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!

 

[DWPress]

Lots of whistling around here. Both me and my son (by default I guess) and stepsons will frequently start up and if we all know it then it can evolve into choral elements.

Nobody has mentioned Andrew Bird yet - greatest contemporary whistler, US anyway:

 

[xanalog]

I tried your link three times since you posted it and there is no way I can whistle to June Christy.

 

[beeface]

I can't whistle, one of my many deficiencies

I'm a fan of whistler Molly Lewis tho

 

[xanalog]

I can't whistle, one of my many deficiencies

It's an old bug that is now turning into a feature!
Like blowing smoke rings, another stupid-human-trick is dying out.

{CLAUDE} >> ...Age/generational: the more interesting and better-documented trend is a generational decline in whistling as a casual pastime — with data suggesting younger people whistle less often and even find it more annoying than older generations do, likely tied to the shift toward personal audio (headphones/streaming) replacing self-generated music/whistling as idle-time entertainment.

Could speech be next on the chopping block?

OT: I think Claude makes this sh*t up but hits the dartboard any-ways.

 

[DWPress]

Could speech be next on the chopping block?

I have kids and step kids ranging from 15 to 29 who were brought up with real adult conversations, included in adult discussions and encouraged to express themselves and they all do very well interacting with society despite the Covid year or two punching a hole in there outside friend groups.

Many of there friends have great difficulty communicating with adults in a coherent linear fashion. Really disturbing.

Speech might hold on awhile longer but written language skills are suffering tremendously according to most of my friends in education k-12 and university settings.
This is in the US but becoming a global trend.