Well? Do you? I'd have to claim it was my "main" instrument, I think!

(Did I choose flute because I like to whistle, or do I like to whistle because I play the flute???)

I cant stop whistleing!!!!! on the way home from school Im always whistling the piece im playing or the theme from that fim I watched the night before. it drives my friend mad

Whew! So at least the art hasn't died out completely yet!

I whistle harmony to whatever is on the radio etc.!

I like to whistle too but my mum kept telling me not to. In some cultures ( I think), if you whistle at night, ghosts or snakes will come to you. (if i'm not mistaken) Most people think that whistling is rude,... i wonder why ......?

Oh yes, Japanese snakes are all nocturnal music-lovers, so legend says, but then if you can persuade a white snake to live under your house, it apparently brings good fortune, so maybe you should whistle for all you're worth (after all, it's a long way for a snake to travel from Japan to the UK!).

As for whistling - how technical do you get? Do you like to tongue grace notes? Add a little vibrato? Or do you just let it the music flow?

I remember my dad telling me that one of the Boy Scout's laws used to be "a boy scout whistles at all times". I like to think that was post Baden-Powell since it hardly seems an effective tactic to employ whilst scouting deep behind enemy lines.

I nearly got stabbed by a stumpy Irish chef for whistling in a kitchen once - apparently it's bad luck (I suppose it was bad luck in his kitchen!).

QUOTE (zoda @ Mar 21 2005, 11:29 PM)

I nearly got stabbed by a stumpy Irish chef for whistling in a kitchen once - apparently it's bad luck (I suppose it was bad luck in his kitchen!).

Oh, dear !

I know this thread came to a bit of a halt a while ago but I really wanted to write something because I've recently really got into whistling!

Last year I was getting really frustrated with my French horn - sometimes it just won't behave itself - and in the end I just started to whistle what I wanted to play instead.

I then went on a bit of a mental safari, not practising the horn, whistling in orchestra, that sort of thing, and I'm now pretty much addicted to whistling!

I just can't stop!
Is this fine?

I'm always whistling! My mum tells me not to because I'll get wrinkles!!

I'm not very good at whistling!

Car Expert

I cannot whistle at all! My dad tried to teach me but...

I can't whistle *sniff*

I can't get a note out of a flute. I can assure you, you have the more useful of the two skills .

One of the works for my LTCL recital has a passage in it that has to be whistled rather than sung.

I think I rather surprised my singing teacher with the volume at which I can whistle - and of course I now have a brilliant excuse: I need to practise for my exam....

nice one, katyjay!

YAP: less portable though... but thanks for the encouragement!

I can only whistle quietly. Think I'll stick to playing instruments.....

That sounds fun! What's the song?

My husband whistles very tunefully. I've sometimes located him in a supermarket by the whistle. I can only remember one occasion when it turned out to be someone else. I'm not good at it myself. I can't do it predictably - sometimes I just produce a sort of wheeze.


Well that's a new Old Wives' Tale to me! I guess your mum just doesn't like the sound of whistling.

"Blues In The Night" by Harold Arlen

I'm glad I kickstarted this thread again - everyone seems to have an opinion on whistling!

I wonder how loud the loudest whistler is... Do you think you could whistle louder than a harmonica, Katyjay?!

I can't whistle very loud, I certainly can't whistle with my fingers like some people can (and I can't make that noise with a leaf or do an owl noise) but I can roll my tongue whilst whistling!

I rather doubt it. I've never tried, though.



I can't use my fingers to whistle either. Nor can I roll my tongue.

Katyjay! Another fan of "Blues in the Night"! I was overjoyed to find an ancient copy of sheet music in a second hand bookshop in New Zealand last year - it even had ads for a Noel Coward Concert Party Selection on the back cover.

I can't remember who I first heard singing it, but I love that downward slide of "My Mama was right/there's blues in the night..."

Never thought of whistling it...but tarnation, whistling low notes is *not* easy!

My lovely ex-boss at my school used to walk around the school whistling. The children always knew when he was around as they could hear his big feet plodding along, accompanied by his cheerful whistling (they used to call him 'The Big Friendly Giant'!). Such a very comforting sound... the regime has changed totally (very much for the worst) and I do miss that sound!

I cannot whistle in any form.

I can't whistle to save my life!
When I was little, and *sometimes* now, while in supermarkets etc.. He will whilstle to ltell mum or I where he is. He does it as he is whistle is really loud.

I just LOVE whistling! It's the most natural thing in the world. I once had a burning ambition to practise and practise till I can whistle in tune a whole flute concerto - honest! But then the realities of being a full-time mother soon collapsed on me.

To my astonishment, like CPPF, my hubby cannot whistle! Had always thought guys whistling to gals as the most natural thing in the world. Well, now, perhaps I'm older and wiser.

We had a family whistle, a very distinctive set of notes, that my dad would whistle to gather us in. I'd forgotten about that till now, F&B

Aaw, that's sweet, Sarah. Perhaps I should whistle a tune for dinner time instead of announcing it with a gentle Swiss bell!

I love to whistle tunes and my Gran always used to whistle tunes aswell.
My Mum however, is amazing...a different kettle of fish...she can do the loudest whistle ever...with her teeth in mouth kind of whistle...she's over 70 now and loves to embarrass me and my daughter when she lets out a real stonking wolf whistle at some poor unsuspecting good-looking young man!!

I use a bellow, rather than a bell, to announce dinner.

When on holiday in the South of France (usually for the month of June) we always meet (for the last 15 years) some very good German friends - Eugen and Ellen. Eugen often calls round about 10.30 for coffee, beer (bit early for us English!!) and a chat, but at 12 noon ON ZE DOT this loud shrill whistle is to be heard. It is wife Ellen calling her missing husband back for lunch. On hearing this, he is out of the chair like a shot, and woe betide him if she has to whistle a second time. And if she has to stride up the lane to find him, the poor man nips through the back garden, over the fence and doubles back on her.

All in good fun........but what a whistle........she could start trains for Germany

i am more of a hummer than a whistler. my whistling technique has deteriorated somewhat over the years (possibly something to do with having metal all over my teeth and then having it removed) so i decided humming was much less difficult!

although sometimes i hum without realising and its v embarrassing.

Only if you are out of tune.

Don't be hard on yourself Cheebs, we all have that problem.

A customer in the shop where I work a year or two ago was whistling along to the music... and everso slightly flat the whole time... consistently.

Made me cringe!

Well, I was once on the train, with a soul who had a personal stereo on (too loudly), and he too was whistling out of tune.....

The train journey was about 45 minutes long.....longest 45 minutes of my life......