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Whistling, without the use of an artificial whistle, is achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips, usually after applying moisture (licking one's lips or placing water upon them) and then blowing or sucking air through the space. The air is moderated by the lips, curled tongue, teeth or fingers (placed over the mouth or in various areas between pursed lips) to create turbulence, and the curled tongue acts as a resonance chamber to enhance the resulting sound by acting as a type of Helmholtz resonator. By moving the various parts of the lips, fingers, tongue, and epiglottis, one can then manipulate the types of whistles produced.
Many expert musical palatal whistlers will substantially alter the position of the tongue to ensure a good quality tone. Venetian gondoliers are famous for moving the tongue while they whistle in a way that can look like singing. A good example of a palatal whistler is Luke Janssen, winner of the 2009 World Whistling Competition.
Finger whistling is harder to control but achieves a piercing volume. In Boito's opera Mefistofele the title character uses it to express his defiance of the Almighty.
Whistling can also be produced by blowing air through enclosed, Hand flute or through an external Wind instrument, such as a whistle or even a blade of grass or leaf.
One of the most prolific whistling competitors is a Virginia-based communications expert, Christopher W. Ullman, who has won the IWC so many times he is listed in the International Whistling Hall of Fame. Ullman won the IWC Grand Championship three times, in 1996, 1999, and 2000. In 1999, he was given the Lillian Williams Achievement Award as Whistling Entertainer of the Year.
According to Guinness World Records, the highest pitch human whistle ever recorded was measured at 10,599 Hz, which corresponds to an E9 musical note. This was done by Joshua Lockard in Southlake, Texas, on May 1, 2019. The lowest pitch whistle ever recorded was measured at 174.6 Hz, which corresponds to an F3 musical note. This was accomplished by Jennifer Davies (Canada) at the Impossibility Challenger Games in Dachau, Germany, on 6 November 2006. The most people whistling simultaneously was 853, which was organized at the Spring Harvest event at Minehead, UK, on April 11, 2014.
Whistling can be used to control trained animals such as dogs. A shepherd's whistle is often used instead.
Whistling has long been used as a specialized communication between laborers. For example, whistling in theatre, particularly on-stage, is used by flymen (members of a fly crew) to cue the lowering or raising of a batten pipe or flat. This method of communication became popular before the invention of electronic means of communication, and is still in use, primarily in older "hemp" houses during the set and strike of a show.Hughes, Maureen. A History of Pantomime, p. 31 (2013).Asbury, Nick. Exit Pursued by a Badger: An Actor's Journey Through History with Shakespeare, p. 134 (Oberon Books 2009).
Burrowing animals species are known to whistle to communicate threats, such as marmot species including the groundhog (woodchuck) and the alpine marmot. Whistling to communicate threats is used by animals such as prairie dogs, which have one of the most complex communication systems in the Animal. Prairie dogs can communicate an animal's speed, shape, size, and species and for humans specific attire and if the human is carrying a gun. This method of communication is usually done by having a stand on two feet surveying for potential threats while the rest of the pack finds food. Once a threat has been identified the sentry sounds a whistle alarm, (sometimes describing the threat) at which point the pack retreats to their burrows. The intensity of the threat is usually determined by how long the sentry whistles. The sentry continues to whistle the alarm until the entirety of the pack has gone to safety at which point the sentry returns to the burrow. Alarm calling in yellow-bellied marmots: I. The meaning of situationally variable alarm calls by Daniel T. Blumstein & Kenneth B. Armitage Department of Systematics and Ecology, University of Kansas. Published by Animal Behavior, via UCLA Life Sciences
Many performers on the music hall and Vaudeville circuits were professional whistlers (also known as siffleurs), the most famous of whom were Ronnie Ronalde and Fred Lowery, in German speaking area Ilse Werner The term puccalo or puccolo was coined by Ron McCroby to refer to highly skilled jazz whistling. Martha fluit
Whistling is featured in several television themes, such as Lassie, The Andy Griffith Show and Mark Snow's title theme for The X-Files.Snow called it the "signature whistle" that gave the music part of its "scariness".
It also prominently features in the score of the movie Twisted Nerve, composed by Bernard Herrmann, which was later used in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill.
Roger Whittaker released albums with whistling tracks such as "Mexican Whistler" and "Finnish Whistler".
In the UK there has historically been a superstitious belief in the "Seven Whistlers" which are seven mysterious birds or spirits who call out to foretell death or a great calamity. In the 19th century, large groups of coal miners were known to have refused to enter the mines for one day after hearing this spectral whistling. The Seven Whistlers have been mentioned in literature such as The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser, as bearing an omen of death. William Wordsworth included fear of the Seven Whistlers in his poem, "Though Narrow Be That Old Man's Cares". The superstition has been reported in the Midlands of England but also in Lancashire, Essex, Kent, and even in other places such as North Wales and Portugal. The Iron Maiden song "The Prophecy" from their album also references the "Seven Whistlers" as a warning of doom.
In Russian and other Slavic peoples cultures, and also in Romania and Lithuania, whistling indoors is superstitiously believed to bring poverty ("whistling money away"), whereas whistling outdoors is considered normal. In Estonia and Latvia, it is widely believed that whistling indoors may bring bad luck and therefore set the house on fire.
Whistling on board a sailing ship is thought to encourage the wind strength to increase.Gonzalez, N. V. M. "Whistling Up the Wind: Myth and Creativity." Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints 31.2 (1983): 216–226. This is regularly alluded to in the Aubrey–Maturin books by Patrick O'Brian.
Theater practice has plenty of superstitions: one of them is against whistling. A popular explanation is that traditionally sailors, skilled in rigging and accustomed to the boatswain's pipe, were often used as Stagehand, working with the complicated rope systems associated with Fly tower. An errant whistle might cause a cue to come early or a "sailor's ghost" to drop a set piece on top of an actor. An offstage whistle audible to the audience in the middle of a performance might also be considered bad luck.
Transcendental whistling ( chángxiào 長嘯) was an ancient Chinese Daoist technique of resounding breath yoga, and skillful whistlers supposedly could summon supernatural beings, wild animals, and weather phenomena.
In Thailand, it is believed that whistling is inauspicious at night, especially when indoors, because it is an invitation for a ghost or a snake to enter the house. In India, it is also believed that whistling in the home will cause the members of the household to experience various disasters. Countries in East Asia such as China, Japan, and Korea also believe in similar superstitions. In Islamic countries such as Indonesia, whistling at night is believed to summon the jinn.
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By spectators
Whistling is often used by spectators at sporting events to express either enthusiasm or disapprobation. In the United States and Canada, whistling is used much like applause, to express approval or appreciation for the efforts of a team or a player, such as a starting pitcher in baseball who is taken out of the game after having pitched well. In much of the rest of the world, especially Europe and South America, whistling is used to express displeasure with the action or disagreement with an official's decision, like booing. This whistling is often loud and cacophonous, using finger whistling. Whistling is used by spectators attending Concert to show approval of the singer’s talent.
During roll calls in Ravensbrück
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Cultural beliefs
In many cultures, whistling or making whistling noises in the morning is thought to attract good luck, good things, or good spirits.
See also
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