Clarke Original C Tinwhistle - Black with Gold Diamond Decor - a traditional Irish Celtic Penny Whistle

I was browsing the musical instruments section of Amazon. My brother plays the guitar and he loves to have his guests sing or play along in the evenings after dinner. My vocal range, never operatic, has dwindled to practically nil, so I wanted something I could play that was slightly more substantial than a kazoo, but not much more challenging.I've seen pennywhistles played in films and thought I'd give this a try. When it came, I was delighted. The box alone is worth the price. It features the Clarke logo, a dancing flute player and the date, I assume the company was founded, 1843. It really is made in England. The back of the box tells the company story and the story of pennywhistles.Inside, there's a fingering chart and song sheet, which, if you are musical, is probably enough to get you started. It's not enough for me. I played with it a little, but it's going to take more practice than I have time for right now to play real tunes. I don't think it's harder than a recorder. If you're already good at that, you should be able to pick it up easily. If you're like me, you'll let a search engine find you some free in-home lessons.Meanwhile, I'm enjoying this pretty little instrument and its charming presentation.

I love this little whistle. Nice package has an informative history of Clarke and his whistles. The whistle is very pretty. The seam down the back is the way these have always been made, so ignore those negative reviews. It takes a little practice to get the right tone, true of all instruments of this type. It has a nice pleasant sound. Great value for what it costs.

Beautiful whistle for your collection. I have several too many C’s and D’s, along with the Clarke Sweet tones as well. These Clarke Originals are what everyone says about them, a pleasant and soft tone that is quite breathy. The C has a difficult bottom tone to get to, but certainly doable. The D is a bit more reliable as is usually the case, but no complaints here. Again, a gorgeous sound that will be welcome to any collection, and mild enough for others to appreciate, both if they want to hear you OR not!.

I absolutely love my tin whistle! I got the one in D major a few years back and wanted to get the C whistle. Love just sitting anywhere and being able to play. I like the sound of the sweet whistle with the wooden block over the pure plastic mouthpiece. I especially love playing concerning hobbits with it. I've even played in church for Hymns like In Christ Alone and Amazing Grace. Easy to find videos on youtube as well so you can learn quickly to play.

It’s fine. It’s more expensive and quieter than comparable plastic fipple whistles. It’s great if you’re looking for a very specific sound but otherwise I’d steer you to buy something else like a Fedog.

The mouthpiece has cork in the back, which gets soggy. There is a seam that runs down the entire back of whistle that actually sticks out and hurts fingers. I learned to play on a Clark , so I ordered two to teach my great nieces. I guess the quality took a nosedive. Its not even a good whistle for beginners. ( I own a good 12 different whistles for comparison)

The craftsmanship is excellent. I like the look of the whistle. However, I was surprised by a wooden mouthpiece. It is taking a bit of getting used to. Some instructions on how to blow a wooden mouthpiece would be helpful. Am I supposed to wet it first? It feels awkward after using plastic ones.

I don't really play anything that doesn't have strings so this was a good instrument to chose when going into the woodwind territory. It is not difficult to learn and I like the sound alongside other instruments as well as alone.