Teaching the Tin Whistle to Young Children

Teaching the tin whistle to young children can seem like a daunting task, especially for new tutors. However, with the right approach and fun activities, it can become an enjoyable experience for both you and your young students.

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In this guide, I’ll break down each week of the tin whistle curriculum in a way that’s easy to understand and follow. From introducing the parts of the tin whistle to exploring dynamics, rhythm, and the D scale, this 6-week plan focuses on small, manageable steps. Each week comes with fun activities to keep little ones engaged. Whether you’re a seasoned tutor or brand new to teaching the tin whistle, this guide will help you lead your students with confidence and joy.

I focus on teaching the tin whistle to Abecedarians (4-6 year olds), but these plans can easily be adapted for older children with a few adjustments.

Please note, I am not affiliated with any Classical education organization; these are simply my own ideas and suggestions based on my experience as a tutor. I hope they inspire and support you as you plan for teaching the tin whistle.

We love being part of our Classical homeschooling community. Read more about how God redirected our path from private education to homeschooling and Classical education here.

Are you new to the Classical model and want to know more about it? Keep reading below about how it’s organized, the cycle rotation, and the different aspects of fine arts in the curriculum.

If you already know about the Classical homeschooling model and you are ready to jump to the tin whistle plans and activities, click here.

A Classical model of homeschooling

We are part of a Christ-centered homeschool program that follows the Classical model. The younger children, ages 4-12, focus on a memorization-based curriculum which acts as the groundwork of learning that is built upon in later years.

Children and their parents learn key facts across the core subject areas including history, science, English, mathematics, geography, and Latin. Tutors use fun activities, games, songs, and lots of energy to introduce the new material. The parents can then expand on that material at home throughout the week.

Cycle rotation

The material is divided into three cycles, which each last one year. The cycles continue to rotate every three years, so most children who start when they are kindergarten age, complete each cycle at least twice. This allows them to develop a deeper comprehension and grasp of the material through repetition.

Fine Arts

Fine Arts is an important part of the Classical curriculum that is focused on each Cycle. Every six weeks students focus on a different aspect of fine arts, allowing them to explore a variety of artistic disciplines throughout the year. The first six weeks are dedicated to drawing, where students learn basic skills that build confidence and encourage observation. The next six weeks focus on the tin whistle, providing an introduction to music theory and practice. Beginning second semester, the curriculum shifts to great artists, where students study famous works and techniques, deepening their appreciation for art history. Finally, the last six weeks are devoted to composers and orchestra, giving students a glimpse into the world of classical music.

The following ideas are what I’m planning to do in fine arts (specifically tin whistle) with the group of kids I am tutoring (ages 4-6). You may use these ideas if you are also tutoring in a Classical homeschooling community, or if you’re a parent who is looking for music theory ideas to use at home.

Also, you don’t have to be part of any particular Classical homeschooling group to use these ideas! These are ideas to help children learn the basics of music theory and the tin whistle. If you are a homeschooling parent, or just a parent who wants to help introduce your children to music, these ideas will be helpful for you.

Community group time

Our homeschooling community has been meeting on Tuesdays. Our leader starts off the morning with everyone together in a big group setting. She typically begins that time with a devotional reading and prayer, and then continues with some announcements, celebrating birthdays, the pledge of allegiance, and anything else she wants to cover with everyone.

After this time, we split off into our different groups based on age. The tutors lead their groups into different classrooms and begin the New Grammar part of the day. This is when the tutor introduces the memory work for each core subject. Check out my post and video about how to make your own tutor board!

After this is when we usually focus on fine arts and do a science experiment. Sometimes we do this altogether as a whole community, and sometimes we stay in our smaller groups. During the six weeks that we focus on music theory and the tin whistle, we stay in our smaller groups.

We start studying the tin whistle at the beginning of the second quarter (or week 7) of the school year. Read along as I take you through plans for teaching the tin whistle to young children each week for the next 6 weeks. Also, be sure to download my FREE Tin Whistle Plans and Activity Booklet which has printable lesson plans and activities for each week!

The first step in teaching the tin whistle is to help your students get familiar with the instrument itself. Therefore, we will start off our tin whistle unit with learning about the different parts of the tin whistle.

Week 7: Parts of the Tin Whistle

Setting some ground rules

Before you dive in, it’s important to set some ground rules, especially with young children. Explain that their tin whistle will rest on its “bed” until you give them instructions to pick it up. You can print off some of these paper beds found at the end of the Tin Whistle Booklet for the children to decorate.

This helps prevent distractions and ensures the students are following along. Reinforce the idea that the students should only bring the tin whistle to their mouth when you ask them to. This keeps the class focused and helps maintain order, especially with such an exciting new instrument in their hands.

Following the Conductor

Once you’ve set the ground rules, have the students put their tin whistles on their beds (or give to their parents). We will not use the actual tin whistle until the end of this lesson.

