Start Playing Tongue Drum – Step-by-Step Lessons for Beginners

🥍 Exercise 1 – How to Play with Your Hands

All of our Tongue Drums come with mallets — and that’s great for beginners. With mallets, you can get a clean sound right away, no effort needed. But if you want to learn how to play with your hands, it takes a bit more practice.

Don’t worry — we’ve got you covered.

Let’s start with a simple rule:

• 👉 The first three notes of the scale are played with your thumbs,
• 👉 The rest of the notes are played with your index fingers.

Try to mimic the softness and quick motion of the mallet. Hit the note gently and quickly with the tip of your finger, like you’re tapping something hot. Imagine touching a burning stove for just a split second. That will help you find the right motion.

🕊️ Exercise 2 – Playing Notes Up and Down

Now here’s your exercise: practice playing the notes up the scale, and then back down. Gradually increase your speed each time.

🌍 Exercise 3 – The "Mirror" Exercise

Split the drum visually into two sides. Now play three notes on each side:

• Side 1: 3, 5, 7
• Side 2: 2, 4, 6

Repeat this pattern to get your first improvised melody!

🔮 Exercise 4 – Mirror Pattern Variations

Now let’s build on the Mirror concept. Try these sequences:

Side 1:
3, 5, 9  
3, 5, 8  
3, 5, 7  
3, 5, 6  

Side 2:
2, 4, 8  
2, 4, 7  
2, 4, 6  
2, 4, 5

🪐 Exercise 5 – "Figure Eight" Ding and Slap

A rhythmic 8-beat loop to improve coordination and groove.

• Beat 1: Ding (center note)
• Beat 5: Slap (soft hit on the edge)

🎧 Exercise 6 – “Figure Eight” with Extra Notes

Let’s fill in all 8 beats:

D 4 5 4 S 4 5 4

🔹 Exercise 7 – "Figure Eight" with New Endings

Try these two variations to explore new melodic endings:

D 4 5 4 S 4 5 6  
D 4 5 4 S 4 5 2

🌟 Exercise 8 – Compose a Short Melody

Now that you’ve learned the basic mechanics, let’s create your first mini-composition based on the "Figure Eight" rhythm.

D • • • S • 5 4  
D • D • S • • •  
D • • • S • 3 1  
D • D • S • • •

D • • • S • 9 8  
D • D • S • • •  
D • • • S • 7 6  
D • D • S • • •

💭 Exercise 9 – Add More Melody

Let’s take that short composition and add even more melodic variations. Now you’re composing!

🎉 Final Thoughts

This wraps up our full beginner-friendly tutorial series for Tongue Drum. You’ve learned technique, rhythm, composition basics — everything you need to start exploring your own melodies.

Lesson by Alex Streletz

📺 Watch the full video lesson here →