Email the Author
You can use this page to email Helen Winter about Tongue Drum Songbook for Beginner.
About the Book
The steel tongue drum (aka tong drum, tank drum, gluck-o-phone, hapi drum, mandala or lotus drum) and the handpan (aka hank drum, UFO drum, zen drum) are percussion musical instruments designed to help you focus on your feelings, sensations, and body.
You don't need classical music training or knowledge of music theory to play them. The main purpose is relaxation, meditation, and traveling through your inner world.
No previous training or skills are necessary to enjoy these fascinating instruments. It is impossible to play them incorrectly. Anyone can play them: those who want to develop a good sense of rhythm and an ear for music, those who are seeking relaxation after a hard day at work, those who have always had an interest in learning how to play a musical instrument, and those who want to introduce something unusual into their lives and explore their inner selves.
This book is aimed at those who want to add popular melodies to their experimentation.
All songs in this book have been written without using the classic music score system, because it is for absolute beginners who cannot read sheet music.
We use circles with numbers because most modern tongue drums have numbers engraved or painted on their keys. We do not show the note duration -- we just group the circles closer to each other to show the rhythms. You can experiment with duration on your own. Because most tongue drums include and are tuned to involve the notes of the main octave, all songs from this book are possible to play in one octave. This book includes very simple, popular children's and folk songs, but even well-known children's songs played on the drum will create an unusual magical sound.Attention: Songs have been transposed for a DIATONIC range. Some melodies might be changed and simplified. If you have flat keys on your instrument, please use the classic music score for the piano.
About the Author
I'm an early child development therapist and an early development kids center owner. Additionally, I have authored a comprehensive program that utilizes music, activities, and games to promote early childhood development. I develop teaching materials for early solfeggio designed for various musical instruments, with a specific focus on children or beginner adults. Furthermore, I am keenly interested in exploring folk and ethnic music.