Whistle Tones

Chromatic scale

Whistle tones (notated W.T.) are very high, faint tones produced by blowing a very small amount of air across the flute through a relaxed aperture. Flutists sometimes use them in their warm-up routines to fine-tune the embouchure. Although whistle tones are quite faint and not very reliable to produce, an imaginative composer can produce some wonderful effects. Several works of Robert Dick, a virtuoso flutist himself, feature stunning effects using whistle tones.