Tuesday, March 8

 

Even though I will publicly deny it, I have some bad habits.  One of them is that I whistle, constantly and in the wrong places.  And I admit that it’s a particularly unattractive and tuneless whistle.

 

My Dad was a whistler and I think whistling was particularly prevalent in his generation and the one before.  They even had professional whistlers performing in Music Hall and, when TV was introduced to the world it became just another medium for whistlers to show off.  Australian bushmen used to whistle with the help of a gumleaf but I was never able to master that.  For me, nothing beats the slightly-moistened pursed lips with the carefully-placed tongue behind.

 

There’s a lot of psychology around the art of whistling and there are researchers making a living studying it.  To give it a touch of respectabilty, it’s classified as ‘momentary musical performing’ like singing in the shower or humming while you do the housework.  More men whistle than women and younger men whistle more than older ones.  There’s a verse in the bible that says: "A whistling woman and a crowing hen is an abomination to the Lord" but I’m not sure that is the reason that women don’t whistle; it’s probably more to do with their better developed sense of what’s attractive.  However, there is, on Youtube, a video of the Laurelpark Ladies Whistling Choir, performing Bohemian Rhapsody.  Is nothing sacred?

 

There’s a lot of superstition about whistling.  It's said to be unlucky to whistle at night and that might have something to do with a belief in evil spirits stalking in the darkness or it might be a throwback from experiences in war when a careless whistle in the dark might give your position away. Sailors whistle to increase the wind, and it’s said that whistling indoors will bring on poverty

 

My whistling repertoire is very limited and I tend to whistle the same tune whatever the situation I’m in.  Marilyn tells me I whistled ‘The hills are alive with the sound of music’ for years but, lately, I’m stuck on Abba: ‘Take a chance on me.’ 

 

A YouGov survey found that 47% of people found whistling irritating but I just put that down to misophonia or ‘selective sound sensitivity syndrome’.   And it might be jealousy; 67% of people claim they can’t whistle at all.  And I celebrate, every day, that I can.