9-Note Tongue Drum

On a 9-note tongue drum, the center tongue is generally the lowest-pitched because it is also the longest. With pentatonic tuning, the nine tongues produce just 5 distinct notes across several octaves, compared with 7 in a diatonic scale. Most steel tongue drums have 7 to 10 tongues, making the 9-note drum one of the most common formats.

You’ll find beginner pieces classified as 9-note tunes, including “Jingle Bells,” a duet version of “Frère Jacques,” “Deck the Hall,” “Always With Me” from Spirited Away, the “Minuet,” and “Last Christmas.” This classification reflects the range each piece requires. Before you start, check that the melody fits within your instrument’s nine tongues and its tuning. A tune that wasn’t written in a pentatonic scale can, in most cases, be adapted to one without losing its character, provided your tongue drum has pentatonic tuning.

With nine tongues instead of eight, you can also play easy tunes written for 8-note tongue drums, provided your instrument has the right tuning.

Simply strike either of the two tongues that produce the same note to choose which octave you hear. On these models, each of the eight notes around the edge has two tongues tuned an octave apart: one produces the lower note, and the other produces the same note an octave higher.

That gives you seventeen tongues for nine notes, so you can play the same melody in a lower or higher register.

“Frère Jacques” works well because it is a traditional French canon that fits within a single octave. Its duet version is listed among the beginner pieces for 9-note drums and requires exactly nine notes, matching your instrument’s range if its tuning allows. However, the sheet music does not specify whether the parts should be played by one person or two.

If you want to accompany a tune, there are three main chords to know. In C major, the tonic chord consists of C, E, and G. It is built on the first note of the scale, called the tonic. In the same scale, the subdominant chord, built on the fourth note, consists of F, A, and C, while the dominant chord, built on the fifth note, consists of G, B, and D. Take a 9-note model with tongues doubled an octave apart: the subdominant is on the left and the dominant is on the right, but this layout applies only to that particular model.

The tonic is already easy to hear in a familiar tune, so there’s no need to overuse it. The other chords do more to mark the sections of the piece. Striking several tongues at once to form a chord is a technique to learn after the basics. Once your hands know where to find the three notes of the tonic chord, you’ll need to look at the sheet music less and less.

In most cases, the center tongue is the largest, and its long, deep resonance anchors the melody your hands play on the surrounding tongues. To hear how the notes interact, strike the lowest note and then the highest: the high note will stand out above the low one. When one tongue vibrates, it sets others in motion. This is called sympathetic resonance.

The center tongue does not produce the tonic—the first note of the scale—on every model. On one of these 9-note models with tongues doubled an octave apart, the bell-shaped center tongue instead adds color to your playing, which proves useful across different pieces. For better resonance, rest the instrument on your thighs rather than flat on a table. You’ll feel the low notes vibrate, helping you keep the beat.

You can find nine-tongue drums measuring approximately 10.25 in (26 cm), 12 in (30 cm), 16 in (40 cm), and 16.54 in (42 cm) in diameter. The 16 in (40 cm) models sometimes feature a floral engraving.

Part of our selection comes in 14 in (35 cm) with 9 notes, 16 in (40 cm) with 10 tongues, or 18 in (45 cm) with 11.