The whistle is quite possibly the most well-known type of whistle out there that most people are most familiar with. It is a member of the woodwind instrument family and is a type of whistle that only emits one sound when blown into. There are many different variations of this whistle that are used today. They are not only used by police, they are also used in sports, by trains and ships; any situation that would require the sound of a whistle to either warn or alert someone that something is happening. This basic whistle is possibly the simplest whistle that exists. While it is not something that immediately makes someone think of it as a musical instrument, it does play a major role in a number of different musical instruments.There are many musical instruments that would not exist today if it were not for the simple whistle. Pipe organs, for example, use the simple whistle many times over in order to emit sound. Each pipe uses the same principle of this basic whistle in order to make a sound. Each pipe is then designed to a different size in order to emit a different sound than the others so that the organ can play different notes in order to create music. How the whistle works is fairly simple. The sound a whistle makes is created when a steady stream of air is blown into the whistle. The small hole in the top of the whistle, known as the fipple, then separates the air, which causes the sound. It really is amazing, when one thinks about it, that such a simple instrument could have such an impact on so many musical instruments that people use today.The basic whistle appears to have originated in China and was used in order to warn people of impending danger. The whistle that people are familiar with today was first created in the late nineteenth century to be used in sports. The principle in how the whistle worked was the same as the whistles the Chinese had used so long before, the purpose of the whistle would simple be different; however, even today, the whistle is still used to warn people of different things as well. Unlike other instruments, this whistle has really not changed over time. The basic design has remained more or less the same and its purpose, though more varied, is basically the same now as it was so long ago. The basic whistle is certainly not an instrument that people would play as a musical instrument. It is most often used in situations that really have nothing to do with music. In fact, the whistle is used for so many different things all over the world that it could easily be considered one of the most, if not the most, popular instruments in the world. It is cheap, easy to acquire, requires no skill or talent to play and has a sound that is both unique and easy to hear in most situations. It doesn't even require sheet music to play; all one has to do is blow into it to create a single note or sound