8-Note Tongue Drum

The most common eight-tongue tongue drum layout provides a full octave of a major scale: its seven notes plus the tonic an octave higher. On an instrument tuned to C major, for example, you’ll have C through B, followed by a higher C. On a 15.24 cm model tuned this way, the range runs from C4 to C5 in French octave numbering, corresponding to C5 through C6 in English notation. Another layout uses a pentatonic scale, spreading its five notes across eight tongues to create octave doublings. In C pentatonic, you get C, D, E, G, and A, followed by C, D, and E an octave higher. The tonic is not necessarily the lowest tongue: some C pentatonic tongue drums start on G and range from G2 to C4 in French octave numbering.

A tongue drum tuned to diatonic D major has all seven notes of that scale, starting on D: D, E, F-sharp, G, A, B, C-sharp, and D. Those sharps come from the key, not the number of tongues.

In numbered notation for an 8-note diatonic tongue drum, the tongues are labelled 1 through 7, followed by 1 in the next octave. The 1 always marks the tonic. Every instrument in this collection has eight tongues. If you’d like to choose your tuning, one model is available in both C major pentatonic and D major diatonic versions.

No, not always. Depending on their scales and keys, two 8-note tongue drums may have different notes and octave ranges. Check that every number in the sheet music corresponds to a note on your instrument. For example, a piece written for a diatonic tongue drum in C may call for F and B, which are absent from a C pentatonic model.

However, numbered notation follows scale degrees rather than fixed pitches. You can play a numbered piece on an instrument in another key with the same scale; it will simply sound higher in D than in C because the score’s 1 still corresponds to tongue 1.

You can play simple chords on eight tongues, beginning with occasional pairs of notes struck together, such as 1 and 5. You can then tackle a melody built around three three-note chords played one note at a time.

Compared with a 6-note model, an 8-note tongue drum offers a more complete scale and more chord possibilities while remaining compact and suited to simple tunes. More varied chords and fuller arrangements call for more tongues, such as those on a 13-note tongue drum or a 15-note model.

Start by playing the scale ascending and descending, moving from the largest tongue to the smallest in a criss-cross pattern from left to right. Then practise short patterns such as 1-2-3-2 and 1-3-5-3, followed by 1-2-3-4 ascending and 4-3-2-1 descending.

For a 15-minute practice session, spend 5 minutes slowly playing the scale with mallets, 5 minutes playing 1-3-5-3 with your fingers, and 5 minutes on a simple song. Short daily sessions of 10 to 20 minutes will help you make more progress than longer, less frequent sessions.

The sound is the first difference: a player describes an eight-tongue wooden tongue drum with a padauk soundboard as having a warm tone somewhere between a marimba and a steel drum. This instrument is tuned to F pentatonic, with F, G, A, C, D, F, G, and A.

Some wooden models have tongues arranged in two rows. The left hand starts on the lowest tongue at the bottom left. The next tongue is in the upper row on the right, and you continue alternating left and right up to the highest tongue.

An 8-note tongue drum is primarily for beginners who want to practise rhythm, alternate between their right and left hands, and make their striking technique second nature.