Whistle, Whistling: Can You? Do you?

[theREALdotnet]

Greatest whistler of all time has to be Toots Thielemans.

And this is his mother:

 

[Sokel]

I was taught how to whistle by an Australian girlfriend but it wasn't for musical purposes, it was the kind they use for calling sheep (?) at long distances, with the two fingers by the cheeks.

It's very loud!

 

[xanalog]

I was taught how to whistle by...

That never worked for me: I mean the 'teaching' part.
I've tried many times to teach others, but have resolved in the understanding that it's a personal endeavor; like how to use... errrr... TP.

 

[Multicore]

I was taught how to whistle by an Australian girlfriend but it wasn't for musical purposes, it was the kind they use for calling sheep (?) at long distances, with the two fingers by the cheeks.

It's very loud!

I've wanted to do that since forever. Do you think YouTube can teach me?

 

[Sokel]

That never worked for me: I mean the 'teaching' part.
I've tried many times to teach others, but have resolved in the understanding that it's a personal endeavor; like how to use... errrr... TP.

I've wanted to do that since forever. Do you think YouTube can teach me?

Yep, it's kind of personal and practice is all it needs (along with the right folding of the tongue under the fingers).

First is just a "fff" with a hint of a whistle if your lucky, but as soon as you try it you get a grip of what it needs.
After some time it becomes automatic, like any other practice.

 

[xanalog]

Jason Victor—that Stereophile guy?—Serinus. For reals:
...

I am not a fan of that kind whistling;
[imo] it becomes like a chalkboard screech.
Or maybe similar to what Sabrina Carpenter felt like -while performing on the Cochella stage- when someone in the audience started some kind of 'yodeling'.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

I used to be pretty good at whistling. I had a range of over 2 octaves and could stay in tune pretty well. I had a few different timbres and some vibrato. I could get loud. Then I lost my upper front teeth. My new mouth, well, it's over 10 years old, cut me down to an octave and a half or so and I lost a lot of my dynamics and timbre control. I can still stay in tune but I don't have the expressive stuff I had before. Taking the partial plate out doesn't help. I'm more like a toy piano with a small keyboard. One positive aspect: I can't annoy the neighbors when I'm working in the yard.

 

[xanalog]

...Then I lost my upper front teeth. My new mouth, well, it's over 10 years old,...

When I read this part; it made me LOL!
Sorry!

I am not going to ask the details of your not-so-funny episode.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

When I read this part; it made me LOL!
Sorry!

I am not going to ask the details of your not-so-funny episode.

Decayed teeth, no trauma involved. Fortunately the partial plate is OK for self defense. I can't whistle but I can bite.

 

[A Cute Earring]

Whistling is bad luck on a boat.

 

[theREALdotnet]

Whistling is bad luck on a boat.

Unless you can whistle like a fog horn.

 

[xanalog]

Whistling is bad luck on a boat.

But once overboard:

The frequencies generated by whistling (2–4 kHz) are resistant to degradation and can be intelligible at a distance 10 times greater than shouted speech (6).

You'd be better off whistling -rather than shouting- for help!