Irish Whistles

The Irish whistle, also known as the tin whistle or penny whistle, is a small six-hole whistle used to play Irish and Celtic folk music. Here you'll find Terre Irish whistles in C, D, A and F and the Yamakawa SI-921 plastic Irish whistle in C. You'll pick up the basics quickly, because the fingering is simple and the whistle fits in your pocket.

How do you clean and tune a plastic Irish whistle?

The plastic Irish whistles Yamakawa SI-921 in C and SI-922 in D are made of ABS resin and come in two parts. You can pull the head with the mouthpiece off the body, so the whistle is easy to clean. Sliding the head lets you fine-tune it when you play with other instruments. Both have a matt black finish.

How is an Irish whistle different from a recorder?

An Irish whistle has six finger holes, all on the front, and no thumb hole. It is diatonic, built around one basic scale – on a D whistle, tunes in D major and G major are the easiest. A recorder has seven holes on the front and one at the back, and with fork fingerings you can play every semitone. That makes the Irish whistle simpler for folk tunes and the recorder more versatile for school and classical music.

For other folk whistles and flutes, such as the Chinese xiao, the Japanese shinobue or bamboo flutes, see traditional flutes. If you're after a classic recorder instead, take a look at wooden recorders or the full range of recorders.