Begin with singing this Cycle’s song to the students and parents. For Cycle 1, the song is: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (page 89 in the Foundations Guide). Now, tell the students that they will sing with you, but FIRST teach them “1, 2, ready, sing.” Explain to them that you are the conductor which means you will signal them when to start singing and when to stop. Model for them how you will start off saying “1, 2, ready, sing” and then you will raise your hand up to signal that everyone should start singing. When you raise your hand and make a fist, that signals that everyone should stop singing.

Say, “1, 2, ready, sing” and raise up your hand and have the students sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with you. If you are in Cycle 2, or Cycle 3, you will sing that Cycle’s song instead. The song for Cycle 2 is Mary Had a Little Lamb (pg. 181 of the Foundations Guide). The song for Cycle 3 is Yankee Doodle (pg. 253 of the Foundations Guide). After everyone finishes singing, talk to the students about the following:

• We all had to sing at the same speed.
• We started and stopped at the same time.
• The children had to follow my lead for these two things to happen.

Parts of the Tin Whistle

Now, give the students the Parts of the Tin Whistle handout (Appendix A of the Tin Whistle Booklet) and teach the students the parts of the tin whistle. I love teaching them a song to help them remember these parts. This song is to the tune of The Muffin Man. See my video below to hear this song.

The students can now get out their tin whistles. Remind them to NOT play their tin whistles yet! Encourage the students to sing the Parts of the Tin Whistle song with you and point to the different parts of the tin whistle as everyone sings together.

Holding the Tin Whistle Correctly

You can put a piece of masking tape on each child’s left hand to help them remember which hand they should put on top of the tin whistle. Help the students practice putting their left hand on top and using the left hand index, middle, and ring fingers to cover the holes. The same fingers on the right hand cover the bottom holes.

Remind the students that their tin whistles remain on their beds until you raise up your hand and then they go back on their beds when you raise up your hand and make a fist.

Cacophony and Unison

Now, raise your hand and have everyone put their tin whistles in their mouths and play whatever they want. Then raise your hand and make a fist to tell them to stop. Ask the students how that sounded and tell them we will have to learn how to play together and play the correct notes at the same speed to make our song sound right. The sound that they previously made is called cacophony: a noise where the sounds do not work together.

Explain to the students that we are going to learn how to play the tin whistles in unison. Help the students put their index finger on the first hole of the tin whistle. They can leave all the other holes uncovered. Raise your hand to signal the students to begin playing and count out four beats. Then raise your fist to signal they should return their tin whistles to bed. If you feel like the students are able, you can have them try this again but with two fingers covering the first two holes of the tin whistle.

Review

End this time with reviewing the parts of the tin whistle by singing the Parts of the Tin Whistle song again with the students and encouraging them to point to the different parts on their tin whistle as they sing. Also review what the words cacophony and unison mean.

Week 8: Dynamics

Now it’s time to introduce the concept of dynamics– the differences between loud and soft sounds.

Review

Before getting into dynamics, it’s good to review with the students what they learned last week. Briefly go over the parts of the tin whistle with them. Then play “Simon Says” and say, “Simon says show me the barrel.” “Simon says show me the fipple.” “Show me the mouthpiece…..uh oh…Simon didn’t say.

Correct Position

Now show the students how to hold tin whistle. Play a quick game “Thumbs up for correct, thumbs down for wrong.”

• Demonstrate holding the tin whistle like a trumpet (thumbs down)
• Demonstrate holding the tin whistle very close to the body (thumbs down)
• Demonstrate holding the tin whistle like a flute (thumbs down and usually lots of giggles)
• Demonstrate correct posture and position (thumbs UP)!

Dynamics

First, tell the students that we are going to learn about different dynamics in music. This means how loud or soft we sing or play and instrument. Teach the students the terms: piano (soft) and forte (loud). Sing the beginning of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star either softly or loudly and see if the students can guess whether they are singing in piano (softly) or forte (loudly). Then have a few student volunteers try to do the same thing.

Now say to the students, “Can you think of something that isn’t just quiet, but REALLY REALLY quite?” For example, snow falling, or when someone tip toes barefoot across the floor. Explain the term pianissimo and that it means very quiet. Show them the pianissimo card with the symbol (Appendix B of the Tin Whistle Booklet). Then have the students sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as quietly as they possibly can.

Now ask the students, “Can you think of something that isn’t just loud, but REALLY REALLY loud?” For example, a siren or a smoke alarm. Explain the term fortissimo and that it means very loud. Show them the fortissimo card (Appendix B of the Tin Whistle Booklet) with the symbol. Then have the students sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as loudly as they can.

