# Can anyone hand-whistle? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 15, 2005, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-hand-whistle/321753 "2005-09-15T08:53:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-hand-whistle/321753/1 "2005-09-15T08:53:24Z")
When I was 11 I read a book about it. Well, not _about_ it, but it told me how to do it. I tried it for a bit but never managed to produce a sound, got bored and gave up. Now many years later I have decided to give it another shot, because I managed to make a few pathetic squeaks yesterday and it reminded me of learning to mouth-whistle. Does anyone have any tips? ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-hand-whistle/321753/2 "2005-09-15T14:11:01Z")
One bump. I was hoping such a concentration of knowledge would produce at least one person who know ☹ ---
**Author:** ![simple\_homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-hand-whistle/321753/3 "2005-09-15T14:55:33Z")
Maybe most of us do not know what you mean by “hand-whistle”. Are you referring to the whistle that can be done by putting both your hands together in a kind of fist, blowing through the thumbs, and making a whistle ? If so, I can do that 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-hand-whistle/321753/4 "2005-09-15T15:18:53Z")
Dang, I thought that was what it was _called_. Yeah, that’s what I meant. How the heck do you do it? ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-hand-whistle/321753/5 "2005-09-15T15:29:31Z")
Cup your hands together like this. Or more helpfully, here’s how I do it. Put your right hand up, and curl it into a reverse “C”. Take your left hand, and curl it in the same fashion, and wrap it around your right hand (similar, I guess to how the pieces of leather are arranged on a baseball.) Keep your thumbs both pointing straight up and joined at the top. There should be about a 1/2-inch gap between them at the first knuckle. Now put your lips over your knuckles and blow into your hands, slightly downward. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-hand-whistle/321753/6 "2005-09-15T15:40:20Z")
But that’s what I’m doing! D: Guess it’s just a matter of practice then. _blows vainly for several minutes_ Urgh. I think I need to go lie down now. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-hand-whistle/321753/7 "2005-09-15T15:46:08Z")
> [@chaoticdonkey](#): > > Cup your hands together like this. > > Or more helpfully, here’s how I do it. Put your right hand up, and curl it into a reverse “C”. Take your left hand, and curl it in the same fashion, and wrap it around your right hand (similar, I guess to how the pieces of leather are arranged on a baseball.) Keep your thumbs both pointing straight up and joined at the top. There should be about a 1/2-inch gap between them at the first knuckle. Now put your lips over your knuckles and blow into your hands, slightly downward. I can do it that way. I can also do it with my fingers laced together, my thumbs side-by-side, and my palms pulled apart so that there is space between them. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-hand-whistle/321753/8 "2005-09-15T15:50:10Z")
> [@chaoticdonkey](#): > > Cup your hands together like this. > > Or more helpfully, here’s how I do it. Put your right hand up, and curl it into a reverse “C”. Take your left hand, and curl it in the same fashion, and wrap it around your right hand (similar, I guess to how the pieces of leather are arranged on a baseball.) Keep your thumbs both pointing straight up and joined at the top. There should be about a 1/2-inch gap between them at the first knuckle. Now put your lips over your knuckles and blow into your hands, slightly downward. I can do it too. However, I should note that it is a little like learning to ride a bicycle. It takes a long time to learn but you will always know how to do it after that. You need to practice for the better part of a day to learn to do it. Just keep experimenting and blowing until you figure it out. Then practice to get the best way. I can play tunes by squeezing my hands together to make a poot sound too. My aunt taught me that in a couple of days. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-hand-whistle/321753/9 "2005-09-15T15:52:29Z")
The trick is to make a tight seal with your hands except for a slit between your thumbs. seal your lips over your thumb knuckles, allowing the air out just below. The smaller the escape “valve,” the louder the whistle. Once you get the hang of it, you can change the shape of the “vessel” to change the pitch. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-hand-whistle/321753/10 "2005-09-15T15:59:15Z")
I can do it, but it takes a lot of attempts for me to get a noise. Subtle changes in hand position make a big difference, as does the exact positioning of the thumbs. Quite a gentle blow helps to find the correct hand positioning and find the correct configuration to get resonance. The resulting sound is quite like an owl hoot. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-hand-whistle/321753/11 "2005-09-15T15:59:27Z")
On a similar note: how does one finger whistle? ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-hand-whistle/321753/12 "2005-09-15T16:10:25Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > I can do it that way. I can also do it with my fingers laced together, my thumbs side-by-side, and my palms pulled apart so that there is space between them. That works! Now I can finally get a consistent sound 😃 Though I’m limited to one note and I have to blow way too hard. Guess I know what I’ll be doing tonight instead of sleeping \>\_\> **Controvert** : I have also wondered how one whistles with fingers, especially since all of my friends who can whistle say they started with finger-whistling. I think I skipped a step :\ ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-hand-whistle/321753/13 "2005-09-15T16:18:57Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > I can do it, but it takes a lot of attempts for me to get a noise. Subtle changes in hand position make a big difference, as does the exact positioning of the thumbs. Quite a gentle blow helps to find the correct hand positioning and find the correct configuration to get resonance. The resulting sound is quite like an owl hoot. Ditto for me, take s afew attempts, and if ANYTHING changes with my hands, I have to start over. One thing that helped me (that I read in book) is to think about a cake full of candles, blow into your hands as if you were trying to blow out the candles one at a time. Obviously you don’t have to imagine that everytime, that’s just the example used to get your lips into the right shape. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-hand-whistle/321753/14 "2005-09-15T19:39:41Z")
I found that having my hands damp, like dipped in some water and shaking the excess off, made a nice tight seal easier. I can get a good volume and change the shape of my resonating chamber while maintaining a good seal. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-hand-whistle/321753/15 "2005-09-15T20:36:01Z")
I taught myself to do it. You have to blow at the right force and angle. Kinda like playing the flute – I understand you don’t get squat if you’re blowing too hard, not at the right angle, etc. I can’t pucker up and whistle, or finger-whistle, which makes me sad. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-hand-whistle/321753/16 "2005-09-16T09:18:35Z")
heres a site with pics for anyone still struggling [http://www.geocities.com/whistle\_teach/](http://www.geocities.com/whistle_teach/)