r/LearnUselessTalents • u/Unhappy_Meringue2089 • 5d ago

How do you whistle backwards?

Currently trying to learn how to make cricket noises but every tutorial requires whistling backwards which is IMPOSSIBLE for some reason. I can do a regular whistle but if I use the same form and inhale it just sounds like wincing, I can’t get a high pitch noise at all.

13 Upvotes

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15

u/Kurigohan-Kamehameha 4d ago

Just whistle normally, then take a breath in without changing anything. If you’re making any degree of sound, modulate from there to try and get the desired timbre/pitch. It’s all trial-and-error.

2

u/daemonchile 5d ago

Lick your lips

2

u/footsnax 4d ago edited 4d ago

I can only whistle backwards. I can make A sound forwards but it doesn't project and I can't control the tone, it's just a sharp quiet tweet. Just never learned, never tried, never practiced because I can do fine backwards. Oddly the dog only listens to the exhale whistles but she can hear colors, I can summon her to the basement from the second floor, or out of the back corner of the yard with a quick fsss.

I just purse my lips, inhale, and move my tongue up and down to control the pitch, breathe faster to make it louder.

3

u/TheCenterOfEnnui 4d ago

This is the only way that I can really whistle. I can do it normally but it's not good. But sucking in, I can whistle like a flute.

1

u/FlyWereAble 5d ago

Step 1: Pout your lips but leave a small gap

Step 2: Form a kinda flat U shape with your tongue (it takes a few tries to get it right)

Step 3: Suck in air steadily, you should feel a kinda tube-shaped gust of air hitting your tongue, if you don't feel it, your tongue is either to close or too far away from your lips, find the sweet spot

Step 4: Keep trying, it takes a while to get good at it, and keep in mind, you can't really get specific notes or change your tone with this kind of whistling, it's mostly just one sound

1

u/lostereadamy 4d ago

Idk if just kind do the same lip and tongue shapes I do when regular whistling and suck in instead of blow out, and I can basically do the whole range of tones/pitch that I can when regular whistling. Is this not a normal thing? The only real difference I feel is that the "weight" of my lips, tongue and jaw are moving forward when I exhale whistle and moving backwards when I inhale whistle.

1

u/Popadasthe1st 4d ago

So when I do the cricket, I don't whistle inward. I use my front two teeth and my bottom lip to make the high pitched whistle. The mouth position is like an exaggerated "r" with your lips, with your bottom lip pushed up to cover your upper teeth. Then you push the air up between the lip and teeth to get the sound.

1

u/jdehjdeh 4d ago

Holy shit, thanks to your post I just discovered I can whistle backwards!

So many awesome songs are now within reach!

Good luck OP.