Tin Whistle, Recorder, Clarinet . . . Similar Fingering?

whistlersmother · Post by **whistlersmother** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 5:24 pm

My poor daughter started out playing the clarinet and loved it . . . until she started having to move her fingers off the home row. It's just too difficult. We are considering letting her learn a tin whistle or recorder, just so she has an instrument to play. Is the fingering the same on all wind instruments? Or would she have to learn an entirely different fingering pattern?

Thank you for educating this rank amateur.

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 5:27 pm

They're all similar but not the same. Thin whistle fingering is the simplest; clarinet is probably the hardest (but i don't know all wind instruments, of course).

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 5:57 pm

How old is your daughter, and what does she want to do with her music? Whistle is terrific for traditional music: folk tunes, Irish music, etc. However, it is not a very chromatic instrument ( that is, it can't play all the sharps and flats, and play in all keys).
If she is interested in playing some classical music, or transferring her learning to a school band, she might be better off starting on recorder.
In either case, very good inexpensive instruments are available, as well as excellent teaching books.

TelegramSam · Post by **TelegramSam** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 6:35 pm

I played a Clarinet in middle school band, and it is a rather tricky instrument. Reed instruments probably aren't the best thing to start a kid off with. If she wants to play classical music or eventually move onto chromatic instruments, you might want to get her a recorder to start on rather than a whistle, but if she's interested in folk music, the whistle is probably the way to go.

spittin_in_the_wind · Post by **spittin_in_the_wind** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 8:49 pm

Depending on her age, saxophone is a lot easier than the clarinet, and the fingerings are similar to whistle as you go up the instrument. Get her an alto so she doesn't have to lug around something bigger than herself. If she's younger than 10 or 11, get her a whistle.

Robin

Zubivka · Post by **Zubivka** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 1:22 am

Sopranino sax for super niños !

Of course, there's also the Strathmann flute (whistle/recorder with sax fingering) but it's a bit dear...

GeoMan · Post by **GeoMan** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 11:53 pm

Being both a whistler and clarinetist myself, I can confidently say that the average person would have a much easier time picking up a whistle and learning to play than trying to do the same with a clarinet. As brewerpaul mentioned earlier, the whistle is great for traditional music, and the recorder is a great step into classical and music that requires different keys or accidentals (sharps, flats) or whatnot.

Basically -- if she can play the clarinet the way you described, she can most definitely play a tin whistle or recorder (although a recorder would be slightly more complicated, not to mention slightly blasphemous, at least if you ask certain people around here

).

Cheers,
GeoMan