Tongue drum therapy
What is a tongue drum ? Don't worry, they are NOT drums made of tongues! Fortunately, tongue drums are usually made of steel or metal alloys, sometimes wood. They are perfect for use during tongue drum therapy , or just for jamming with friends.
A steel drum is a wonderful object. You don't have to be a musician to play the tongue drum , but it offers more opportunities for creative musical expression and greater versatility than simpler instruments such as chimes, bells and forks.
Have you always wanted to know what steel tongue drums are and how they can be used in tongue drum therapy?
We are covering this very interesting topic today because many of our fans have asked us about tongue drum therapy . So it's time to talk about it and how you too can benefit from the therapeutic advantages of your tongue drums. If after reading the article you don't know which drum is right for you or a friend/relative, then feel free to contact customer service. We are always there for you and will also help you order your very special Sonodrum instrument.
The tongue drum as therapy for mind and body of all ages
A tongue drum offers immediate benefits with very little effort or restriction . Tongue drum therapy is one of those benefits. But first, let's look at what a lotus drum actually is.
Tongue drums, also called hand drums , tank drums, or hank drums , are a type of drum with slots that look like tongues (actually idiophones). They were originally made from reused propane tanks. Today they come in a variety of musical and aesthetic variations - most look a bit like flying saucers.
The distinctive U-shaped tongue markings radiate across the surface of the drum, guiding the user to the correct places to strike the notes. The drums can be played with bare hands, mallets or sticks, depending on the type of experience and sound desired.
Reconciling soul and body
The gentle, peaceful tones of the Tongue Drum create soothing melodies that can be enjoyed by all and are especially suitable for wellness practices.
Handpan is also suitable as a therapy against stress
How do I find the right instrument? A few tips to help you find the right instrument.
Finding the right instrument that suits you is not that easy. Would you rather buy a handpan or a Stell Tondue drum ?
We want to simplify the tedious process of choosing the right instrument for you. In our Sonodrum shop you will find a variety of instruments that can produce different moods for tongue drum therapy and are made from excellent materials.
Here are some advantages and disadvantages of handpans and steel tongue drums in a comparison:
Steel tongue drums
Steel tongue drums are usually smaller but heavier than handpans. They are made of thicker steel and have a much longer reverberation than a handpan. They have a meditative sound but are less suitable for fast, percussive playing.
Advantages
- Very robust, cannot go out of tune
- Not so expensive (purchase price about 1/3 of a handpan)
- Neither cold nor heat sensitive (-10 to +45 degrees)
- Can also be played with mallets
- Smaller than handpans
Disadvantages
- Heavier than a handpan
- Not as loud as a handpan
- Tone variety is less
Handpans
Handpans can be played much louder than steel tongue drums and for many people they have a magical sound that captivates them. This makes them particularly popular for combating stress. You forget the world around you and your worries when you follow the sound of the handpan.
Advantages
- Larger note fields, easier to hit
- The sound is "magical"
- Suitable for faster play
- Wider choice of manufacturers, materials, scales and more variety
- Is much louder than a steel tongue drum and can still be heard well even in louder background noise
Disadvantages
- More sensitive, can go out of tune more quickly
- More expensive than a steel tongue drum
- Sensitive to heat (sun!)
- Must be retuned approximately every 1-6 years (depending on playing style / handling and manufacturer / material)
- Handpans that are not made of stainless steel can rust.
Helping the soul with the lotus drum
Tongue drums have different names, the lotus drum is one of them, especially when the tongues have flower-like designs. However, the principle is the same. The lotus drum helps us to fight stress and turn inward, reaching a meditative state and thus helping our soul.
Lotus Drum: Listen, Play, Relax
Everything in this universe is in constant motion (what science calls entropy, i.e. molecular vibrations of the system), definitely including our body. This means that every organ, tissue or cell has a "healthy" resonance frequency.
If this frequency changes, the organ begins to deviate from the general harmonic chord , which can signal the presence of a disease. The disease can also be cured by sending a healthy impulse at this frequency. That is, if we restore the natural frequency , the body will begin to heal itself.
Music, in which sounds and rhythms are subject to the laws of harmony ( consonance ), has a positive effect on the health and development of people and all living beings. This has been scientifically proven. In fact, the principle of resonance underlies all known types of sound therapy, including tongue drum therapy .
This in turn has a profound influence on the spiritual development of the human being, his feelings, emotions and desires.
Stimulate the brain with gentle handpan music
Sound healing has been used by cultures as diverse as the Chinese, ancient Egyptians, Native Americans, and even the U.S. military to restore balance and happiness, treat mental illness, and achieve peak performance. Sound healing is claimed to alleviate developmental disabilities, depression, and anxiety, and to help manage physical and mental pain. For healthy individuals, engaging in one's own tongue drum therapy can be a way to unwind from daily stress and increase communication, productivity, and well-being.
Our physical and emotional - perhaps even spiritual - state can be thought of as a certain mix of frequencies, from our heartbeat and blood pressure to the pace of our thoughts and movements. Due to a negative feedback loop , the human body and mind can sometimes remain in a self-reinforcing state of stress or imbalance. And that's not good. Many people don't even realize how much they are under constant stress.
How does tongue drum therapy work?
