the street
And the Baker's cart and the Rabbito came trading to a tune
As we lived to our own music morning night and afternoon.

CHORUS - But now you've got to be a superstar if you want to sing a song
If they catch you quietly singing people think there's something wrong
Somehow we lost the right to sing: it almost seem a crime
To share the things you care about in music, words and rhyme.

I hear echoes of my father in the songs he used to know
Of love and work and freedom; the memories start to flow
And my mother played an old squeeze-box as her people had before
And friends would visit friends and bring their songs in through the door.
And no-one was at all surprised or thought it indiscreet
If the friendly sound of music were to spill out on the street.

CHORUS

But now we get our music with an electronic sound
In accents strange and foreign that aren't heard on our home ground
It's slick and flash but hasn't got a thing to do with me
But it clogs up all our radios and floods out from TV
And I can't help looking back to when we thought we all belonged
Before we lost our voices and bought other people's songs.

CHORUS

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19 Mar 24 - 04:48 AM (#4199318)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: MaJoC the Filk

This musical omertà seems to have started some time before the mid-1980s, possibly as a reaction to yoof bearing transistor radios in the Sixties. I know I started getting Strange Looks when I was sing-testing my filk on the way to work (if they aren't sung, you can't tell if they're unsingable).

I remember a cleaner at work who sang happily while going about his duties. Some spoilsport told him to stop singing; then a couple of weeks later he was told he could sing after all, as it cheered up the place.

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19 Mar 24 - 05:18 AM (#4199321)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: r.padgett

Gossip John (Joan) has "Now Kate I've seen thi ~~~ whistle ~ (x2)

Ray

yes it's a bit rude

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20 Mar 24 - 01:40 AM (#4199376)
Subject: RE: Whistling
From: Neil D

Professor Longhair was a great whistler.

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