Whistling

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Whistling is the production of sound by means of a constant breath of air from the mouth. The air is moderated by the tongue, lips, teeth, or fingers to create turbulence, and the mouth acts as a resonant chamber to enhance the resulting sound, thus acting as a type of Helmholtz resonator. Whistling can also be produced by hands, or using an instrument (see whistle), some as simple as a blade of grass.

Non-instrumental whistling from the mouth can be accomplished in several ways:

Pucker whistling, in which the air is expelled through pursed lips, producing turbulence
Roof or palatal whistling, in which the turbulence is produced by air being pushed between the tongue and the roof (palate or alveolar ridge) of the mouth
Finger whistling or wolf-whistling, in which one or more fingers are inserted into the mouth to shape the opening, allowing a much more forceful stream of air to be blown through. A variation entails pinching at the center of the bottom lip, and sucking in, rather than blowing out, resulting in a very loud and piercing whistle.
Hand whistling, in which air is blown from the mouth into a resonant chamber formed by cupped hands
Throat whistling, in which air is blown through the throat with the mouth closed

A whistled tone is a simple oscillation (or sine wave) produced in the resonant chamber, and thus timbral variations are impossible. The pitch of a whistle can be altered by changing the volume and shape of the resonant chamber (most typically by using the tongue).

It is also possible to whistle and hum at the same time. An easy way of doing this is to shape the throat and lips as if one was going to whistle and softly sing "oooowwww". As you are doing this, slowly start to focus the air towards the front of your mouth and tighten your lips so that you are whistling. With enough practice, it is possible for one to hum and whistle two separate melodies at the same time.

Some languages and code languages use whistles as a part of their communication; this is referred to as whistled speech.

In Russian culture, whistling indoors is superstitiously believed to bring bad luck, whereas whistling outdoors is considered normal.

Musical whistling

Whistling can be musical: many performers on the Music Hall and Vaudeville circuits were professional whistlers, and several notable songs feature whistling in some capacity:

Elmo Tanner, who appeared with the Ted Weems Orchestra, had a major hit whistling on the song "Heartaches"
Roger Whittaker was first known as a musical whistler.
Pat Boone does his own whistling on his hit "Love Letters in the Sand".
Brother Bones recorded the whistling version of "Sweet Georgia Brown" used as the theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters
Muzzy Marcelino whistled the hit theme to the 1950s airplane drama, The High and the Mighty
Whistling Jack Smith had a hit with "I was Kaiser Bill's Batman"
The "Colonel Bogey March" was whistled in the film Bridge on the River Kwai to avoid the song's vulgar lyrics
"Whistle While You Work" appeared in Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
"The Fishin' Hole" (theme to The Andy Griffith Show). It has become a cultural icon associated with the image of Andy Griffith and Ron Howard. Andy and Opie Taylor walk on the dirt road with their cane poles on their way to the "fishin' hole". The music was written by Earle Hagen and Herbert Spencer, and the lyrics were by Everett Sloane.
Bobby McFerrin used whistling for nearly all of the music in his hit "Don't Worry, Be Happy."
W. Axl Rose whistled the intro to the Guns N' Roses song "Patience", which appears on the Guns N' Roses album G N' R Lies. He also whistled some parts of the Guns N' Roses song "Civil War", which appears on the Guns N' Roses album Use Your Illusion II.
Kill Bill features Daryl Hannah's character whistling the same unnerving tune as from the 1968 film Twisted Nerve.
Paul Simon whistles a tune in the song Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard on his self-titled 1972 album.
Andrew Bird, singer, songwriter, violinist and guitarist bills himself as a professional whistler as well.
Ilse Werner, German singer and actress, was especially known for her whistling.
The Beatles, musicians, John Lennon is whistling at the end of the song "Two of Us" from the album Let It Be. Lennon also whistles on Beatles song "Real Love".
John Lennon, singer, whistled on the song "Jealous Guy" from his solo album Imagine.
Harry Nilsson, singer was a virtuoso whistler who incorporated the technique on a handful of his songs, notably, "Wasting my time", "I never thought I'd be this lonely", "she sits down on me" and the outro to "the most beautiful world in the world."
Otis Redding whistled the last lines of "Dock of the Bay", allegedly because, at the end of a long recording day, he couldn't remember the rest of the text.
The Meat Puppets include whistling in the aptly-titled "The Whistling Song".
Scorpions also whistle on the song called "Wind of Change".
Billy Joel whistles at the beginning and at the end of the song called "The Stranger".
Juelz Santana features a whistle in the hook of "There It Go (The Whistle Song)"
Whistling is incorporated in the song "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?", in the Broadway play and film, My Fair Lady.
One of the verses of "Walk Like An Egyptian" by The Bangles is whistled.
The song "Whistle Stop" in the Disney film Robin Hood is mostly whistled.
Much whistling is featured in the song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", in the Monty Python film The Life of Brian
the song "The Whistler and His Dog" by composer Arthur Pryor has a significant whisling sequence, and dog barking.
"Centerfold" by J. Geils Band

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Whistling

Musical whistling

See also

External links