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Have you ever taught someone else how to play the didj?
What tips do you have for people wanting to learn to play the didj?

On this page you can read the answers our visitors gave to this question as part of our yearly visitor surveys, where you can win great prizes.
(we post comments only if permission was given)

Over the years we have asked our visitors many different questions and any of the below topics contain hundreds of comments from people all over the world. Enjoy reading what other people have to say on those subjects:-). If you have any question you would like us to ask our visitors, please let us know.

GENERAL DIDGERIDOO ISSUES

DIDGERIDOO AUTHENTICITY

DIDJSHOP COMMENTS

TRADITIONAL DIDGERIDOO PLAYING

EFFECTS OF DIDGERIDOO PLAYING & LISTENING

ABORIGINAL ISSUES

Name and Country Have you ever taught someone else how to play the didj? What tips do you have for people wanting to learn to play the didj?
Anonymous 0 Do research
Anonymous 1 Gentle!! No need to blow hard it's timber instruments.
Anonymous 0 Practice. Using a balloon helps to learn circular breathing.
Shannon Kenyon from USA 0 Get one!
Robert Froton from USA 1 Keep practicing don't give up.
Gabriele Stoppa from Italy 4-7 While I study drums quite long-standing (eleven or twelve years) and also I started to teach drum rudiments and rhythms I'm a beginner with the Didgeridoo!! So in my study experience the best tips are: take your time insist on learning the basis and your efforts will be repaid don't have hurry and...ENJOY yourself!!
Anonymous 0 Keep your lips flexible & vibrate them loosely. Keep your back straight.
Mike Stanley from USA 20+ When you are learning to circular breath practice practice practice until you can't take it anymore! Then step away from the didge and take a day or two off. Come back to it and just play...don't try so hard or think about what you're doing. It will come to you naturally when you aren't trying. My theory is that our brains get in the way of such a natural instrument. Circular breathing seems such a foreign concept to most folks so our brains "glitch" out and overload when trying to process all the new information. Just relax and play! Certainly read up on the mechanics of playing to get a basic feel for technique but in the end this natural instrument is best played instinctively and naturally as intended!
Jon from USA 0 For a beginner try all of the didjes in the shop. You will have a key that works better for you. Keep trying different ones. One of them will eventually speak to you.
Terry from United Kingdom 0 I do not yet own a Didj so the only thing I can think of is what I will do if I win that is... play and enjoy making the sounds. That’s what I have done when learning the Clarinet and the Sax.
Jamie from USA 8-10 Get a decent instrument to start on. Shed inhibitions.
Connie from USA 0 I have never played but want to purchase one and learn.
Ray from Australia 20+ The main tips I would give are. 1/buy a good didgeridoo from a reputable seller and specify a didge in the key of "D"as I have found this a good key to learn with. Other teachers may quote a different key. 2/ start with your own drone and practice practice practice. do not get a mind set that you must learn to circular breath straight away as it will come with time. 3/ Don't get frustrated and most of all enjoy your journey with your Didgeridoo
Anonymous from USA 0 Practice circular breathing with a straw in a glass of water.
Jason Cook from USA 4-7 To just keep at it and make as strange of a rhythmic sound as they can because you learn the most from just messing around and experimenting with it.
Anonymous 2-3 Patience is the first thing I always tell people. A person can get depressed if they are unable to play as well as someone else but I always tell them to continue to play at their own pace; and to not simply give up.
Anonymous 0 Buy one and get some lesson!
Daniel from Sweden 2-3 Not try just do;)
Anonymous from USA 4-7 Learn to circular breathe in the shower with a cup of water. Fill your mouth and then squirt out a steady stream of water while breathing in. This is the fastest way to learn circular breathing.
Anonymous 4-7 To make a horse sound press their lips on the top of the mouthpiece and try to make it as low as possible until you feel a lot of vibrating.
Oliver from Canada 4-7 Take your time be relax and make one with the instrument
Anonymous from Australia 0 Practice practice practice
Joel Dressel from USA 0 One step at a time. Have fun and make noise.
Robert from Canada 0 It is not as easy as it looks. Takes a lot of practice
