The Whistle: A Lost Art
Have you ever listened to “White Christmas” and heard the beautiful whistling solo? It is one of my favorite parts of that song. What says Christmas like a good whistle?
Whatever happened to the art of the whistle? I remember my grandpa had a beautiful whistle. It was almost ethereal in tone and it had such a nice vibrato attached to each ending note.
People really don’t whistle any more, ya know. We live in an age of IPODs and YouTube, so any music we want is really on demand whenever we want it. But back in the day your whistle was all you had to listen to. You would have your different playlists, and songs that you had book marked just stored up in your brain.
Before your day would begin I am sure you would sit down and think, “OK, I am heading to the gym, so I will whistle my ‘work out jams’ playlist. I think today I will start with AC/DC “Thunderstruck’”. And then you would jump on that tread mill and whistle your work out. Oh course it was really distracting because everyone was whistling at the same time on their tread mills so some of would just hum as a courtesy to others.
I think back in the day people really aspired to be great whistlers. That was looked upon with the same respect as great singers or musicians. They saw it as another instrument that you could master. I really think people considered whistling as an option for a full time career.
Can you imagine how that interview would go?
Interviewer: Can you tell me a little about your experience, and why we should hire you?
Whistler: Oh, of course, I would be happy to. Ya know I started out with Bing Crosby on his White Christmas album. He was such a great kid, and such a professional.
Uh, after that I was asked to perform the theme song to the “Andy Griffith Show”. That was such a treat to do.
After that, I then traveled to Broadway where I performed in the “King and I”. The actor who played the son of Anna couldn't whistle so they asked me to dub it for him during “Whistle a Happy Tune”. It was my pleasure to do so.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of popularity of whistling lately, I have been resigned to local commercial work. My last job was actually an Irish Springs commercial.
So friends, let’s put down our Ipods, turn off our car radios, and just enjoy the sweetness of a solitary whistle. Together we can bring back the lost art of the whistle.
If you don't think there are professional whistlers out there, well think again. Here is the video to prove it. Good David Morris, "Whistle us a song, your the whistle man. Whistle us a song tonight..."
Whatever happened to the art of the whistle? I remember my grandpa had a beautiful whistle. It was almost ethereal in tone and it had such a nice vibrato attached to each ending note.
People really don’t whistle any more, ya know. We live in an age of IPODs and YouTube, so any music we want is really on demand whenever we want it. But back in the day your whistle was all you had to listen to. You would have your different playlists, and songs that you had book marked just stored up in your brain.
Before your day would begin I am sure you would sit down and think, “OK, I am heading to the gym, so I will whistle my ‘work out jams’ playlist. I think today I will start with AC/DC “Thunderstruck’”. And then you would jump on that tread mill and whistle your work out. Oh course it was really distracting because everyone was whistling at the same time on their tread mills so some of would just hum as a courtesy to others.
I think back in the day people really aspired to be great whistlers. That was looked upon with the same respect as great singers or musicians. They saw it as another instrument that you could master. I really think people considered whistling as an option for a full time career.
Can you imagine how that interview would go?
Interviewer: Can you tell me a little about your experience, and why we should hire you?
Whistler: Oh, of course, I would be happy to. Ya know I started out with Bing Crosby on his White Christmas album. He was such a great kid, and such a professional.
Uh, after that I was asked to perform the theme song to the “Andy Griffith Show”. That was such a treat to do.
After that, I then traveled to Broadway where I performed in the “King and I”. The actor who played the son of Anna couldn't whistle so they asked me to dub it for him during “Whistle a Happy Tune”. It was my pleasure to do so.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of popularity of whistling lately, I have been resigned to local commercial work. My last job was actually an Irish Springs commercial.
So friends, let’s put down our Ipods, turn off our car radios, and just enjoy the sweetness of a solitary whistle. Together we can bring back the lost art of the whistle.
If you don't think there are professional whistlers out there, well think again. Here is the video to prove it. Good David Morris, "Whistle us a song, your the whistle man. Whistle us a song tonight..."
Comments
You know, years ago when we lived in Hawaii a professional whistler came to BYU-H to put on a show. Man, he was good! So, you see, it would appear they actually do find some good work. I'd pay money to see that professional whistler again; Oh yes, I would.