# Teach me to whistle. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 13, 2006, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-whistle/352503 "2006-04-13T11:56:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-whistle/352503/1 "2006-04-13T11:56:45Z")
(This just didn’t seem like a post worthy of GQ. I’ll leave it to the mods to decide.) I can do the typical whistle; Just put my lips together and blow. What I’ve never learned was the really loud _manly_ sort of whistle with the two fingers in the mouth. 🆒 I’ve seen it done with the index and middle finger or thumb and middle finger. The latter looking somehow cooler and sounding louder (subjective). So who knows how and can teach me? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-whistle/352503/2 "2006-04-13T14:08:37Z")
I’ve never been able to manage that, either. How does anyone do it? ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-whistle/352503/3 "2006-04-13T14:20:48Z")
K. First, you need to have short fingernails! Using your index finger and thumb, touch the tip of your bent index finger to the tip of your thumb. Rest the bottom of your fingers (keep 'em lightly touching each other) on your lower teeth with the tips of the fingers pushing against the underneath part of your tongue - you should be pushing the bottom of your tongue back a bit. Just imagine you’ve got something under your tongue and are trying to get it out and that should be about right. Press your lips down against your fingers. Your fingers should be making a V-shape into which you blow. Angle the air down slightly. The harder you blow, the more shrill the sound would be. Practice and experiment. This can also work using, say, the index and middle fingers. Blowing against the V they make is what makes the sound. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-whistle/352503/4 "2006-04-13T14:37:24Z")
Clipped, washed and ready. 🙂 I’m SO gonna practice this! Wonder if anybody at work is going to object… Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-whistle/352503/5 "2006-04-13T14:43:37Z")
- climbing back into the old office chair \* Whee! Got about 10 tries before getting dizzy & falling out of my chair–this is SO much cheaper than beer! - Starts huffing & puffing again \* - Thud \* ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-whistle/352503/6 "2006-04-13T14:49:08Z")
There was a thread in GQ that linked to some instruction pages. Based on those instructions, I’ve been trying like the dickens to master the art. One day I was practicing, and produced this perfect, clear whistle. I was so thrilled that I started yelling “I did it! Woo hoo!” My husband thought it was hilarious that I was so excited over a silly whistle. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-whistle/352503/7 "2006-04-13T14:58:58Z")
[QUOTE=Inigo Montoya\* Thud \*[/QUOTE] Try it with a cold. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-whistle/352503/8 "2006-04-13T15:00:40Z")
Pucker up and blow. Sorry. Try what my wife does: pinch your lower lip with you thumb and forefinger, hold it close to your upper lip, then inhale sharply. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-whistle/352503/9 "2006-04-13T15:14:00Z")
Good topic, **QuickSilver** …I’ve always wanted to learn this myself. > [@romansperson](#): > > K. First, you need to have short fingernails! No, _first_, you need to wash your hands. Especially if you’ve just handled a menthol vapor pad. _p-tew!_ _p-tew!_ _p-tew!_ ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-whistle/352503/10 "2006-04-13T15:16:27Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Pucker up and blow. Sorry. Try what my wife does: pinch your lower lip with you thumb and forefinger, hold it close to your upper lip, then inhale sharply. No skill required, just pucker up and blow OR inhale, expertly. The smaller the oral cavity the lower the pitch. The larger the oral cavity the lower the pitch. Experiment with puckering the LIPS and positioning the TONGUE.