How can I learn to whistle loudly and shrilly using my thumb/index finger and middle finger?

Oops. I meant this to be “social.”

Since bells palsy I’ve been unable to whistle casually. I re-learned to at least bring out groundhogs here

It’s a hard one to teach you using only words, but I’ll try. I first learned to whistle like this using forefingers and middle fingers from each hand, then I learned the forefinger/thumb whistle. I taught myself, so I feel pretty confident that if you keep trying, you’ll eventually get it.

So, basically, I make an O with my forefinger and thumb. I press the tip of the O against the tip of my tongue, which is somewhat recessed in my mouth. Make sure there is some space for air to flow through (don’t completely cover your fingers with your lips, there should be some space above and below. Then blow forcefully. Play around until you get some sound, and then fine-tune.

@MissAnthrope: Playing around. Lots of spittle. A good thing to practice at red lights.

@gailcalled: GQ. I always wondered this myself. I have also perched myself in front of how-to videos and posts, fingers in my mouth, spitting and drooling to no avail.

@poofandmook: Check out majorrich’s link. There’s an eight-year old boy as teacher. That is depressing.

Hee hee. I taught myself both when I was 12. I know you can do it!!

It’s easy, you just put your lips together & blow.Wow, Marilyn said that way sexier & with a touch more sincerity than I ever could.

@Ucme; I believe it was Lauren Bacall in “To Have and To Have Not” (1944). Her co-star was Bogart, and if memory holds, they fell in love on the set.

Well my ghast has never been so flabbered. I’m sure the divine Miss Monroe also uttered those immortal lines.Ah well I stand corrected….again.

I taught myself when I was about 11 years old. It took months and loads of drool before I got the hang of it.

I started by using my index fingers..

Make the we’re # 1 shape of each hand..then turn your hands so that the folded over fingers and thumb are facing your face, folded pinkies touching.

Press the inside edges of both index fingers together forming an “A” frame.

Insert the tips of this A frame into the mouth, resting on the lower teeth, tongue curled up to the roof of the mouth but resting on the tips of your index fingers.

Gently purse your lips around your fingers. Then blow out.

If the position is right you should have a “hiss” sound over the bottom two teeth that reside inside the “A” frame. Continue practicing this hiss sound with more pressure and eventually you will get a whistle.

Once you master this you can translate it into the curved index and thumb whistle by simply getting the meeting point of the thumb and index finger to create a smaller A frame and following the same steps above.

Then, when you are really ready for the big leagues, you can learn to whistle sans hands or fingers, by using rolled lips over the bottom teeth and the tongue suspended slightly over the bottom lip to create the whistle.

It took me awhile to get the hang of it but it has proved very useful in my lifetime with dogs and kids!

Oh, and as in other areas of life, if it is making you gag, you’re going too deep. I don’t care what the guys say :)

@poofandmook That’s… kind of hot, I must admit.

@bob_: NO SANDWICH.

ROTFLMAO!

I’ve never been able to do the index and middle finger whistle. My sister can and she can deafen you with the sound the comes forth. Me: I can only whistle with my index fingers or middle fingers or middle finger and thumb. The sound is louder than my regular lips-only whistle but not as loud as my sister’s wolf whistle.

@tranquilsea: Can your sister describe it to you rather than demonstrating?

@Bob; Some people’s drool is better than others? Fluther is supposed to be an equal-opportunity employer.

@gailcalled I’ve always put her being able to do it down to her having a big mouth evil grin

@gailcalled Well, she did paint a more appealing picture.

@bob: Isn’t “spitting and drooling” pretty generic? I’ll go be huffy somewhere else however._

@gailcalled: People are often mesmerized by the luxuriously poofy tail.

@gailcalled It was the “fingers in the mouth” part that got me.

@bob_ And you thought I was drooling and spitting without my fingers in my mouth? I do that only after dental novocaine..

@gailcalled As I said, it’s about painting the whole picture.

Now, aren’t you glad this was moved to Social?

I hadn’t noticed until now. That is where I meant it to be originally, but I couldn’t undo my choice of “general.”

You can flag your own question and request the move in “Other”.

Good thinking. Thanks.

Bitte schön!

sadly enough none of the advice I got helped. It’s a hard method to learn in my opinion. I almost got it (DAMN IT ALLLLLLL MOST THERE!!!)

I never even tried with finger assistance. But just with the mouth, I can whistle like a sonic banchee. Yes, a couple of months and buckets of drool were the price paid. Perhaps the very slight gap between my front teeth help. Maybe fingers are needed for those without a gap.

Learning to whistle was harder than learning to juggle.