Then talk about mezzo piano. Ask the students what they think “mezzo” means. It means a “medium or moderate sound”. So mezzo piano means moderately soft. It’s a little bit louder than piano. Explain that mezzo forte means moderately loud. It is between mezzo piano and forte. Show them the mezzo piano and mezzo forte cards with the symbols (Appendix B of the Tin Whistle Booklet).

Practicing Dynamics with the Tin Whistle

Now tell the students that they can get their tin whistles up from their beds. Go over the finger positions and help the students position their fingers correctly. Remember, with little children, it is difficult for them to cover the entire holes with their fingers. For these students, it’s best to have them try to only cover one of the holes with their finger. Then they can concentrate on making sure their left hand is on top and covering that entire hole.

Also tell the students, “We are going to blow the tin whistle like we are blowing out one single candle on a birthday cake. Soft, gentle, smooth….and NO spitting. We can’t ruin the cake. “Imagine the difference between birdy blows and elephant blows. We do not need any elephant blows for the tin whistle.”

Remind the students that they can’t play until you as the conductor signal them to begin. Begin by saying, “1, 2, ready, play” and raise up your hand. Tell the students to keep their one finger over the hole while blowing into the tin whistle as you count 4 beats. Hold up one of the dynamics cards and see if the students can try to play that matching dynamic. For example, if you hold up piano, see if the students remember to play quietly.

I would encourage you to just do this a few times with these little children and then have them put their tin whistles back to bed.

Dynamics Cards

To end this lesson on dynamics, let the students arrange the dynamics cards (Appendix B of the Tin Whistle Booklet) from softest to loudest. You can sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star again pointing to the different symbols and changing your voice accordingly. Encourage the students to sing with you.

Week 9: Note Values and Staff

This week, your students will start learning about note values and the musical staff- two important building blocks in reading music.

Review

Begin by going over the Parts of the Tin Whistle song and encouraging the students to point to the different parts as we sing. Remind the students which hand is their left hand and that their left hand goes on top. Now have the students put their tin whistles to bed for this next part.

Musical Staff

Pass out a staff card (Appendix C of the Tin Whistle Booklet) to each student and ask them to notice where the lines and spaces are. Teach students the Lines and Spaces song (see my video below for song).

Have the students sing the song with you and review the different dynamics by singing at different volumes together. Put dynamics cards (Appendix B of the Tin Whistle Booklet) up on your tutor board as you review each one so the students can review the symbols. For example, say, “Now let’s sing forte. Who remembers what “forte” means?”

Pass out a copy of the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star sheet (pg. 89 in the Foundations Guide) and have the students look at it and sing as you conduct. Ask the students, “Do you notice any notes that are different than each other?” Ask them what else they notice about the notes. What is similar between the notes? What is different?

Tell students that learning the musical notes is like learning the alphabet. Reading notes helps us to play music just like the alphabet helps us to read.

Tell students to look at the staff on their song sheet. Have them count the lines (5), and have them count spaces (4). Encourage them to sing the Lines and Spaces song again.

Show the students a note visual made with mega blocks (see picture below). I wrote on these blocks with dry erase marker which works pretty well.

Break the blocks apart and show the students how the block with the whole note has 4 studs because we hold a whole note for 4 beats (Ta ah ah ah). Show them how there are two half notes that each have 2 studs because we hold half notes for 2 beats (Ta ah, Ta ah). There are 4 quarter notes that each have one stud because we hold quarter notes for 1 beat (Ta Ta Ta Ta). You can tap 2 times on each of the top 4 studs to illustrate eighth notes (Ti Ti Ti Ti Ti Ti Ti Ti).

Hand out a similar set of mega blocks to each student and have them put the blocks together different ways while continuing to talk about what kind of note each block represents.

After the students have played around with the mega blocks for a few minutes, hand out the Note

Tracing and Treble Clef Tracing handouts (Appendices D and E of the Tin Whistle Booklet). They can work on this during class time if there is enough time, or they can take them home to practice.

Week 10: Rhythm

This week is all about rhythm- the heartbeat of music! Teaching rhythm to young children can be a lot of fun because it combines movement with sound, making it very engaging.

Review

Begin by showing the students the Rhythm handout (Appendix F of the Tin Whistle Booklet). Ask the students if they remember the four types of notes they learned about last week. Review what a staff is and how many lines and spaces there are. Sing the Lines and spaces song with the students.

Draw a staff that looks the same as the Rhythm handout on the board big enough for the students to see well. Show the students the difference between a measure and a bar line.

Ask students what they think would happen if you draw a whole note in a measure on the staff. Explain how a whole note takes up a whole measure. Proceed to draw a whole note in the first measure on the board.

Then talk about half notes. Explain how two half notes make up one whole note so we can draw two half notes in the next measure. Then draw four quarter notes in the next measure and eight eighth notes in the last measure.

