Tin whistle part of several folk traditions. Whistles are a prevalent starting instrument in English traditional music, Scottish traditional music and Irish traditional music, since they are often cheap (under US$10), relatively easy to start with (no tricky embouchure such as found with the flute), and the fingerings are nearly identical to those on the traditional six holed flute (Irish flute, baroque flute). The tin whistle is a good starting instrument to learn the uilleann pipes, which has similar finger technique, range of notes and repertoire. The tin whistle is the most popular instrument in Irish traditional music today. In recent years
Tin whistle are out of print. One representative compilation is "South African Jazz and Jive" (Rhino Entertainment, 2000). The tin whistle is used in many other types of music, though not to the extent that it could be called characteristic as with Irish music and kwela. In some Irish music composed for symphonic ensembles, it is often replaced with piccolo. It is not unusual to hear the tin whistle used in praise music and film soundtracks, and published scores suitable for tin whistle performance are available in both of these genres. The tin whistle also appears in "crossover" genres like world music,