Teaching tin whistle to a child

[PJ]

My daughter is 5 and wants to play the tin whistle. Her hands are big enough to reach and cover all the holes of a Generation D. However, once she takes her fingers off a tone hole, particularly with the right hand, she has to look at the whistle to get them back on.

So far, I just have her playing A & B. She has trouble with the rest of the notes. I'd like to help her play a few more notes before boredom and/or frustration cause her to give up entirely.

Any suggestion, tips, recommendations for books, links to websites, etc., from people with experience teaching children would be greatly appreciated.

[straycat82]

I find that same problem with teaching both children and adults picking up the whistle for the first time. No matter what they do, it seems to take a while for their fingers to memorize those lower hole positions. The adults seem to find the E and F# easily enough with larger fingers but the E to D stretch doesn't come naturally. The first thing I usually check for is to see if they are lifting their bottom hand far off the whistle when playing G thru A. If so, that could be an easy enough fix. Also check the thumb and make sure it has it's place (not sliding around during different notes). These things could help her find her "home row" so to speak. If her pinky reaches far enough, that could be another possibility but don't force it if it isn't comfortable. Have her play her scales slowly, up an down, and listen for the notes without looking at her hands.

[sgerards]

Old McDonalds Farm is a great first song for a pre-schooler (or a post-schooler like me!) I got it from the Walton's book that comes with their whistle.

[dean]

I am not a professional teacher of children but I do participate in teaching children's classes in a couple of subjects. I have also tried to start a couple of youngsters off on the whistle.

The hand/finger position thing they will get in time. It is the same with any new instrument you put in front of them. I think the single, most important thing to keep in your adult mind is that you are interacting with a child's mind. Don't "force" them or ever expect the really young ones to pay attention for more than maybe 15 minutes. Do scales for a few/several minutes then switch to a tune then switch to something like musical "follow the leader". I also don't think you should "force" any particular tune on them. let them suggest a tune like "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" or whatever they can already sing/hum.

my 2cents

[Roger O'Keeffe]

I haven't tried to teach a child, but I always start with beginners by getting them to play a consistent G, then go up to A and B and back down again, then add F, back up and down to F, then add E. Don't add bottom D till they are comfortable with the fingering and breath control needed to hold a good E.

When they've got that far, get them to play "Twinkle twinkle little star" (starting on bottom D) , and they will be delighted to discover that they have already mastered their first tune.

Only then should you add high c and d (deferring their introduction will also be good for your own auditory wellbeing) . Once they've got that far, you can fairly quickly introduce the second octave and the cross-fingering for C Nat, which is good for motivation. Then look for other tunes that include series of notes that constitute bits of a scale -e.g. Frère Jacques. But as previous poster pointed out, it's good to work on tunes that the child can already sing or hum.

[Ron Jarvis]

PJ - 5 seems very young to me for a child to begin to play the whistle, especially a D whistle and any musical instrument. Given the basic finger spread required, I would think most 5-year-olds would become frustrated pretty quickly. Perhaps your daughter is an exception. I've checked one program and see that group classes seem to begin at around age 7 or 8. However, exposure to the music (maybe through dance, etc.) could help develop that wonderful sense of rythym of Irish music. Just a thought. Best of success, regardless of you decision. How I wish I had started the whistle at a much earlier age! Ron

[Steamwalker]

You can try a smaller whistle like an Eb or F whistle and just mimic the same fingerings until their hands get bigger.

[jemtheflute]

I agree with most of the above - and I have done quite a lot of whistle workshops etc. with both kids and adults as well as doing some of this stuff with my own kids when they were little. The younger kids usually have the problems you describe, and as a result, for one-off school visit type workshops, I usually prefer to stick to the over 8s. But if your daughter's hands reach OK and she's enjoying it, I say go for it.

A higher key whistle might well help, in which case I suggest you buy two Fs and work with her. Make sure you try them out in the shop and get ones with decent tone that aren't prone to squeaking. A decent Generation is a good choice for a child because they are relatively easy to learn to blow properly. I'd definitely work on real tunes, whether nursery rhymes etc. she knows or ITM, especially things she may be familiar with hearing you play. I often start with The Leitrim Fancy with beginners of any age because of its step-wise shapes in the A music (and because it brings in C nat cross fingering from the beginning and is good for explaining cuts and rolls on - but all that won't quite concern you yet!) Choose tunes that start in the left hand and don't go over the break too much.

