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The Lost Art by Parker Brown

For many people, whistling is a distraction, just a way to pass time. But not for Steve Herbst, a renowned professional whistler. He whistles on the subway, in his house, on the streets. But it’s also in his job description.

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Transcript :

I was whistling on the street one day, minding my own business, and a woman came up to me and said if she had a 200 pound man with her, she would punch me right in the face.

Some people find whistling annoying. But they haven’t heard good whistling. They haven’t heard musical whistling. That was more popular in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, in what I referred to as the golden age of whistling when whistlers traveled with the big bands.

I was totally self-taught. I used to whistle everywhere I went. Walking to school, walking home, when I got home, I’d go in my bedroom, close the bedroom door … and I would mimic all of the instruments I heard.

Whistling is a lost art and it’s coming back. And it’s also a loner’s art. There’s no such thing as whistlers’ chorus in high school or the whistlers’ band in school. So most of the whistlers … they are out there on their own.

When I went to the whistlers’ convention for the first time, it was like coming out of a desert after 40 years and finding my tribe.

One guy I know was in an accident, he went head first over the handlebars of his bike and smashed up his mouth. And he can’t whistle now.

That’s a, that’s a horrifying thought.

And if I weren’t able to sing and whistle it would be a big void. It would be tragic. You know, maybe I’d find something else, but who wants to look for something else at that age or that stage?

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Steve Herbst’s father was a musician in the fullest sense. He played several instruments and passed the love of music on to his children. But Steve chose the one medium that required no extra instrument – whistling. He picked it up as a young kid, often annoying his parents and friends with his incessant practicing.

He got good enough to where he didn’t know anybody better than him, so he thought he’d try his hand at an international whistling competition. He placed fourth, which acted as a sort of catalyst for him: he won the next year and is now an official member of the Whistler’s Hall of Fame.

It’s part of his job, too. He made his own CD. He is in commercials and TV shows.

But he mostly does it because he wants to make art, wants to help people understand that whistling isn’t something you do only when you’re happy or working. To him, after all, it’s a form of musical expression.