William Main from Australia 1 Just be patient and you will eventually be really good:)
Mark Sweeney from USA 0 Keep practicing
Steve Mccarthy from Australia 0 Seek out someone who plays with a style you particularly admire.
David Carmichael from USA 0 I bought one for my daughter at this site but would now like to learn myself
Anonymous from United Kingdom 0 Enjoy what you do.
Joshua from USA 1 Experiment to get feeling of good tone: posture is important for quick clear breathing sit on something 6 inches high instead of flat on the ground: it gets easier and more fun the more you play: toots require technique and a lot of strength although tapered didges may have lower and easier toots: isolate and exaggerate noises and be sure to listen to how it sounds not just how it feels
Luke Pena from USA 0 I don't actually play the instrument... I would love to learn how to play it and am in the market for at least a beginner instrument to get started. I feel kind of ashamed of that... but I have to start somewhere right? I figure that if I get one now I'll be decent by 2014 at least.
Colin from USA 2-3 Don’t try to get the sound to come out relax and let your mouth figure it out getting the sound to happen is a lot like getting a 'magic eye' picture to reveal itself start with your lips very relaxed and slowly tighten until the correct frequency reveals itself once you have it relax and it will stay using the corner of the mouth was always easiest for me. learning to circular breathe is easiest by blowing bubbles in a glass of water with a straw while breathing in and out consistently through the nose
Riccardo from Italy 1 I try to teach circular breathing
Anonymous 4-7 I show them how to do it help with the lip tension and circular breathing buy showing without the didge
Anonymous from USA 1 Be patient and practice circular breathing. You will get it:]
Larry from USA 0 Find an inexpensive man made one and then play around with it. Have fun with it. Experiment with it. Go online and listen/watch YouTube videos. Maybe even sign up for some online lessons. Then once you are hooked go to didgshop.com and buy the very best you can afford.
Ossie from Australia 20+ Practice every day
Anonymous from USA 0 I have just started to learn myself.
Steve Schofield from Australia 0 Start with a straw and a glass of water. Practice with a piece of pipe. Buy an authentic instrument if you are still keen.
David from Australia 0 Make sure you are committed to spending time each day to learn circular breathing. I'm still learning it 6 months down the track but I'm certainly better than I was at the beginning. Practice practice practice - getting the right tone but maintaining it takes a lot of time. Also when getting a Didj for yourself get some advice from an expert preferably a musician of that instrument because they have been where you are just starting out. Listen to them - their words are like honey.
Anonymous from USA 1 Just play and have fun! listen to as much as you can emulate and don't stress about it. enjoy your playing and you will improve.
Anonymous 0 Be interested in the instrument!
Marcelo Roque from Brazil 8-10 Ter vontade
Philippe from Switzerland 1 Relax Be systematic in learning circular breathing
Anonymous 0 Practice practice practice.
Anonymous 0 Keep playing to improve your self
Rick from USA 0 Persistence and practice
Linda from USA 0 Just do it!
Christopher from Australia 1 Take it slowly and enjoy the connection with this spiritual instrument. I play as a novice and am as yet unable to breathe circularly. I don't know if I ever will master the breathing technique though that doesn't matter to me. I enjoy playing the didj and the inner peace and calm it brings me.
Marc from Canada 0 Put all your energy into the lower abdomen
Cora from USA 0 Want to and then do it.
Andrew Sliwkowski from USA 0 As a Professional Tennis Coach and player since I was 12 tips for people wanting to learn to play tennis is that you need to make it fun go ahead and hit 10 000 shots and then will see if your ready to learn:-)
Carsten from United Kingdom 2-3 After explaining the circular breathing technique I usually recommend to practice to breathe smoothly so that one can't notice the breathing too much. Playing in a spot where the sound gets reflected back to oneself and explore freely and have fun.
Cynthia Chadwick from USA 0 Don't stop cuz it sounds awesome!!
Djeeh Gaulin from Canada 2-3 Feel your roots deep in the Earth! Blow it up from the bottom of your body! Let your whole skin and bones shake!
Anonymous 0 Find someone who knows how to play
Jan from Netherlands 2-3 Oefen eerst op een plasticbuis van 1 meter lang met een diameter van 40mm
Anonymous 2-3 Loose lips and practice
