The history of whistles as a musical instrument

Whistles are something we are all familiar with, even if they’re not something you may engage with on a daily basis. Often, people will have their first experience of whistles as children, with penny whistles, pea whistles, and sliding whistles being popular gifts for young ones. The distinct call of a whistle is also a strong memory from PE lessons and lunch times at school and can be a fond memory of childhood days.

Before we get into the history of whistles as a musical instrument, we should first spend a moment to explain what whistles are and how they work. Essentially, a musical whistle is something that can be used to create sound by applying air pressure, such as a breath. Whistles are basically made up of two parts: a mouthpiece through which air is applied, and a body that is hollow. Whistles take on many shapes and sizes and can be made from a huge variety of materials, but historically they are made to be relatively small and lightweight.

The first musical whistles

The technology to create basic whistles has been known to humans since ancient times. Early musical whistles were simple things, made by hand from available natural resources. From hollowed twigs to specially carved gourds and squash and even animal bones, whistles were made using whatever was to hand as long as it was lightweight and able to be carved or shaped. Due to the limited choice in materials, primitive whistles were often fragile and produced quieter, less consistent sounds.

These early musical whistles were mainly used for religious ceremonies and in celebrations which called for music. They were culturally significant in that they were used to help stories and folk wisdom be passed down through the generations, and were used during events that engaged the whole community. Music and song have been vital to the social development of human beings since the very beginning, and the whistle has been used as a musical instrument in this context for thousands of years.

Whistles as musical instruments and general tools through history

We have already touched on the use of whistles as an instrument in ancient times, but this is not the only context in which whistles have been used. Even in ancient times the whistle was also a tool of war and conflict. The Ancient Greeks and Egyptians used them aboard their ships to help rowers keep to a rhythm, and archers would use them as auditory signals, for example. Their military uses led to them being linked to marching bands, where they are used extensively in parades and during military drills to this day.

Whistles made their way into orchestral compositions quite early on as a woodwind instrument. They were used by Viking communities in Ireland in the 1100s, and continued to form part of musical ensembles of varying types over the centuries. It wasn’t until the 1600s that we started to see whistles in common use that more closely resembled flutes with their multiple finger holes, allowing the player to vary the note being played. Previously, these were difficult and time consuming to make by hand, so were relatively uncommon compared to single note whistles.

Traditional Irish music has long made use of musical whistles and as such the sound has become linked to the area in terms of culture. You can hear whistles used extensively in modern Irish music, but there are plenty of other styles that incorporate the musical whistle such as samba music. There are also many pieces throughout the years that have been specifically written to feature a whistles’ call.

Whistles made by ACME have a long history of being used in musical compositions of all kinds. From local to national orchestras, and even to create sound effects in music used for advertising and more, our range of musical whistles covers all the bases. Explore our extensive collection of whistles today, or contact us for more information on which of our whistles will be best for your musical and orchestral needs.