Align your fingers with the holes on your clay whistle. Hold the whistle in both hands, and place your fingers on each hole until all of them are covered. This instrument features small holes at regular intervals designed for the human hand to cover comfortably. Use the fleshy ball of your finger so air can't escape.
Place your pinky or ring finger on the hole farther from your face. Different clay whistles have different numbers of holes. Make sure your index finger covers the one closest to the whistle's windpipe, the hole in the center that you blow into to make sound. Place your thumbs beneath the whistle to support it.
Practice finger dexterity and linear fingering patterns. Lift each finger off of each hole, then replace it. Make sure you cover the hole entirely, applying light pressure. Repeat rapidly, practicing different fingering combinations. Music books or online fingering charts feature diagrams that can tell you which patterns correlate with different notes so you can learn to play songs.
Lift the whistle to your mouth and blow into the windpipe. Send air through the hole at different speeds and with different amounts of pressure until you are satisfied with the sound you achieve. If your tone is not perfect, don't worry. With time, your ambature will improve. The term ambature indicates mouth position when playing a wind instrument. With practice, you will develop the muscles in your mouth until you are always in control of volume and tone.
Do not cover the hole at the top of the whistle. This hole is called the whistlehead. It is larger than the windpipe and the finger holes. The clay whistle makes sound as air leaves this hole after entering the windpipe. A clean and open whistlehead is essential in achieving a clear tone.
Obtain a music theory book or lessons so that you can learn about the science behind the sounds you are producing. While understanding the math, science and history of music is not essential to playing, knowledge can enrich your experience and improve your skills as you learn the nuances of the art.