Yann from France 20+ To be curious learn a lot about it and most of all to be open minded with advices as with what your body tells you
Teresa from Canada 0 Not applicatble...except...if you love it...you will be good at it!!!
Ondrea from USA 0 Didgeridoo are good for the heart and soul as well as the mind.
Rune from Denmark 1 (1) Buy (or build) a decent instrument with a decent backpressure. If the first didj is too hard to play it will also be the last didj. (2) Use the internet! Websites like didjshop.com YouTube and many other sites offer tons of great information for beginners. (3) Listen to recordings of aboriginal style didj. (4) Take it easy and keep it fun!
Art Loucks from USA 0 Perseverance and breathing exercise.
Anonymous from USA 2-3 Learn to breath with a straw and a cup of water
David from Australia 20+ Simply just play have fun practice makes perfect! We all have our Owen different styles of playing no one the same the yidaki is very therapeutic 4 our healing an help many different conditions 8-)
Anonymous 1 Be patient and persistent. Play often Practice circular breathing. Listen to recordings and try to imitate sounds and rhythms
Sandy from USA 0 Practice! Get quality
Kenny Diveley from USA 0 Listen
Ouida from USA 0 Find an expert
Penny from USA 0 Have good breath control and stamina
Anonymous from USA 0 Give it a try you might be good at it.
Anonymous from USA 1 Relax and let your lips vibrate
Anonymous 11-20 Its not as easy as it looks.
Anonymous 0 Get one.
Anonymous 0 Have fun with it
Anna from USA 0 Practice makes perfect.
Amber Freeman from USA 0 I do not know how to play this instrument but I am a very musical person and collect instruments of all varieties and would be fascinated to own didj
Anonymous from USA 1 Patience
James from USA 0 Patience
Leisa Wooten from USA 0 Stick with it! It gets easier!
Darryl from Canada 2-3 RELAX take it slowly. Practice one thing at a time. this will not come over night it will come in many nights.
Clark from USA 2-3 It is fun and completely unique to each person who picks it up. Its not a complicated instrument to learn and it stops at your imagination witch is very cool.
Mike from Canada 0 Learn the basics from DVD and CD courses and listen to all the didge music you can lay your hands on. And just play. Don't jump ahead too fast. Focus on the traditional playing first before moving to contemporary if that is your goal. Find like minded people to jam with and learn from.
Anonymous 4-7 Have patience and keep practicing.
Kevin from USA 0 Make sure the mouth peace fits firmly around your mouth and under your moustache. I had that problem at first when my beard and moustache was getting in the way and I could not make it sound right. And of course breath!!!!
Anonymous from France 11-20 Try try again you succeed at last
Jacob from USA 2-3 Circular breathing takes time. It's easier than you expect as long as you practice faithfully even if you're not at home. Secondly the breathing itself is a different story from the drone. Starting you will begin to lose your drone and give a possible toot or trumpet-like noise. Just let it roll don't force a push.
Anonymous 0 Find one first
Anonymous 0 Just try it out but blow hard!
Stephen from USA 0 Stand on your head eight hours a day for twenty years and the blow like there's no tomorrow.
Kristi Bonus from USA 2-3 It's important to strengthen your embouchure before playing any instrument Especially something as large as the didgeridoo
Anonymous 2-3 Take your time and practise don't give up.
Walter Parlow from USA 0 Try to learn circular breathing and relax when you are playing. Don't force the air
Anonymous 1 Try Try again and if you are playing the didgeridoo you know why the instrument choose you to play.
Anonymous 0 Online lessons at YouTube! circular breathing is possible to learn even on a piece of PVC
Anonymous 0 Patience
Duarte Gomes from Portugal 0 You need to practice the air filled mouth and the inhalation at the same time technique this is a key to learn the circular breathing... when you start to play it you will feel it in your body...
Colin from USA 0 Practice practice practice!
Brandon from USA 0 Pick it up and try it. Not just once.
Aidan from Germany 0 Blow a lot less air than you'd think. It is certainly not a trumpet or trombone. And then practice it all the time except when eating.

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GENERAL DIDGERIDOO ISSUES

DIDGERIDOO AUTHENTICITY

DIDJSHOP COMMENTS

TRADITIONAL DIDGERIDOO PLAYING

EFFECTS OF DIDGERIDOO PLAYING & LISTENING

ABORIGINAL ISSUES

 

Playing with other Didjes in Harmony

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