
Do you want to learn how to whistle? Well, you’ve come to the right place! Read this Plentifun article to know the tricks of whistling.
Whistling is an ability that each and every kid picks up once he or she steps into double figures (with respect to age). Some children learn it even earlier i.e. around the age of six or eight. Having said that, once in a while, you do tend to come across a couple of twenty-somethings who can’t even whistle to save their lives!
Well, for all of you who do not know how to whistle, you better take this article very seriously indeed. Whistling is not only an art, but also a unique form of communication, and being able to whistle is a very important part of one’s dating repertoire! Therefore, on that note, let us learn how to whistle, with and without using your fingers.
Whistling Without Fingers
There is no rocket science involved in learning how to whistle. All it takes is a little bit of practice and a certain amount of trial and error. Initially, you must learn to whistle without the use of your fingers. Once you get the hang of simple whistling, you can then move on to learning how to whistle using your fingers. Here’s the process:
- Shape your lips to make a small ‘O’. It would be somewhat similar to the way your lips appear when you sip cola using a straw.
- Now slowly suck air inside your mouth. Initially, the only sound that you will be able to hear is the sound of air gushing inwards. That’s absolutely normal and is nothing to be disappointed about.
- Repeat this over and over while gradually increasing the speed of air suction. At one point you will notice the gush of air getting converted into an audible whistling sound. That should give you an idea of how and at what speed to suck the air inwards in order to produce a whistling sound. Practice this repeatedly and regularly until you are able to produce this whistling sound at the drop of a hat.
- Now you need to learn how to whistle the traditional way i.e. produce a whistling sound while blowing air outwards. For this, first whistle by drawing the air inwards (which I’m sure you’ve mastered by this point of time). Now as soon as you’ve drawn the air inwards, release it by blowing it out at much the same speed at which you drew it inwards. The ‘drawing in-blowing out’ motion should be a single, smooth motion and should not involve any pauses or breaks.
- Practice this a number of times until you find yourself producing a whistling sound with the outward blowing motion. If you find that you’re able to produce a clear whistle with just a simple outward blow of air, it means that you’ve learned to whistle!
Whistling With Fingers
Using your fingers, you can soon transform your sweet, innocent and mild whistle into a shrill, ear-splitting siren that is loud enough to make the deafest of cab drivers slam down on the brakes and screech to a halt. Here is how to go about it:
- Touch the tips of your index finger and your thumb such that the two fingers form a circle.
- Curl your tongue upwards such that it remains behind your upper teeth and just about touches the upper palate i.e. the roof of your mouth.
- Now keeping the formed ‘circle’ intact, place your thumb and your index finger in your mouth such that the tips of your two fingers touch the surface of your curled tongue.
- Using your tongue and your face muscles, blow air outwards as you would otherwise do while whistling normally. Ideally, this should produce a loud, clear whistle having a sharp tone. However, the actual outcome will be a mere gush of air followed by a spurting sound. This happens to ninety-nine percent of first-time finger whistlers, so you need not worry. There is only ONE way to get around this problem – Practice. Believe me, there is no other shortcut method available. Keep practicing and working on it and you will be able to get it right.
This is what you should keep in mind if you want to whistle effortlessly. Once you master the basic process of whistling, you can later learn how to go about producing different musical notes through the process of whistling.