How to learn to play the tongue drum ?

Do you want to discover or deepen your knowledge of the Tongue Drum, this Musical Instrument with relaxing sounds that vaguely resembles a flying saucer and which has become increasingly popular since its creation ? Or do you want to have techniques to better play this instrument ? If so, then you’ve come to the right place.

Techniques for learning to play the tongue drum well

The Tongue Drum is a percussion Musical Instrument of the idiophone family, that is to say Instruments whose sounds turn out to be produced by the materials that make up the Instrument itself when an external event occurs. , like the strike of a wand. To learn how to play the tongue drum well, first make sure that the stickers have been installed on it. Once done, it should be placed correctly to get the best possible sounds. You can simply put the Steel Tongue Drum on a hard surface if it has small rubber pads on its bottom shell. Otherwise, you will have to hold it between your thighs or use a stand, a kind of support that will hold the Tongue Drum in your place. Take a pleasant position in which you will not feel any particular discomfort.

Play musical notes using the pair of mallets

In order to play Music Notes, again, you have several options at your disposal. For all beginners, it is recommended to use the pair of mallets that are usually supplied with the Instrument. The objective here is going to be to hit a tongue with a sharp blow, but above all not to press the impact in order to obtain as many vibrations as possible. Indeed, if the end of your wand remains too long on the tongue, the vibrations will not have the possibility of developing. You can experience this by hitting a tongue and then pressing it with your finger. The sound will stop very quickly which is to be avoided unless it is specifically wanted by the Instrumentalist to perform a particular sound effect. You can then practice playing several notes one after the other, or even two at the same time.

Also, you have the option of using your hands to play the Tongue Drum, much like with a Handpan. But as said above, the shell of the Tongue Drum is much thicker. Therefore, it will be necessary to apply a greater force compared to a Handpan. To do this, do exactly the same job with a mallet, namely strike a tongue with a sharp blow, without staying too much on the metal at the risk of not making the Instrument vibrate well. This technique is therefore harder to perform than with mallets, because it takes a little experience to manage to whip the tongue in order to draw beautiful vibrations from it. Most players use the last knuckle of their thumb, because it’s a hard part of the finger that works well for this technique. However, it is possible with all the other fingers as long as the blow given remains dry.