A right of passage. Can you whistle with your fingers?

I have never, ever been able to do this magical feat. Nor can I do the owl hoot thing. Or make armpit farts. How difficult can it be?

However my triumphs are being able to make a duck call from cow parsley and grass and loud squeaky noises from a blade of grass.

No, but I would like to.

Can’t do any sort of whistle or click my fingers.

However if someone ever tries to attract your attention with a subtle armpit fart you will know it’s me.

I can do the owl hoot, I can whistle (pursed lips) and call buzzards, but I can’t do the finger whistle, would like to.

I’ve tried, followed YouTube tutorials and had mates show me, but I still can’t get it rite.

I can pretty much shatter glass with my double finger whistle, fearsomely loud. Can’t whistle normally though without fingers.

I can finger whistle with any two fingers or thumb and finger I choose. I can also do four fingers (2 from each hand obv! )

Loudest is thumb and index finger or four fingers

I’ve just read this page and I’ve done a finger whistle for the first time in my 51 years 🙂

How to Whistle With Your Fingers

Yes – I used to work on a building site so it was a core skill. Need to able to alert a colleague through machinery, radios etc.

Finger whistle? No. I am neither a PE teacher or a geezer bird so never felt the need to learn.

I can finger whistle well, as well as prrrrrrp grass stems and owl hoot.

I can also make leaves go bang.

Nope.

Its one of those things like riding a bike, piss easy once you get it.

Practice practice practice, took me 3 days to crack it and be 100%. It is super useful.

Can do any finger and thumb. Left hand harder

Just reduce the gap between thumb and finger til it almost touches. Try and breath air through, not blow..I pull bottom lip tight across bottom teeth, the lip rolls over them slightly. Fingers rest on bottom lip I tend to use thumb and middle finger

The two hand option is the same principle but you look like just William so give it a swerve

Can finger whistle without the fingers. Pretty bloody loud. Started two hands went one hand now no hands.

Nope.   Tried hard and I kust cannot.   I can whistle a happy tune really well but the fingers in the mouth loud whistle.  Nope

Not mastered it, but I can whistle pretty loudly normally. Until recently I could whistle high and loudly enough to control a sheepdog. But since I had a front tooth bridge to replace a temporary denture, it’s a skill which now eludes me.

I used to make ‘devil bangers’ out of winding up and flicking McDonald’s straws.

Can do the grass farty whistle thing.

Can finger whistle without the fingers. Pretty bloody loud.

This is the real skill. I can do it with fingers which is a useful skill for rounding up 8 year olds. I’ve never been able to do it without fingers though.

Can you whistle an melody and hum a harmony though?

Wow. Now I can. Thanks @simonbarnes. To make up for the 58 wasted years. I will no longer speak to my family, I’ll just whistle sharp commands. They don’t seem so pleased about it

oooh, I can pop leaves too, I’d forgotten about that. And click fingers on both hands. And whistle a happy tune too unless someone else is present in which case I collapsed into giggling.

I’m going to give those (YT tutorial) recommendations a try.

I now have a load of dogs in my back yard.

I don’t know if I should be angry or happy about this.

Amazing, I just got the two finger whistle within 2 minutes of watching the video. That never happens to me.

Yes, I still can but the sound is not as sharp.  The tongue is not longer as flexible.

… loud squeaky noises from a blade of grass.

My daughters boyfriend bought her a bouquet of flowers this week that had some fronds grass on it. Did this in the kitchen  without warning and got barked at by the dog and shouted at by the missis. ?

Can’t whistle through my fingers, I don’t think that five to midnight is the right time to try Mr Barns’ tutorial.

Yes finger whistle – with a finger from each hand, need more practice with finger and thumb from single hand. Owl toot thing with hands but not the high pitched version as well as I used to.

Never been able to finger whistle.  I can do the owl hoot thing, I’m a master of armpit farts and I’d totally forgotten the blade of grass thing.

I’ll watch the video when it’s not pushing 2am. 🙂

Yes & the volume still impresses the kids (now all in their 30’s) ?

I can do all of those in the op.

What I can’t do, but a mate’s bohemian mum would do pissed at parties in the 80s, is fanny farts. (Fortunately never witnessed in person)

Yes! A year ago at a Springsteen concert I got pissed off that a mate could do it and I couldn’t, so I went away and watched the video. My mate told me it took him a year of practising every day before he could do it consistently; I can do it sometimes, but don’t practice it enough to be able to do it every time

I can finger whistle (using one hand or both hands), whistle through my teeth, but can’t whistle properly (pursed lips)

That video is fascinating because that is NOT how I do it! He folds his tongue backwards. I just place my fingers on top of my tongue – which seems much easier to me.

That said, I did it his way on my first attempt so maybe it’s a good option.

Can only do 2 fingers from both hands to whistle…everything else is just a very damp blow!

I can whistle tunefully and finger and thumb whistle, also owl, cuckoo, good the bad and the ugly wooy wooy , woohoo, woo, wooo, woo tune with cupped  hands, and the grass stuff. William tell overture on my Adams apple too.

What I can’t do is the one finger ear-splitting whistle my grandad used to do by bending his little finger in a U shape. I also can’t armpit fart, but I can burp a sentence or two

Yep, I think the secrets how far you have stick the fingers in your gob tbh.

Don’t get bird calls can’t armpit/fanny fart.

I used to be able to do that blade of grass thing, and I could converse with an owl, although I’m not sure there was much actual‘ conversation’ going on, but I’ve never been able to actually whistle very well, and never done a really loud fingers in mouth whistle, sadly.

I can’t sing a happy tune, let alone whistle one!

As a teenager I could whistle with any combination of fingers and pretty loudly,  and also do the owl hoot.  Can’t do either now – I’ve a gap in now where I’ve had a tooth extracted and think that’s the reason for not being able to do the finger whistle any more but doen’t explain why I can’t do the owl hoot.

I can usually do the 4-finger whistle (2 from each hand) but never managed with 1 hand. And the blade of grass whistle/squawk. How does popping leaves work? Sounds like fun.

One not mentioned yet is whistling with acorn cups. This one’s great, requires 2 hands but ear-splitting loud.

Also, I’m shocked the thread’s got this far without anyone pointing out what the rite spelling should be in the title 😉

I can burp a sentence or two

A friend and I used to have belching competitions. We gave up when we couldn’t decide whether “dodecahedron” beat “constantinople.”

I could converse with an owl

There was a story in the papers a few years ago, some bloke had taken to hooting at an (unseen) owl and got really excited when it hooted back. He’d go out in the yard of an evening and have lengthy hooty conversations with it.

His joy was short-lived when it transpired that another bloke down the road had written in with the same story…

Just made myself go dizzy trying to do it. This might take a bit more practice. Also found out I’m not the biggest fan of touching my tongue with my fingers which could be problematic.

A friend and I used to have belching competitions. We gave up when we couldn’t decide whether “dodecahedron” beat “constantinople.”

After months of failed atempts, my mate managed “The world is my oyster” in a single burp (the phrase dates it).