In the D.C. region, conversations often start with, 鈥淲hat do you do?鈥� WTOP鈥檚 series 鈥�Working Capital鈥� profiles the people doing the work that makes the region unique.聽
Some people whistle while they work, but Chris Ullman whistles for work.
That鈥檚 in addition to running his own public communications firm. Ullman spent years as a communications professional in the D.C. area, including at The Carlyle Group, the White House Budget Office and at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as being the spokesman for the U.S. House Budget Committee in 2000.
And yes, he whistled while he worked during those years, too.
While working in the Executive Office of the President as the budget spokesman, Ullman got a request from former President George W. Bush. The 43rd president wanted a serenade.
Ullman described the afternoon he whistled for a president in his book, He recalled his first close-up view of Bush 鈥� 鈥渓eaning back in his chair, feet on his desk, unlit cigar in his hand.鈥�
Bush wanted some country-western tunes; Ullman was more into classical music, jazz, show tunes, blues, pop and some Disney favorites. They agreed on the theme from 鈥淭he Lone Ranger,鈥� which happened to be the finale of the 鈥淲illiam Tell Overture,鈥� an Italian opera by Gioachino Rossini.
With then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Vice President Dick Cheney also in attendance, Ullman鈥檚 performance ended with a whistling rendition of 鈥淭he Battle Hymn of the Republic.鈥�
Ullman has whistled all over D.C., including whistling 鈥淵ankee Doodle Dandy鈥� outside while on top of the Washington Monument when it was being repaired following the 2011 earthquake. He said it was really windy up there.
He said some of the best places to whistle in D.C. are the amazing stairwells in the House office buildings on Capitol Hill and in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
鈥淥f course, whistling in the Oval Office, which I have done, is probably the coolest place,鈥� Ullman said, keeping in mind that there is a time and place for whistling.
Ullman said he only whistles when asked. There are also some superstitions that say it鈥檚 bad luck to whistle in certain places, such as on a boat, inside the house at night, outside at night in Appalachia or in a newsroom.
Telling a musical story
Even before his government jobs, Ullman whistled while delivering newspapers as a young man, having learned the skill when he was 5 years old.
Whistling his way while he hiked Old Rag at Shenandoah National Park in 1992, a friend noticed how good Ullman was and said he should compete.
Four international whistling championships later and a place in the International Whistling Hall of Fame, he’s still whistling a happy tune.
Ullman describes himself as a 鈥渇inesse whistler鈥� rather than a 鈥減ower whistler.鈥� He can whistle symphonies and similar sounds; it’s not like the loud call of hailing a cab.
He works at his craft and practices pieces he鈥檚 going to whistle. He approaches the music as a virtuoso would, adding embellishments and variations and combining them to shape the music and tell its story from beginning to end.
鈥淔or example, if there’s a repeated phrase in a song, say it repeats three times in a row, you don’t want to whistle it the same each time,鈥� Ullman said.
He varies the whistling using different techniques, such as a warble, slur or vibrato, combining them to make the music more interesting.
Ullman said you don鈥檛 need to know music theory to whistle like he does, but it does help to have been a musician or to have sung in choirs, like he has for many years.
鈥淲hat that does is it teaches you how to make music. So, making music is what you have to do if you’re a singer, a whistler, a trombonist or playing the xylophone. And what it really means is that you’re shaping the notes to try to tell a musical story,” he said. “It’s not all staccato and boring. You’re shaping it.鈥�
Just put your lips together and blow 鈥� plus these things
You need three things to start to whistle: lips, tongue and air.
鈥淭he key is to get the three of those in the right combination and the right arrangement,鈥� Ullman said. 鈥淵ou can’t blow too hard. You have to form a hole with your lips, and you need to put your tongue on the bottom of your mouth, not the top, and the air goes over it. So then you have to work with those three variables to get the sound.鈥�
It sounds simple enough, but Ullman said he鈥檚 met some people who said they鈥檝e tried whistling their whole lives and still can鈥檛 do it, 鈥渨hich is a tragedy.鈥�
Through his work in communications and as a whistler, Ullman has always been a storyteller. Ullman said he believes in bringing your true self to the office and being authentic.
鈥淏y bringing my whistling to my jobs through all these years, I think it has been my way of sharing who I really am, and it’s been great for building relationships with people,鈥� he said.
In his book, which he wrote in 2017, he uses his whistling as a metaphor for the gift that each person has.
鈥淚 have this kind of counterintuitive life philosophy, which is, 鈥楧on’t worry about changing the world, just worry about the person next to you,鈥欌�� Ullman said. 鈥淲hen you’re at a graduation ceremony and the speaker says, 鈥楴ow, go change the world.鈥� The odds of achieving that are effectively zero. But if I said to you, 鈥楪o make the life of the person sitting next to you a little better,’ the odds of success are 100%. So, I like those odds.鈥�
One of his favorite things to do is whistle 鈥淗appy Birthday鈥� to people, which he does about 700 times a year.
鈥淲histling is a very happy thing,鈥� Ullman said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a way for me to honor their lives.鈥�
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