Introducing Tin Whistle

Course details

A simple tube of metal with six finger-holes, the whistle has an expressive range that can encompass everything from the speed and excitement of dance music to the haunting and emotionally-charged expression of slow airs. Wooden and bird-bone whistles a thousand years old have been found in excavations of Viking Dublin, and today’s tin whistle is only the most recent in a long line of whistles in Ireland.

Designed for absolute beginners, Waltons New School of Music's Introducing Tin Whistle course teaches the basics of whistle-playing, covering such aspects as tonguing, vibrato and slurring, and including some ornamentation and variation. Students will concentrate on slow airs, jigs and polkas, but other forms may be touched on as well. Also covered are some aspects of the history of the instrument and the music played on it.

Students will need to have a standard ‘D’ tin whistle before the start of the course. Whistles are available from Waltons music shops and can also be purchased together with the course.

What happens after the course has finished?

You will be given options for continuing your tuition at the school. Although a continuation ‘Improvers’ course cannot generally be scheduled on the same day/time as the Introducing course, one can be arranged if enough students would like to continue and your teacher has timetable availability. Students can also continue their tuition with either private (one-to-one) or small group lessons with other class members. We are happy to discuss these options with you.

Introducing Tin Whistle is one of our group courses for beginners. Private (one-to-one), partner, small group and one-off 'intensive' tin whistle and low whistle lessons are also available for students at all levels, from beginner to advanced.