Steel Tongue Drum for Beginners

The steel tongue drum is a musical instrument that appeared in the early 2000s and belongs to the family of idiophone instruments. In simple words, it’s a percussion instrument whose sounds come directly from the material it’s made of, with no need for a sound box. Because of the unusual sounds it is capable of producing, this instrument has rapidly gained in popularity with a wide range of music and relaxation enthusiasts. The steel tongue drum also has the distinctive feature of not being able to play wrong notes, which makes it an ideal musical instrument for learning a new instrument without any particular musical background.

The best steel tongue drums for beginners

This page features our selection of the best steel tongue drums for beginners! We’ve selected all the tongue drums in our shop that we recommend for beginners. These more affordable designs are also easier to get to grips with. With one of these tongue drums, you’ll soon be able to play beautiful melodies without ever hitting a wrong note!

How do you choose a steel tongue drum when you’re just starting out?

Buying your very first tongue drum is always a significant event in your life. It represents not only a significant investment in terms of money, but also in terms of personal investment, since acquiring this type of musical instrument as a beginner will require you to invest time and energy in learning how to play your first melodies correctly.

Get ready to feel an incredible feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment once you’re able to play your first melodies with your steel tongue drum. But to get there, you’ll need to choose the tongue drum that suits you best and on which you can quickly get to grips with.

Selection criteria for a beginner steel tongue drum

Choosing your tongue drum when you’re just starting out is no mean feat, but there are nevertheless methods and criteria you can take into account to help you choose and decide which design to go for.

Here is a list of the most important factors to consider when choosing your steel tongue drum:

• The number of notes on the instrument
• The size and diameter of the tongue drum
• The scale and tonality of the instrument (listen to audio extracts before making your choice)
• Manufacturing materials
• Accessories included with the steel tongue drum
• The price

How do you learn to play the steel tongue drum when you’re just a beginner ?

If you’re a beginner and want to learn how to play the steel tongue drum properly, there are several options open to you:

Take a look at YouTube to get you started, you’ll find lots of tutorials and videos for learning the basics of the instrument and playing your first pieces of music. The main advantage of starting to learn on YouTube is that the videos are all free and easily accessible with just a few clicks. So you can quickly get to grips with your tongue drum without spending a single penny out of your pocket.

After that, you can consider various courses and other paid training courses to receive advanced advice from a musician who is an expert on the steel tongue drum. These courses are not free, but they will enable you to explore in much greater depth all the playing possibilities open to you with a tongue drum.

To learn to play the tongue drum, start with YouTube tutorials to learn the basics of the instrument, and when you reach your limits with these free resources, move on to paid online courses.

How long does it take to learn to play this instrument?

The learning time varies from person to person, as we are all different, but generally speaking it will only take you a few hours to become comfortable with the instrument and be able to play your first melodies with the right rhythm.

The steel tongue drum is unique in that it doesn’t produce any wrong notes, making it easy to learn and very accessible for beginners. All you need is a few hours’ practice with your tongue drum to start playing it properly and impress your friends with your first tunes! On the other hand, to reach an advanced level and become a true tongue drum expert, you’ll need to play and practise for several years.