Posted
on May 18, 2014
Have
you ever seen this famous painting, called Arrangement in Grey and
Black No. 1?It's by an American artist named James Abbott McNeill Whistler, and he began painting this portrait of his other when the model he had scheduled to paint unexpectedly didn't come.
Most
people call the painting Whistler's Mother – although that
is not its name.
And...this
day is not about the painting, and it is not the birthday of J.A.M.
Whistler's mother!
Instead,
it celebrates anyone who can whistle.
Whistling
is carefully controlling a stream of air flowing through a small
hole. People create this “small hole” by pursing their lips and
then blowing or sucking air through the small hole created by their
lips. Some people can whistle by creating a small hole with their
cupped hands in front of their mouths. And of course, people can made
a small hole in a blade of grass or can use a small-holed wooden,
metal, or plastic whistle! |
| According to ads, you can whistle to accept some Android phones without touching your phone! |
There
is some whistling in music, and police, sports fans, sailors, dog
trainers and others can use whistling to communicate.
Can
you whistle? I can – but not all that well! Some people are way,
way better than I am. Here are some great examples of whistling:
I
found some great examples of whistling in more modern songs – but
the lyrics surrounding the whistling were a bit problematic. But,
trust me, whistling a happy tune (or a sad tune, etc.) still happens.
It's one more way people can use their own bodies as a musical
instrument!
Of course, I cannot have a post about whistling without linking to this bit from The Sound of Music, when Captain von Trapp tries to teach the new governess how to whistle for the children!
Also
on this date:
Plan
ahead:
Check out my Pinterest boards for:
And
here are my Pinterest boards for:
