Now that Peter, Bjorn and John are bringing whistling back, I’ve started to notice other young folks brushing up on their whistling. I was in Pinkberry yesterday wondering if I could disprove my friend’s assault that the stuff tastes like foot cream (I can see where he’s coming from, but it really doesn’t; after years of Tasti D-Lite, you’re immune), and some of my fellow berry-hoppers were busting out the tweets. They weren’t very good, but it was pretty endearing. I’ve never been great, myself, but I can supplement clapping with a decent cat-call, and I can usually get a dog to come over and see what I want. 
But what I can’t do is whistle national anthems, “Amazing Grace” or “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”–these are feats I delegate to professional whistlers, the most adorable of which has to be Cal Fenwick. This Ontario college boy has no trouble launching his warble up and down chromatic scales and he’s a soloist for Canadian orchestras. Of course, even Cal admits he’s not exactly the daddy of whistling, yet–that would have to go to Chris Ullman, the four-time national and international champion who has entertained Bush in the Oval Office with his renditions of “A-Train” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” But please: if you buy tickets to see Mr. Ullman, refrain from kissing him. He’ll have none of it, as he makes sure to note on his site:
Q. Does kissing affect your ability to whistle?
A. Yes. Kissing makes my lips mushy, which is bad for sustaining a pucker. I refrain from kissing 24 hours before a performance and 48 hours before a competition. Yes, I’m serious.
We’ll take a hint. But you can probably kiss birds without ruining their set, right? Professional whistler Robert Stemmons offers “serious training for capable birds!” In his five volume instructional set, you can choose your weapon: “Oklahoma!”, “Flight of the Bumblebee” or my personal favorite–”Bridge Over the River Kwai.”
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Since you name dropped PB&J I thought I’d suggest another indie rocker with mad whistling skills, Andrew Bird. His whistling blends seamlessly into his singing and violin playing, and it actually sounds like a musical instrument. Really extraordinary. Plus his music is great.
posted by AD on 4-4-2007 at 3:30 pm
My Dad was the finest whistler I’ve ever heard. I grew up enjoying his abilities and eventually picked up a few tricks from him. Somewhere along the way I also picked the trick of hand whistling. Hand Whistling? It’s a way of placing both hands togther and blowing air through your thumbs. Ghost sounds, Owls, Mourning Doves, etc. I teach it to all the kids I know.
All the Best,
altArtifact
posted by altArtifact on 4-4-2007 at 4:24 pm
i love andrew bird! my friend let me know about him before he was gracing morning becomes eclectic, and i thought: this guy should make it. glad to see he is. he’s like malkmus + dali + zappa.
posted by becky on 4-4-2007 at 4:25 pm
When I was a kid, I would listen to my mothers Roger Whittaker tape, and try to teach myself to whistle like he did. While I never got that good, I did learn to whistle. I’ll occasionally do it unconsciously, which drives my wife nuts…
posted by Jason! on 4-4-2007 at 4:45 pm
nice whistling to be sure, but is it me, the nature of whistling, or do their sample tunes sound a bit flat?
posted by josh on 4-4-2007 at 5:22 pm
hand whistling is awesome–works great on acorn tops, too…
posted by becky on 4-4-2007 at 6:38 pm
Becky,
You’ll have to explain the acorn thing to me. I just can’t picture it. Where do you put the acorn? :-)
posted by altArtifact on 4-4-2007 at 9:08 pm
it’s an old girl scouting trick…but you basically put your thumbs over the acorn top (i remember them saying “make a triangle!” with the space between thumbs) and blow. some tops are better than others, though, definitely.
posted by becky on 4-4-2007 at 11:13 pm
Becky,
Just for fun I posted a page on my artotems site of how I do it. Just go to the site. Its a page called things.aspx.
Is this how you were taught?
posted by altArtifact on 4-5-2007 at 12:03 am
I’m so glad to hear somebody mention Andrew Bird.
Very talented musician and whistler.
posted by Jerry on 4-5-2007 at 6:01 am
Glad to hear the buzz about whistling. I am a professional whistler in Los Angeles and work for composers of TV, feature film and stock music libraries. While my trademark and legendary polyphonic whistling is saved for live audiences, you can access some whistling samples at: http://www.TrainedWhistle.com
posted by Guerin Barry on 4-6-2007 at 8:35 am