h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Mechanics of Whistling - A1152820
Author: M - U239741

Please read it over and check for mistakes please, Its my first article!

Hi M,

I think this is a good start; it's a little short on content.

There are various ways of whistling - using just your lips, using two fingers or four.

It would be good to say a bit more about the mechanics and of these different ways.

Here are a couple of useful links.

http://pobox.upenn.edu/~thompson/whistle.html

http://bluebones.net/whistle/

http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=how%20to%20whistle

Thankyou!

Robbie Williams whistles at the begining of 'Mr Bojangles'... dunno if it's relavent or not, but I'm bored!

I can whistle through my rolled up tongue

...and I've never met anyone else who can do that!

I can whistle through my rolled-up tongue, and through the space between my front teeth, but not with just lips. (Whistling-challenged?)

M, is there any evidence to suggest that the ability to whistle is genetic? I can't whistle (despite years of trying to figure out how), and I'm not aware of anyone in my family who can. But the people who have tried to explain it to me and even this entry make it sound like the simplest thing in the world.

I also think you should include how to whistle using your fingers, as I've never managed to figure this out either. But it would be interesting to know why this works for some.

And, of course, before this could become an edited entry the smilies would have to be removed.

Thanks Miloso, entry updated!

Nice first entry

You could start the entry on a light note with a quotation:
"You know how to whistle don't you? Just put your lips together...and blow." Lauren Bacall in To Have and Have Not (1944)

and then go into the *real* methods that might assist someone who hadn't whistled before.

Pimms

This entry seems to be stating that the "normal" way to whistle is to put your tongue against your bottom teeth, to round your lips and blow. But is this really the normal way? It's certainly not the way I whistle - I have two ways, neither of which involve my tongue touching my teeth.I've never looked in anybody else's mouth to see how they do it. Has research been done on this?

well, i have another way of whistling as well - one that seriously annoys people because of the noise, and the fact that nobody else seems to be able to do it. what i do is stick my tongue out between my lips, so that the tip touches my upper lip and incisors, and whistle through the twin spaces on either side of my tongue. it produces a rather shrill police-whistle sound (or, to be more accurate, *two* sounds at once).

i'm not sure about the whistling-being-genetic thing, but it seems plausible. i have friends who *know* the mechanics of sound, and who play brass instruments (unlike woodwinds, sound production in brass instruments is caused by vibration of the lips, or rather, the air that goes through them), but much as i try to explain the mechanics of whistling to them, some of them just *can't* do it...

anyway, good of you to write an article on this! it's very how-stuff-works material. you might want to go through bioscience journals to check up on the genetics thing - if you can find any information on that, it would be *very* interesting to have it in the article.

(oh, and lucky - i can do the rolled-up tongue thingy, but it's not what you'd call very loud)

"The top 2 Whistling tunes: Indiana Jones and The great escape"

And Colonel Bogey of course


Scout

Capitalisation alert - 'america' deserves a capital letter, I think.

Colonel Bogey is a very difficult tune to whistle. The jump from the fifth note (so in lower octave) to all-important sixth note (mi in upper octave) is very difficult to judge and most people end up very flat.

That's why it's usually done glissando


Scout

I don't recall if you were involved in this other other thread, but I point it out for your info: Link to recent 'how do i' question F30859?thread=325061&latest=1

Pimms

I saw that one this morning Pimms

Thanks for the input guys! The problem with me whistling Colonel Bogey is I only seem to whistle the accompianing 1st, 2nd or 3rd Trombone Part! Actually come to think of it i do that with indiana jones as well, So much for being in bands and playing the trombone Heh!

Good subject!

I like this entry. I did not know there were so many ways of doing this!

I just thought that maybe it would be possible to include a little more details, like how to use the tip of the tounge (probably misspelled, but the iron curtain has gone down on that word) to make different articulations. Or other details that could help to explain how champion whistlers are able to do what they do.

Now I will go practice.



Cissdur

Any progress on this one? M, would you like to respond to the previous posting?