1. How did you get started?
2. Did you ever take whistling lessons?
3. But there must be something else?
4. What are some of your techniques?
5. Do all participants compete at the whistlers’ convention?
6. Does kissing affect your ability to whistle?
7. Do you practice? How much?
8. What kind of music do you whistle?
9. What musicians have influenced your style?
10. Who knew there even was a whistling contest…what’s it all about?
11. What separates an OK whistler from a champion?
12. How do you keep you mouth from getting dry?
13. What’s been your favorite whistling experience?

Next, I remember whistling for an hour or more per day as a teenager while delivering Long Island Newsday after school. In those days I think I was louder than I was good. My customers routinely said they could hear me coming from blocks away. Thankfully, I’ve left my power whistling behind and morphed into a finesse whistle.

In college I performed in talent shows and coffee houses, jammed at open mike nights in Johnson City, NY (near where I went to school at SUNY-Binghamton), and whistled on campus as I skateboarded from class to class.

Upon arriving in Washington, DC in early 1987, I continued attending open mike nights, picking up a keen interest in the blues. And then it happened. The challenge was established. While hiking in the Shenandoah National Park with a bunch of friends in the fall of 1992 someone heard me whistling (I suppose it was difficult to ignore at times!) and suggested that I do something with my whistling, such as competing. I was flattered and said that I had heard there was a national contest but that I didn’t know anything about it. My good friend Elizabeth Sauer (now Foster) said that if such a contest existed she would find it.

And she did! Every April the town of Louisburg, NC, which is around 30 miles north of Raleigh, hosts the Franklin County Arts Council’s National/International Whistlers Convention. I first competed in 1993, winning the national title in 1994 and 1996 and winning the national and international titles in 1999 and 2000. Consecutive victories earn a two-year hiatus, which is now over. Nonetheless, I’m through with competing and am now focusing on performing and producing my first CD.

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Q. Did you ever take whistling lessons?
A. No, I am primarily self-taught. However, I’ve attended the whistlers’ school at the annual whistlers convention. It’s a two-day class hosted by former champions immediately prior to the whistler’s convention. I thought the class was quite fruitful and interesting. I also pay close attention to my fellow whistlers to see what techniques I can learn from them.

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Q. But there must be something else?
A. Yes. There’s the issue of musicianship, turning notes into music. I have sung in choirs for many years, which has taught me to be a musician. Whether you play the oboe, flute, guitar, sing, or whistle, there are many common elements to making good music. Phrasing, attention to detail, arranging, and intonation are among the factors that separate music from noise. I have Betty Buchanan, former music director of the Capitol Hill Choral Society with whom I sung for ten years, for helping me become the musician I am today.

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Q. What are some of your techniques?
A. Over the years I’ve perfected the standard “pucker style” (where the air travels over the tongue through the puckered lips). I also whistle with my tongue only, which produces a rougher, more airy sound. Next, I’ve developed what I call the “chirp” whistle, which sounds like a referee’s whistle. I produce this by keeping my jaw mostly closed, then doing a tongue whistle through lightly closed lips. The force of the air forces the lips open and closed very quickly. It’s a cool sound. Finally, I’ve developed the “wha-wha” whistle, which is tongue whistling while mouthing the words wha-wha. Sort of reminds me of Peter Frampton’s famous voice synthesizer on his hit tune, “Do You Feel Like We Do?” I also whistle in and out, use a vibrato when appropriate (primarily with classical music) to give warmth and feeling to the sound, and warble. Warbling is like a vibrato, but rather than a smooth transition between notes, it’s a snapping between notes. Undulating the tongue laterally produces this sound. All of these things take practice to master. Each is an arrow in my stylistic quiver, giving me different ways to portray, arrange, and interpret music.

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Q. Do all participants compete at the whistlers’ convention?
A. No. Some folks come near and far just to observe; others come to take whistling classes; some compete in just one category (pop, classical, or allied arts); while some do it all.

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Q. Does kissing affect your ability to whistle?
A. Yes. Kissing makes my lips mushy, which is bad for sustaining a pucker. I refrain from kissing 24 hours before a performance and 48 hours before a competition. Yes, I’m serious.

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Q. Do you practice? How much?
A. Yes. Being good at something requires commitment, practice, training, and time. When I was competing I’d usually ramp up my practice to schedule to nearly two hours a day. In the off-season I usually practice around 45 minutes per day. Much of that is in the car on the way to and from work. In April of 1996 I did a Graceland pilgrimage and whistled for around 4-5 hours every day. Yes, I was alone. No one could tolerate that much whistling – I even had trouble! By the end of each day my lips would be trembling from over puckerage! It paid off…that year I came in first in the pop and classical categories and won the national and international championships!

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Q. What kind of music do you whistle?
A. I have rather eclectic tastes, in general, and most of it is whistleable. I whistle everything from John Denver and the Grateful Dead to Beethoven and Rachmaninov. I throw in a little Sound of Music and UB40 here and there too. My favorite classical music to practice to is Strauss waltzes and Dvorak’s New World Symphony.

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Q. What musicians have influenced your style?
A. Everything I listen to affects me to some extent, but guitarists have had the most impact, including Jerry Garcia, Pat Methaney, Carlos Santana, Mark Knopfler, and B.B. King.

