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[Chris]

OK, as far impulse buys (the internet is hell on my bank balance) go it's hardly spectacular but I've been thinking about learning another instrument for ages and these are cheap so I won't be too annoyed if I never pick the thing up. Anyone know how hard it is to get the hang of the basics on these things?

[PVH]

I have no idea how hard they are to learn....all i want to know is...can i have a shot?

Originally Posted by Chris

OK, as far impulse buys (the internet is hell on my bank balance) go it's hardly spectacular but I've been thinking about learning another instrument for ages and these are cheap so I won't be too annoyed if I never pick the thing up. Anyone know how hard it is to get the hang of the basics on these things?

it's extremely hard to get the right air pressure/tone out of a tin whistle.

[flossie suvara]

WIth the tin whistle, it is quite hard to get the correct amount of breath to start with. However, the fingering is remarkably easy - as tin whistles are key specific (as far as I'm aware), the same fingering is transferarable to all keys. One of the difficult things to learn is the difference in the breath required to play at the higher octave - you use virtually the same fingering, but just blow a little harder. It is slightly harder to play sharps and flats, as this requires half covering finger holes (harder at least than the recorder).

There's some useful info at http://www.hobgoblin.com/faqwhistle.htm

It depends what you want to play, but I'm guessing you'll try to play Scottish/Irish folk tunes. The best bet in my opinion is to get some recordings and listen/play along - if you don't want to shell out.

SCAT (Scottish Culture and Traditions) organise a whole raft of instrument classes (see their website at http://www.scottishculture.org/ - they also have a session in the Globe (North Silver Street) every Tuesday evening. There's also a session in the Prince of Wales on a Sunday (as far as I know - I haven't been for a long time) where heaps of folky types play - it certainly used to be the case that all musicians got a free pint if they turned up before 9pm, but with the Prince being up for sale I don't know if that still applies.

Hope that helps

Regards

Flossie

[Knight of Swords]

That's quite interesting. I got one a few years back and never bothered using it after about three days. Just put it in the drawer with the recorder, juice harp, kazoo and harmonica.

[Chris]

Cheers Flossie! I've found some good resources on the net so I shouldn't be short of material to learn. I think that being a guitarist for all of my music playing life then it's going to be hard to get used to a wind instrument, but I reckon it'll be fun to learn anyway.

I'll go look at SCAT (wish they'd get a better acronym, there's something very wrong about that sentence) later on and see what they're about.