Playing Techniques
How to play the didgeridoo
How to produce sound
The first hump to overcome when playing Didg is mastering the basic "Drone".
Don't let this discourage you, once you find the buzz sound and feel, it will be easy to do
it again. To start make a tight seal on the mouthpiece with your lips inside.
Relax and buzz your lips, (blowing a raspberry). Some beginners find it easy to get the
Drone when they blow a gust of wind into the Didg as they start to play.
Once you get the drone, just experiment with different sounds. Your tongue,
cheeks, and voice will help you create different sounds. Emulating animal sounds is a
good way to explore different sounds. I also use mine for beat box rhythms, the same
style as the old rappers used their mouths to make drum sounds. Remember this is an
echo chamber, the sounds you produce will echo and resonate through your instrument.
How to breathe
Now that you can play different sounds you will find it difficult to play them for long periods of time. Circular Breathing is the next hump to overcome, and the way to play your instrument non-stop.
-First (while playing) fill your cheeks up with air.
-Next, squeeze the air from your cheeks, maintaining the sound.
-While squeezing out the air, breath in your nose.
-Last, you must now recover the sound while blowing out from your lungs.
a. Fill your cheeks with air.
b. Squeeze cheeks.
c. Breathe in your nose.
d. Blow out your mouth.
These four things will be combined into three actions. a then b+ c then d. With a little practice, this will become very easy.
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