The tin whistle, also known as the penny whistle,Oxford English Dictionary is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, a class of instrument which also includes the recorder and Native American flute. A tin whistle player is called a whistler. The tin whistle is closely associated with Irish traditional music and Celtic music. Other names for the instrument are the flageolet, English flageolet, Scottish penny whistle, tin flageolet, or Irish whistle (also ).
History The tin whistle in its modern form is from a wider family of fipple flutes which have been seen in many forms and cultures throughout the world. In Europe, such instruments have a long and distinguished history and take various forms, of which the most widely known are the recorder, tin whistle, Flabiol, Txistu and tabor pipe.
Predecessors
Almost all early cultures had a type of fipple flute, and it is most likely the first pitched flute-type instrument in existence.The tin whistle tutor Edition: 3 – 1991 By Michael Raven Examples found to date include a possible Neanderthal fipple flute from Slovenia, which according to some scientists may date from 81,000 to 53,000 BC;The Clarke Tin Whistle By Bill OchsThe Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle By Grey LarsenThe Neanderthal Flute, Crosscurrents #183 1997 Greenwich Publishing Canada a German flute from 35,000 years ago; and a flute, known as the Malham Pipe, made from sheep's bone in West Yorkshire dating to the Iron Age.The Malham Iron-Age Pipe, by A. Raistrick, Professor Spaul and Eric Todd © 1952 (A revised dating of the Malham Pipe now places it within the early medieval period.) Written sources that describe a fipple-type flute include the Roman tibia and Greek aulos. In the early Middle Ages, peoples of northern Europe were playing the instrument as seen in 3rd-century British bone flutes,English Medieval Bone Flutes c. 450 – c.1550 AD. By Helen Leaf and Irish Brehon Law describes a flute-like instrument. By the 12th century, Italian flutes came in a variety of sizes,The Cambridge Companion to the Recorder John Mansfield, Thomson et al, 1995 CambridgePerformance practice: a dictionary-guide for musicians By Roland John Jackson and fragments of 12th-century Norman bone whistles have been found in Ireland, as well as an intact 14 cm Tusculum clay whistle from the 14th century in Scotland. In the 17th century, whistles were called flageolets, a term to describe a whistle with a French-made fipple headpiece (common to the modern penny whistle); and such instruments are linked to the development of the English flageolet, French flageolet and recorders of the renaissance and baroque period.Whistler's Pocket Companion By Dona Gilliam, Mizzy McCaskill The term flageolet is still preferred by some modern tin whistlers, who feel that this better describes the instrument, as the term characterises a wide variety of fipple flutes, including penny whistles.Mel Bays Complete Irish Tin Whistle Book By Mizzy McCaskill, Dona GilliamThe tin whistle tutor the best – 1991 By Michael Raven
19th century
The modern penny whistle is indigenous to Great Britain and Ireland, in particular to England, when factory-made "tin whistles" were produced by Robert Clarke from 1840 to 1889 in Manchester, and later New Moston, England. Down to 1900, they were also marketed as "Clarke London Flageolets" or "Clarke Flageolets".Dannatt The whistle's fingering system is similar to that of the six-hole, "simple system Irish flutes" ("simple" in comparison to Boehm system flutes). The six-hole, diatonic system is also used on baroque flutes, and was of course well-known before Robert Clarke began producing his tin whistles. Clarke's first whistle, the Meg, was pitched in high A (A5), and was later made in other keys suitable for Victorian parlour music. The company showed the whistles in The Great Exhibition of 1851. The Clarke tin whistle is voiced somewhat on an organ-pipe with a flattened tube forming the lip of the fipple mouthpiece,The Oxford companion to musical instruments By Anthony Baines and is usually made from rolled tin sheet or brass. They were mass-produced and widespread due to their relative affordability.
As the penny whistle was generally considered a toy, it has been suggested that children or street musicians were paid a penny by those who heard them playing the whistle. However, in reality, the instrument was so called because it could be purchased for a penny. The name "tin-whistle" was also coined as early as 1825 but neither the tin whistle nor the penny whistle name seems to have been common until the 20th century. The instrument became popular in several musical traditions, namely: English, Scottish, Irish and American traditional music.
Due to its affordability, the tin whistle was a popular household instrument, as ubiquitous as the harmonica. In the second half of the 19th century, some flute manufacturers such as Barnett Samuel and Joseph Wallis also sold whistles. These had cylindrical brass tubes. Like many old whistles, they had lead fipple plugs, and since lead is poisonous, caution should be exercised before playing an old whistle.
Low whistle
While whistles have most often been produced in higher pitches, the "low" whistle has historically been produced. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in the United States, has in its collection an example of a 19th-century low whistle from the Galpin collection.