The human body and mind are extremely attuned to the environment, so a more helpful approach is to design the environment to make us feel the way we want to. The basic principle of tongue drum therapy is to introduce a certain frequency and rhythm to which we adjust our internal frequencies and thus help us overcome blockages, inner conflicts and illnesses. This can be a sound, vibrations introduced into the body through direct contact, or both. This happens, for example, when we strike the stell drum with our fingers or other parts of the hands.
Sound healing is not a single method, but a broad collection of practices.
- On the spiritual side, singing fork therapy, sound meditation, tongue drum therapy and tuning fork therapy typically involve recipients sitting or lying in a comfortable position while a practitioner plays instruments and sometimes leads the group in vocal sound healing exercises. Drum circles are another popular method.
- In terms of development, practitioners teach music and use other tools such as pictures.
- Finally, one of the more medically oriented procedures is vibroacoustic therapy, in which the recipient lies on a specially designed mat on which loudspeakers are attached that generate vibrations that penetrate the tissue.
In the West, the most well-known sound healing instrument is the crystal singing bowl. Other common instruments include the gong, tongue drums, bells, various crystal instruments such as the crystal pyramid, metal singing bowls, drums such as the African djembe, the Native American flute, tuning forks that can be placed directly on various parts of the body, rainsticks (shakers filled with pebbles), special beds and speakers that transmit vibrations directly, and much more.
Music therapy, and specifically tongue drum therapy, is a clinical and evidence-based application of music interventions to achieve individual goals within a therapeutic relationship by a licensed professional who has completed an accredited music therapy program. But let's not go that far, because you can also treat yourself at home with tongue drum therapy .
Music therapy interventions have been developed to:
- Coping with stress
- To promote well-being
- To support physical rehabilitation
- To relieve pain
- Improve memory
- To express feelings
- To improve communication
Music therapy as we know it began after World War I and World War II. Musicians traveled to hospitals, particularly in Germany, and played music for soldiers suffering from war-related emotional and physical trauma.
Voice as therapy
The most powerful instrument of all, however, is the human voice. Chants, prayers, affirmations, songs, humming, and vocalization (saying different syllables such as the well-known yogic ohm) are all simple and transformative techniques.
Sonodrum promotes the development of children
Tongue drum therapy can help children with communication, attention, motivation and behavioral issues. Music can improve mood by reducing stress and anxiety, which can counteract or prevent depression. Music has been proven to affect parts of the brain. Part of this tongue drum therapy is music's ability to influence emotions and social interactions.
Children also suffer from stress, which is usually caused by various fears. You can't imagine how relaxing the sounds of the Sonodrum instruments can be for children. They can play the steel drum themselves or listen to your music.
Research shows that music therapy is associated with a decrease in depression, improved mood, and reduced anxiety. Both descriptive and experimental studies have documented the effects of music on quality of life, environmental engagement, emotional expression, awareness and responsiveness, positive associations, and socialization.
Steel tongue drum awakens joy and memories
Even though the practice of music is not necessarily associated with research or therapy, we have all experienced its positive effects in our lives: on a social level through interacting with other musicians and learning to get along and create together; and on a physical level through improving coordination or simply the cathartic aspect (especially for our drummer friends!) - or even on a psychological level through creative expression, making music to process and release one's emotions, and the ability to work on one's own improvement.
And for the “non-musicians”, it is never too late to discover all these aspects. The tongue drum is undoubtedly one of the most suitable instruments for an easy musical introduction!
Playing the tongue drum is child's play
Beginners like to use mallets as they help reproduce the tones of the tongue drum better. It is anything but difficult to learn as a newbie. Even children can do it, but it is better to start with just your fingers or hand to get the feel for tones and volume. Although playing steel tongue drums with your hands takes some practice, this is the most common way to play them . This method is also quite common in tongue drum therapy .
Tongue drums are really easy to play as it doesn't require much effort or unusual skills to hit the tongues and produce different sounds. Even a minimal amount of pressure or force applied to the drums will produce great sounds. Practice is the simple key to becoming proficient with these instruments and if one wants to use them for tongue drum therapy .
While placing your palm in the middle, you play with your fingers on the tongue of the drum. This produces excellent sounds. On the other hand, to be honest, the clearest sounds are produced with the mallets. But you have to hit the spots more precisely to make certain notes sound.
Despite the fact that they have different shapes and sizes, the tongue drums produce comparable sounds. They are best suited for tongue drum therapy that you do yourself at home. When you play these drums, you don't need to worry about additional music because they are independent and can produce different sounds.
On the other hand, tongue drums are great for meeting up with friends and playing beats.
However, pay attention to the size. Most people like the sounds of the larger tongue drums and advise others to buy larger ones. The rule of thumb is: the bigger the drum, the better it sounds. On Sonodrum.net you can find reviews to find out how to find the best tongue drum for your sound preferences.
Tips
If you are new to the world of instruments, you should be careful and pay attention to certain points when caring for them. Instruments are delicate and should be treated well, so here are a few points to keep in mind when using steel tongue drums.
- Try not to move your elbows.
- Use the palm of your hand to generate power.
- Use your wrist for the movement, that's all it takes.
- Try not to wear rings or other jewelry while playing the instrument.
This instrument is so basic and easy to play that with very little practice you can really get some wonderful music out of it. Whether it is with the mallets or with your hands themselves, it is the magnificence of the sound that comes from the instrument that draws hearts and makes it so ideal for tongue drum therapy .