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Q. Who knew there even was a whistling contest…what’s it all about?
A. For 30 years the Franklin County Arts Council has organized and hosted the National and International Whistlers Convention in Louisburg, North Carolina, USA. It started out small back in 1973 and has blossomed over time to include whistlers from around the globe. The convention is more than a competition. It includes a whistling school, concerts, group meals, opportunities for sharing new techniques, and is a whole lot of fun.

The man behind it all is Allen DeHart, a former professor at Louisburg College, which is where the convention talks place. There's also a platoon of other senior organizers and helpers, including Lillian Benton. Amazingly, neither Lillian nor Allen whistles! They have committed a substantial portion of their lives to fostering the art of whistling and they deserve much credit and praise.

The contest itself is broken into two categories: popular and classical. There’s also allied arts, which is not officially part of the contest but affords people the opportunity to combine whistling with some other art or skill, such as singing, guitar, dance, mime, and other creative expressions.

Contestants have up to four minutes to perform a popular piece before a live audience and panel of judges and up to six minutes for a classical piece. There are preliminaries and finals and tie breakers and there’s lots of pressure. ABC Wide World of Sports may not be there, but it’s intense nonetheless!

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Q. What separates an OK whistler from a champion?
A. First, it has always made me sad when people who like to whistle won’t whistle around me. I promote and encourage whistling by anyone who can eke out a sound with pursed lips. My wife Kristen likes to whistle and I encourage her to keep working at it. As with amateurs and pros in sports, there are differences among whistlers. There are a number of things that separate an amateur whistler from a champion: technical ability; purity of sound; accuracy of pitch; interpretive and arrangement skills; presentation skills; and enthusiasm. And then there’s practice, practice, and more practice!

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Q. How do you keep your mouth from getting dry?
A. Drinking too much water actually causes your mouth to get dry. It’s like licking your lips…it makes them chapped. Dry mouth is a serious issue for whistlers. Thankfully it’s not a huge problem for me. To manage it, I drink small sips of water as I prepare to perform or compete. Ice water is best for me because it causes my skin to contract a little, which keeps the various surface areas tight and smooth, which is good for airflow. I also pace a lot, which reduces stress, and prayer helps too.

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Q. What’s been your favorite whistling experience?
A. Two things stand out for me. One is performing with the National Symphony Orchestra at the annual Labor Day Concert at the U.S. Capitol in September 1998. It was an amazing scene: A sea of people in front of me, the symphony behind me, and the lighted Capitol ahead in the distance. I performed “On The Mall.” a patriotic piece written by Edwin Franko Goldman in the 1920s. The piece calls for a whistler for the main theme. The best part is that I performed it twice that night. Once alone with the orchestra. Then at the end of the program I came back on stage, taught the audience the straightforward four-section main tune and we all whistled it with the orchestra. I was told that as people departed after the concert many were heard whistling the tune!

My other most memorable whistling moment is being called into the Oval Office by President George W. Bush to give a concert … with 15 minutes notice on June 20, 2001. At the time I worked at the White House budget office, known as OMB. Not too long before that day I whistled at Chief of Staff Andy Card’s birthday party. He told the president about it and then the president had my boss bring me over. I had seen the Oval Office before but had never been inside. It’s a rather comfy place, and smaller than you’d think. I stood next to the president’s desk; he put his feet up, leaned back, and asked me to whistle a few tunes for him. “Country-western,” was his response to my question about what type of music he liked. In retrospect I should have whistled the “Yellow Rose of Texas,” but in a pinch I suggested the “Lone Ranger song,” and he enjoyed it.

After a truncated version of the “William Tell Overture,” my audience of one said, “Do something hard!” Perhaps a little jazz and some improvisation would impress him. I cranked out a spirited version of Duke Ellington’s “A-Train,” which brought a cheer from the Commander in Chief. I then asked if he liked classical music. Without hesitation he said, “Not Bach,” but added, “Why don’t you ask the Vice President what he’d like to hear?” While I was merrily riffing away, Mr. Cheney, Andy Card, Albert Gonzales (White House Counsel), and a few staff had joined us. Absorbed by my tuneful meandering, I hadn’t even noticed their arrival!

With a nod of greetings, I asked the Veep, “How about some Beethoven.” “That sounds good,” he said, so I did a little Fifth Symphony. The already surreal experience had grown quite beyond anything I had ever experienced . . . here I was chatting and whistling with the leaders of the free world in the people’s house. Throughout the fifteen-minute encounter, I kept reminding myself to pay attention and enjoy.

The president asked for more. I respectfully said, “I don’t want to over-do it.” “Don’t worry,” he said, “I’ll let you know when I’ve had enough!” That is surely the most memorable line of the visit. Just then Director Daniels started whistling the opening call of “Dueling Banjos,” something we had discussed on the way over. I responded in kind and soon after we had a virtual hoedown going on! That got the burgeoning crowd ginned up.

President Bush then asked for a final tune that would “get us going for the day.” “Battle Hymn of the Republic” came to my mind and lips. I did a gospel/bluesy version and really put my heart into it. Before I knew it the final notes had been absorbed by all the history and power surrounding me.

In a final gracious act, the president took out a card and wrote a note to my father. “Chris came by the Oval to share his magic,” he wrote to Bub Ullman, who taught me to pucker more than 33 years ago and still loves to make music this special way.

The President indicated that he was “auditioning me for a state dinner.” I haven’t gotten the invitation to entertain his fellow heads of state in the White House East Room, but if the moment arises, I will try to do our wonderful art proud.

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