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 the 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.
Contents
Introduction
Rub-a-Dub-Dub
The Wheels on the Bus
Miss Mary Mack
Happy Birthday
Doggie Doggie
Mary Had a Little Lamb
Oh We Can Play on the Big Bass Drum
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
A Hunting We Will Go
Kookaburra
Ode to Joy
Do You Know the Muffin Man?
Old Bald Eagle
La Cucaracha
A Sailor Went to Sea
Are You Sleeping
The Mulberry Bush
Old McDonald
Bim Bum Biddy
London Bridge
Jingle Bells
Tinga Layo
Itsy Bitsy Spider
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Brahms Lullaby
Ninety-Nine Bottles
Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
Oh Susannah
Row Row Your Boat
Acka Backa
Hot Cross Buns
Bell Horses