1-3 - Tips for Playing Clear Notes
After a couple of minutes with a tin whistle, most people can make some sort of sound from it with no prompting. However, that sound is often squeaky, too loud, too soft, or ill-defined. Here are some practical tips you can try to make your notes sound a little clearer.
1-3-1 - Grip The Holes
The holes need to be covered properly in order to make the sound you intend, especially the upper holes when you're playing lower notes. To do this, you can try and grip the holes more tightly. You'll find that this gets your fingers used to covering the holes properly, and it's an important reflex action to train early on, so that you won't have to think about it later on in your playing.
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1-3-2 - Vary Your Breath Intensity
One of the biggest challenges in getting used to a tin whistle for beginners is that they either under-blow or over-blow notes. Music teachers who teach large beginner classes of both tin whistle and recorder will be especially used to this phenomenon, where one or two of their class invariably over-blow, and most of the rest under-blow, leaving a cacophony of squeaks and deafening shrieks.
The trick is to identify those who are doing both, and teach them to blow softer and harder into the mouthpiece. If you're over-blowing, soften up, and if you're not getting much of a note out, perhaps you may need to blow a little harder into the whistle. It's a question of trial and error, not rocket science, but identifying it the under-blowing n particular as a problem can be hard for beginners, and it's important to consider it.
The trick is to identify those who are doing both, and teach them to blow softer and harder into the mouthpiece. If you're over-blowing, soften up, and if you're not getting much of a note out, perhaps you may need to blow a little harder into the whistle. It's a question of trial and error, not rocket science, but identifying it the under-blowing n particular as a problem can be hard for beginners, and it's important to consider it.
1-3-3 - Cleaning out the Whistle
A whistle can be a conduit for all sorts of oral debris, and it's important to clear it out regularly before and after playing, as it can impair the sound of the whistle. Most of this build-up occurs in the mouthpiece, and this is where the sound comes from.
Cover the window of the mouthpiece with a finger, and blow hard through the mouthpiece to dislodge small pieces of dirt. You can also occasionally use a soft cloth or specialised brush to clean out the whistle, especially after long periods of disuse.
Cover the window of the mouthpiece with a finger, and blow hard through the mouthpiece to dislodge small pieces of dirt. You can also occasionally use a soft cloth or specialised brush to clean out the whistle, especially after long periods of disuse.
1-3-4 - The Mouth Seal
Make sure your lips have made a reasonable seal around the mouthpiece. While not as important a trouble-shooting tip as other wind instruments, this can save air leakage and ensure that most of your air is going into the instrument.
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