Modern tin whistle
The most common whistles today are made of brass or nickel-plated brass, with a plastic mouthpiece, which contains the fipple. Generation, Feadóg, Oak, Acorn, Soodlum's (now Walton's), and other brands fall in this category.
The Generation Whistle was introduced in 1966, and featured a brass tube with a lead fipple. Founded by businessman and engineer Alfred Brown in Oswestry, Shropshire, their most popular whistle, the Generation Flageolet, was introduced in 1968. The design was updated somewhat over the years, most notably the substitution of a plastic fipple for the lead fipple.
Although most whistles have a cylindrical bore, other designs exist, for example a conical sheet metal whistle with a wooden stop in the wide end to form the fipple, the Clarke's brand being the most prevalent. Other less common variants are the all-metal whistle, the PVC whistle, the Flanna square holed whistle, and the wooden whistle.
Gaining popularity as a folk instrument in the early 19th-century Celtic music revivals, penny whistles now play an integral part in several folk traditions. Whistles are a prevalent starting instrument in English traditional music, Scottish traditional music and Irish traditional music, since they are usually inexpensive; relatively easy to play, free of tricky embouchure such as found with the transverse flute; and use fingerings are nearly identical to those on traditional six-holed flutes, such as the Irish flute and the Baroque flute. The tin whistle is a good starting instrument to learn the uilleann pipes, which has similar finger technique, range of notes and repertoire. The tin whistle is the most popular instrument in Irish traditional music today.Vallely et al., p. 397
In recent years, a number of instrument builders have started lines of "high-end" hand-made whistles, which can cost dozens of times more than cheap whistles, but nevertheless are cheaper than most other instruments. These companies are typically either a single individual or a very small group of craftsmen who work closely together. The instruments are distinguished from the inexpensive whistles in that each whistle is individually manufactured and "voiced" by a skilled person rather than made in a factory.
Tuning Whistle keys The whistle is tuned diatonically, which allows it to be used to easily play music in every standard mode. The whistle is identified by its lowest note, which is the tonic of the major key. This method of determining the key of the instrument is different from the method used to determine the key of a chromatic instrument, which is based on the relationship between notes on a score and sounded pitch.Wisely
Whistles are available in all 12 chromatic keys; however, the most common whistles are pitched in D, followed by whistles in C and F, G, and then B and E, with other keys being somewhat rarer. The D whistle can easily play notes in the keys of D and G major. Since the D major key is lower these whistles are identified as D whistles. The next most common whistle tuning is a C whistle, which can easily play notes in the keys of C and F major. The D whistle is by far the most common choice for Irish and Scottish music.
Although the whistle is essentially a diatonic instrument, it is possible to get notes outside the principal major key of the whistle, either by half-holing (partially covering the highest open finger hole) or by cross-fingering (covering some holes while leaving some higher ones open). However, half-holing is somewhat more difficult to do correctly, and whistles are available in all keys, so for other keys a whistler will typically use a different whistle instead, reserving half-holing for accidentals. Some whistle designs allow a single mouthpiece to be used on differently keyed bodies.
Low whistle
During the 1960s revival of traditional Irish music, the low whistle was "recreated" by Bernard Overton at the request of Finbar Furey.Hannigan and Ledsam
There are larger whistles which, by virtue of being longer and wider, produce tones an octave (or in rare cases two octaves) lower. Whistles in this category are likely to be made of metal, wood, or plastic tubing, sometimes with a tuning-slide head, and are almost always referred to as low whistles but sometimes called concert whistles. The low whistle operates on identical principles to the standard whistles, but musicians in the tradition may consider it a separate instrument.
The term soprano whistle is sometimes used for higher-pitched whistles when it is necessary to distinguish them from low whistles.
Low whistles are typically hand-made in small workshops by individual makers or small teams. Prominent makers and models include Howard, Burke, MK, Goldie, Tony Dixon, and Carbony Celtric Winds.
Playing technique Fingering and range
The notes are selected by opening or closing holes with the fingers. Holes are typically covered with the pads of the fingers, but some players, particularly when negotiating the larger holes and spacing in low whistles, may employ the "piper's grip". With all the holes closed, the whistle generates its lowest note. This lowest available note is commonly referred to as the whistle's "bell tone". Successively opening holes from the bottom upward produces the rest of the notes of the scale in sequence: with the lowest hole open it generates the second, with the lowest two holes open, it produces the third and so on. With all six holes open, it produces the seventh.
As with a number of woodwind instruments, the tin whistle's second and higher registers are achieved by increasing the air velocity into the ducted flue windway. On a transverse flute this is generally done by narrowing the lip/embouchure.Wolfe Since the size and direction of the tin whistle's windway is fixed, like that of the recorder or fipple flute, it is necessary to increase the velocity of the air stream. (See overblowing).