# Why isn't whistling a bigger part of music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 3, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858 "2003-05-03T15:14:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858/21 "2003-05-03T23:16:59Z")
“Sukiyaki” has passages of whistling, too. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858/22 "2003-05-03T23:26:34Z")
Try whistling when you have a touch of stage nerves. ---
**Author:** ![typhoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed8c4c/32.png) [@typhoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typhoon)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858/23 "2003-05-04T00:20:00Z")
I think the Stone Temple Pilots’ “Atlanta” has some whistling. Really works with the dreamy atmosphere. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858/24 "2003-05-04T01:18:34Z")
“Always Look On The Bright Side of Life” from the end of Monty Python’s “Life of Brian”. Unfortunately I’m usually laughing so much that I can’t whistle along! ---
**Author:** ![stypticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@stypticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stypticus)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858/25 "2003-05-04T02:33:25Z")
I too am a whistler – amateur, certainly, but a whistler nonetheless. I saw a piece on the telly about a feller who was a really good whistler, I suppose you might call him a virtuoso. He too was complaining about the seeming prejudice against whistling as a valid musical form. He was trying to get in with an orchestra to whistle the soloist part to whatever music it was. I’d watch that. ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858/26 "2003-05-04T03:54:21Z")
Warning: Shameless plug… [Here’s](http://www.invisiblemusicrecords.com/Resources/gershwin.html) an acquaintance of mine who is a terrific whistler (and a great be-bop clarinetist, too. And he kicks butt with a recorder… nice guy. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858/27 "2003-05-04T04:02:57Z")
Since this is about music, I’ll move this thread to Cafe Society. bibliophage moderator GQ ---
**Author:** ![smaft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@smaft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaft)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858/28 "2003-05-04T04:05:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jack@ss \* > I can whistle through my lips, through my teeth, on the inhale, on the exhale. Oddly enough, I not only whistle on the inhale and exhale, I sing that way too. Of course, singing while inhaling doesn’t sound all that great, but it gives me a substantially higher range. Anyway, on the first album by Men without Hats, “I Sing Last/Not for Tears” ends with a great whistled coda. Yes, that’s Men without Hats as in “Safety Dance”, and yes, I own all their albums, or at least, all the ones available in the US. Shut up. ---
**Author:** ![shep\_proudfoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90db22/32.png) [@shep\_proudfoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shep_proudfoot)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858/29 "2003-05-04T04:40:28Z")
Because it is so ungodly annoying. Several years ago, I worked in a casino dealing cards. Everynight the lounge act played “Sitting by the dock of the bay” by Otis Redding. This song stays in your brain and not let go. If Otis wasn’t already dead, I would shoot him. SP ---
**Author:** ![herwono](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/9f8e36/32.png) [@herwono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herwono)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858/30 "2003-05-04T09:25:20Z")
Bob Marley’s “Don’t Worry, be Happy” has whistling. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858/31 "2003-05-04T15:56:43Z")
Bob Marley? Bobby McFerrin. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858/32 "2003-05-04T16:09:51Z")
And the Arthur Pryor classic, [“The Whistler and His Dog”](http://www.angelfire.com/ny/nyuk/whistler.html) And a [non-whistling interpretation audio file for reference](http://www.cyberbee.com/april03.html) ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858/33 "2003-05-04T16:47:06Z")
On the CBS sunday show they had a segment on whistling. There is some sort of museum/school, and a competition. I was quite impressed by the people in the competition. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/57b2e6/32.png) [@Quasimodal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodal)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858/34 "2003-05-05T00:51:17Z")
The two big whistling tunes: The Andy Griffith’s Theme And of course Sweet Georgia Brown as covered by the Harlem Globetrotters ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858/35 "2003-05-05T01:41:28Z")
Toots Thielemans, the great jazz harmonica player, whistles to great effect on many of his LPs. ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858/36 "2003-05-05T17:05:03Z")
If you want an example of an expert whistler, check into the recordings of Ron McCroby – he called his “instrument” the “puccolo”. He had many jazz recording sessions accompanying other well-known artists. Another one in the jazz milieu is Steve Herbst. Bing Crosby whistled in “White Christmas”. The Harlem Globetrotters theme is a whistled version of “Sweet Georgia Brown”. And don’t forget the theme from the western “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”. And of course, the TV series “The Andy Griffith Show”. For an example of group whistling, check “Colonel Bogie’s March” from _Bridge on the River Kwai_. As for pitch, I can whistle accurately enough to “zero beat” another instrument or whistler. In fact, I sometimes use that ability to demonstrate the “zero beat” phenomenon to someone by having them whistle and then matching my pitch to theirs. At which point, their jaw often drops open, and they stop whistling! 😃 When I worked in a restaurant kitchen, I whistled a lot, and never had any complaints. In fact, I often got requests! ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858/37 "2003-05-05T17:10:17Z")
And I agree with some of the other posters that bad whistling is _terrible_ and may indeed be the reason why whistling is held in such low esteem. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858/38 "2003-05-05T18:02:37Z")
I liked his mother. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![bafaa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@bafaa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bafaa)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858/39 "2003-05-05T18:41:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GMRyujin \* > \*\*Guns N Roses–“Patience” has whistling. \*\* So does “One in a Million”. They were both from the same album, Lies. And of course the Seven Dwarves whistle in that “Whistle While You Work” song. ---
**Author:** ![skaterboarder87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@skaterboarder87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skaterboarder87)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858/40 "2003-05-05T19:15:32Z")
Conker of Conker’s Bad Fur Day (N64) whistled to the music when you didn’t touch the controller. It was humerous and well done. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-whistling-a-bigger-part-of-music/172858.md?page=3)