Steel Tongue Drum
A simple melodic instrument that even complete beginners can improvise on.
Playing helps you relax, clear your mind, and can even become a form of meditation.
If your steel tongue drum doesn't have a specific note, simply replace it with the same note from the octave available on your instrument. For example, instead of playing the dotted 5, just play the regular 5.
Introduction to the Steel Tongue Drum
Tabs for Popular Melodies
Reading Sheet Music Basics
You don't need to know how to read sheet music to start playing the steel tongue drum. However, if you'd like, you can learn to read music, which will give you many more possibilities in the future.
To begin with, it's enough to understand note duration and time signatures. Watch from 3:03 to 5:24 in the video.
Spoiler: it's actually very simple—you either strike the next tongue immediately or wait a little before playing the next note ;)
Notes
To play from sheet music, you need to know a few things. First, you need to identify which note to play, meaning which tongue on the drum to strike. Every tongue is labeled with a letter. Pay attention to the dots above the letters—they indicate which octave the note belongs to.
On the staff, the note itself is determined by the position of the note head relative to the staff lines. Its position tells you which note to play.
Ноти у пдф
Note Durations
Whole Note. Count: 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and
Eighth Note. Count: 1 or and
Quarter Note. Count: 1 and
Sixteenth Note. Two notes fit into a single beat (two notes on 1 or on and).
Eighth Note. Count: 1 or and
The second thing you need to know is how long to play each note. Some notes should ring longer, while others are played briefly before moving on to the next one.
The note duration is indicated by the note head (filled or hollow) and the stem or flags attached to it.
Other Musical Symbols
These symbols show where a measure begins and ends, as well as its time signature. A measure is a section of music that helps organize the rhythm. If a measure contains four quarter-note beats, it can fit four quarter notes, two half notes, or any combination of notes and rests with the same total duration.
Treble Clef. The basic thing to know is that if the sheet music starts with a different clef, you won't be able to play it on a standard steel tongue drum.
4/4 Time Signature. Count each measure as: 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and
Final Bar Line. A bar line with a thick second line marks the end of the piece.
2/4 Time Signature. Count each measure as: 1 and 2 and
Repeat Sign. Everything between the two repeat signs should be played twice.
If you see additional symbols next to the clef or notes, you won't be able to play the melody without retuning your instrument. Don't worry about this when you're just getting started.
Don't hide now
A little donkey
Twinkle twinkle little star
Happy birthday
To say goodbye
Whitewasher
You and me
Shchedryk (Carol of the Bells)
Щедрик
Jingle bells
Jingle bells