It is also a very good idea to explain how things work to children - in a way they can grasp at their particular level, of course. I agree with previous posters that your lass will quite quickly get a feel for placing the fingers, but it would probably help if you explain to her why her fingers must cover and seal the holes and come off/go on in order. You can show her that yourself (contrast doing it right with doing it wrong so she can see the differences). Try things like getting her to finger the holes while you stop up the top end and blow in the bottom so she can feel any leaks. Also get her to blow while you finger a tune and vice versa.... anything like that that can be made fun. Show her and try to get her to explain to you (lead her observation, draw the thinking and answers out of her - e-duc-ation!!!) about "higher" and "lower" pitches and longer/shorter tubes (or strings - have fun making simple musical models!) and how the tone holes lengthen or shorten the working part of the tube. A leaky finger fails to lengthen the tube properly.... If she understands the elements of why it works one way and not the other, she will be more likely to enjoy the challenge of succeeding and be able to target success for herself.

All this takes much more complexity to explain than it does to actually do! Think out ploys for yourself and try them. Don't do too much at one go; choose (or let her choose) a time when she is enthusiastic, run with it while it flows, be prepared to drop it and return if it palls.

I wouldn't emphasise scales to such a littley - too likely to bore her unless she has a very studious inclination. Get those in the context of well chosen melodies. Ultimately, the key is to get and keep her enjoying it. If they are interested and engaged, they are never too young, and even if they don't persist with it, it will have laid good foundations.

[jemtheflute]

Further to last post, I don't know how much you know about whistles or whether you are a whistle player yourself, so just in case, I found this excellent advice from pancelticpiper on another thread - hope no one minds me borrowing it!

quality control for Generations can be dodgy, and I certainly have picked up Generations on which only squeaking notes could be produced. Like for any instrument, a beginner is well-served by having an experienced player pick an instrument for them. I was teaching whistle at a festival two years ago and a place had a dozen D Generations. One was a superb player with solid tone thoughout the range and perfectly in tune octaves. (I bought that one. ) One was nearly as good, with actually a nicer sound but a tiny hair less responsive, which one I picked out for a newbie. A couple had a horrible breathy wheezy tone, tended to squeak, and had awful octaves. The rest ranged in between the two extremes. So somebody who just bought one at random could have a tough time of learning if they ended up with one of the bad ones.

That said, Generation are by far the best of the £3.50 (cU$7.00) price range whistles.

[Silvano]

I am not an expert on teaching children, but the first thing that came to mind was:

"If you want to build a ship, do not begin to collect wood, cut shelves and dispose work to men, but inspire them with the passion of the big wide sea"
(Antoine de aint Exupéry)

This might work also with children, I think.

Silvano

P. S. Please excuse the bad translation fromfrench via german to english....

[izzarina]

PJ - 5 seems very young to me for a child to begin to play the whistle, especially a D whistle and any musical instrument.

Actually, you'd be surprised. The fingerings are difficult for them when they have smaller hands (as mine tend to do), but even if they aren't doing it perfectly, it gives them a feel for the instrument.

Start with B A G and keep working on those three until they "get" it...not that they do it perfectly, but that they at least understand what's going on. They can make up little tunes using those three notes until they get a feel for it. Stress that their fingers need to cover the holes (this is by far the hardest for them to remember...even when they are big enough). Then you can introduce F#, E and D. Do the same thing again until they get a feel for it, and then you can try out Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. They are not going to be perfect, but it really does give them so much joy to actually do it despite the lack of perfection. The look of pride on their little faces when they play that first note is precious. It's well worth the time and effort you put into the somewhat tedious work that you put forth to teach them Mine love to play...the 3 year old just blows into it, but the 4 year old makes attempts at trying the fingerings, even on a D Sweetone. The more they practice at that age, the more quickly they get used to playing...but make sure the practicing is more fun than work (obviously...*I* hate to practice when it's more like work). More often than not, their practice time comes when I pick up my whistle to just mess around with it. They love to imitate me, and that makes it fun for them, despite the fact that they are really practicing.

I hope that helps!