Hand out the Rhythm handout to students and smiley face stickers. Tell them to stick smiley face stickers where you drew notes on the board. (1 sticker in the first measure, 2 stickers in the second measure, 4 stickers in the third measure, and 8 stickers in the fourth measure). Then encourage the students to draw lines to complete their notes so the notes look like whole, quarter, half, and eighth. (see picture below)

Point out to the students the 4/4 time on their Rhythm handout. Tell them this means that each measure can only have 4 beats.

Now, let the students get their tin whistles out and put their left index finger on top hole. Remind them to not play until I signal them to. Say, “1, 2, ready play” and hold your hand up to signal them to begin. Have them try to hold their finger on the hole and blow into the tin whistle for 4 beats to make a whole note. Then have them try to play two half notes, four quarter notes, and eight eighth notes.

Week 11: Note Names and D Scale

Now it’s time to introduce note names and the D scale on the tin whistle. Start by asking the students how many letters are in the alphabet? (26). Explain that there are 7 letters in the musical alphabet starting with “A.”

Draw a big staff on the board and model for the students how to draw notes on the lines of the staff. Explain that when the note is on a line, they can remember the note names by “Every Good Boy Does Fine.” Then show them how to draw notes on the spaces of the staff and explain that we can think of the word, “FACE” to help us remember these.

Practice Drawing Notes

Now give the students the Scale handout (Appendix G of the Tin Whistle Booklet) and have them draw the notes. Tell them to copy the notes that I drew on the board. Walk around and make sure they are drawing the notes in the correct places on the staff. Talk to the students about how there are some notes that are sharps or flats. We can remember sharp because the sharp symbol has sharp points coming out of it. We can remember flat because the symbol looks like a “b” that is going flat like a balloon. Sharps and floats change the sound of certain notes slightly.

D Scale

After they finish drawing the notes, tell them that the Tin whistle is in “D scale” so it starts with a “D” and ends with a “D”. Have them flip over their handout to “D scale” side (Appendix H of the Tin Whistle Booklet). Talk to the students about how the more holes you cover up the lower the note will be and the fewer holes you cover up, the higher the note will be.

Practice Playing the Tin Whistle

Now, tell the students that they can get out their tin whistle. Signal them to begin playing by saying, “1, 2, ready, play” and raising up your hand. Have them try to play first few notes of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, so start out playing covering all the notes. (This will be tough for the little students, so help them get their fingers positioned correctly).

If the students are able, they can try to play first two notes covering all holes and then play the next two notes by dropping the bottom four holes and just covering the top two holes for A.

Week 12: Review and Celebration

You’ve made it to the final week, and now it’s time to celebrate everything your students have learned! This week is all about reviewing the key concepts from the last five weeks and giving your students a chance to show off some of their new skills.

Before class, make a staff with painters tape on the floor. Bring in a large foam die. Also draw a staff on the board with the notes, treble clef, bar line, and measure labeled.

Begin class by briefly reviewing the parts of the tin whistle and singing the Parts of the Tin Whistle song. Also, show the dynamics cards one at a time and see if the students remember what the symbols mean.

Big Staff Game

Then tell the students that we are going to play a game! Let them switch off rolling the die into the large staff made with painters tape on the floor. Wherever the die lands in the staff, the students have to guess what note that would be. (Encourage them to look up on the board where you drew the notes for help.)

After each student has had a chance to roll the die and identify a note on the staff, begin playing another game where the students get to be the conductor. Have the students get out their tin whistles and explain to them that they must follow the conductor’s lead. Remind the student conductor that he or she must say, “1, 2, ready, play” and raise their hand to signal the students to start playing.

Encourage the other students to just blow into their tin whistle when it’s time to play. Remind the student conductor how to signal the students to stop by raising up their hand and making a fist. Let each student have a turn being the conductor.

Playing the Tin Whistle song

If some of the students are able, you can help them try to play the first measure of the song, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. (I plan to do this individually at the end with any child who wants to try).

Make it fun!

Teaching the tin whistle to young children may seem like a big challenge at first, but with the right approach and a focus on fun, it can be a truly rewarding experience. Remember, for young learners especially, the key is to make the lessons engaging and fun.

The tin whistle offers a wonderful opportunity to introduce music theory in a way that’s simple and accessible. As the children get older, the skills and concepts they’ve learned in these six weeks will stay with them, whether they continue with the tin whistle or explore other musical instruments.

As a tutor, your role in guiding the children through this experience is invaluable. You’ve shown them that learning music can be enjoyable and exciting, and that’s something they will carry with them. Be encouraged, knowing that you’ve helped lay the groundwork for their appreciation of music!

Tin Whistle Videos

Make sure to watch my videos for even more explanation of these plans. I have a playlist with videos for all 6 weeks of the tin whistle.

Tin Whistle Plans and Activities

Also check out the FREE tin whistle plans and activities that you can use as you teach about the tin whistle as a tutor or a parent at home!

Blessings to you on this homeschooling journey!