Want to give up smoking? stressed out? thinking of taking up a new hobby?
Pick up a tin whistle! i know you're probably thinking i'm nuts but give me 2 secs to explain
, i smoked for a long time without wanting to due to addiction and nothing i tried could help me give up, like krusty the clown i ran out of space on my body on which to put nicotine patches, even my beloved computer games could'nt help, but one day i accidently picked up a tin whistle and i have'nt smoked in 4 years, i also ended up with a rewarding hobby.
Here are some questions/thoughts you may be thinking, i know i did when i first started.
1. What is a tin whistle?
A tin whistle is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. here is a link to Wikipedia with more info on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_whistle
2. How much is a tin whistle?
A tin whistle can be remarkably cheap, you can get a good new one for as little as 5 pounds (i think thats about 7 or 8 dollars), the beauty of it is that for that price you can get a fine tin whistle that is as good as one that costs a couple of hundred dollars, not possible with many other instruments, i would'nt fancy my chances of getting a good violin for 8 bucks
3. Where can i get a tin whistle?
I bought mine at my local music shop for about 5 pounds, if there are no music shops near you i believe they can be ordered online for a similar price, if you do buy a whistle for about 8-10 dollars ask the shop owner to pick one for you that is in tune, a few of the cheaper ones may have imperfections to the sound due to mass production.
4. Why would a tin whistle help me give up smoking?
Well you see it takes up the parts of your body that you use for smoking, your fingers are needed to play the instrument instead of holding the cigarette, your mouth for blowing instead of inhaling smoke, and the thought process of learning music can make you forget you want to smoke for surprisingly long periods of time, even when i caved in now and again and had a smoke, the amount i smoked a day dropped drastically, eventually to nothing.
5. I don't have a musical bone in my body, i can't play an instrument, what's the point of starting now? won't it take ages to become a good player?
I did'nt have a musical bone in my body either and although i am only an amateur i have achieved a level of play which i find rewarding, when i first started my fingers were slow, unresponsive and i had no timing, careful practice improved my play and it was fun as i learned, if i can do it i am postive you can too.
It is true that the tin whistle is the same as any other instrument in that it is hard to master, but it differs in that it is very easy to learn and feels rewarding from the beginning, you could achieve a good quality of play in as little as six months to a year.
6. I can't afford a tutor and i don't know how to read music.
Same as me, i learned how to play by following a step by step tutorial on youtube made by this gentleman,
this is his channel : http://www.youtube.com/user/RyanDunsSJ
and this is the first video of the tutorial : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0Xf1Ume0zA
The thing about tin whistle music is that most of it is learned by ear, i myself cannot read sheet music but i have about 10-15 tunes stuck in my head, sounds hard but believe me it is'nt, all you have to do is listen, and over a little time you will begin to remember them well.
7. I'm a smoker! where am i going to get the breath for all that blowing?
Never fear, a tin whistle takes very little breath to blow, and even then you can tailor your playing style to accomodate if you lack a little breathing power as i do, my first whistle which is a "Generation" whistle is easier than most to blow, also the less you smoke the more you will notice that lung function gets better.
8. Bah it probably won't work, no point trying.
Even if it does'nt work, because of the small amount of money involved you don't lose too much by trying and you could stand to gain a lot.
Here are a few really accomplished players :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1ZM4lt3sZY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9DLP4PobwY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H9aIrs3ZsI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-pLklK-GCc&feature=related
While it is of course very difficult to get to this standard, the beauty of the tin whistle is that there is no need to ever be this technically proficient to really enjoy playing it, even the simplest of tunes can sound very impressive after a little practice.
To conclude i thought i'd mention this in the hope it might be of use to someone else as it was a great help to me in my struggle to give cigarettes the boot, thanks for reading
Pick up a tin whistle! i know you're probably thinking i'm nuts but give me 2 secs to explain
, i smoked for a long time without wanting to due to addiction and nothing i tried could help me give up, like krusty the clown i ran out of space on my body on which to put nicotine patches, even my beloved computer games could'nt help, but one day i accidently picked up a tin whistle and i have'nt smoked in 4 years, i also ended up with a rewarding hobby.Here are some questions/thoughts you may be thinking, i know i did when i first started.
1. What is a tin whistle?
A tin whistle is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. here is a link to Wikipedia with more info on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_whistle
2. How much is a tin whistle?
A tin whistle can be remarkably cheap, you can get a good new one for as little as 5 pounds (i think thats about 7 or 8 dollars), the beauty of it is that for that price you can get a fine tin whistle that is as good as one that costs a couple of hundred dollars, not possible with many other instruments, i would'nt fancy my chances of getting a good violin for 8 bucks
3. Where can i get a tin whistle?
I bought mine at my local music shop for about 5 pounds, if there are no music shops near you i believe they can be ordered online for a similar price, if you do buy a whistle for about 8-10 dollars ask the shop owner to pick one for you that is in tune, a few of the cheaper ones may have imperfections to the sound due to mass production.
4. Why would a tin whistle help me give up smoking?
Well you see it takes up the parts of your body that you use for smoking, your fingers are needed to play the instrument instead of holding the cigarette, your mouth for blowing instead of inhaling smoke, and the thought process of learning music can make you forget you want to smoke for surprisingly long periods of time, even when i caved in now and again and had a smoke, the amount i smoked a day dropped drastically, eventually to nothing.
5. I don't have a musical bone in my body, i can't play an instrument, what's the point of starting now? won't it take ages to become a good player?
I did'nt have a musical bone in my body either and although i am only an amateur i have achieved a level of play which i find rewarding, when i first started my fingers were slow, unresponsive and i had no timing, careful practice improved my play and it was fun as i learned, if i can do it i am postive you can too.
It is true that the tin whistle is the same as any other instrument in that it is hard to master, but it differs in that it is very easy to learn and feels rewarding from the beginning, you could achieve a good quality of play in as little as six months to a year.
6. I can't afford a tutor and i don't know how to read music.
Same as me, i learned how to play by following a step by step tutorial on youtube made by this gentleman,
this is his channel : http://www.youtube.com/user/RyanDunsSJ
and this is the first video of the tutorial : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0Xf1Ume0zA
The thing about tin whistle music is that most of it is learned by ear, i myself cannot read sheet music but i have about 10-15 tunes stuck in my head, sounds hard but believe me it is'nt, all you have to do is listen, and over a little time you will begin to remember them well.
7. I'm a smoker! where am i going to get the breath for all that blowing?
Never fear, a tin whistle takes very little breath to blow, and even then you can tailor your playing style to accomodate if you lack a little breathing power as i do, my first whistle which is a "Generation" whistle is easier than most to blow, also the less you smoke the more you will notice that lung function gets better.
8. Bah it probably won't work, no point trying.
Even if it does'nt work, because of the small amount of money involved you don't lose too much by trying and you could stand to gain a lot.
Here are a few really accomplished players :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1ZM4lt3sZY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9DLP4PobwY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H9aIrs3ZsI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-pLklK-GCc&feature=related
While it is of course very difficult to get to this standard, the beauty of the tin whistle is that there is no need to ever be this technically proficient to really enjoy playing it, even the simplest of tunes can sound very impressive after a little practice.
To conclude i thought i'd mention this in the hope it might be of use to someone else as it was a great help to me in my struggle to give cigarettes the boot, thanks for reading
