General Guidelines for playing Singing Bowls……..

Singing Bowls must be held flat on the hand or played on the cushion in order for the bowl to sing. It is the vibration of the bowl as it moves that makes the sound.

Having a correct size beater or wand is also vital to how the singing bowl sings. For example if you have a big bowl and only a small wand, you will end up bringing out the high note on a hand beaten bowl. You need a large beater to play a large bowl, so that it holds the stick to the bowl for a longer period of time without vibrating the stick away from the bowl. It also enables you to bring out all of the harmonics of the hand beaten bowl, the high and low note and the sounds in-between.

With all Singing Bowls applying more pressure brings a louder sound out of the bowl.

It is often easier to get a singing bowl started by giving it a tap first then turning the stick around the edge, like stirring a pot on the outside. As you continue turning around the bowl, the sound will get louder as the vibration builds up

How you play a Singing Bowl depends on the kind you have:

If you have smooth edged Machine Made Bowl, the best way to play is by letting the stick follow the rim and angle of the bowl.

If you have an Aluminium Bowl it is often easiest to tap the bowl first and then carry the note through when you play around the edge.

Quartz Crystal Singing Bowls are played along the outer rim with a silica wand. You can either tap the bowl to get it started or you can simply run the wand along the edge with pressure and the bowl with begin to hum.

Hand Beaten Bowls take a little bit longer to master due to the fact that each one has been hammered out by hand and is a unique piece.

It is best to play a hand beaten bowl with the stick flat around the bowl instead of on the rim as you would do with the others. This is because the top of the bowl has the high note and bottom has the low note.

Play the bowl around with the beater until the sound gets nice and strong. You can then ‘flick’ the beater away from the bowl with an upward motion. This should then ‘catch’ all the Sounds the bowl is able to produce and the bowl should continue ringing or pulsing with a beat.

It is this ‘beat’ that then works on the brain waves and helps with sleep and meditation.

This requires practice to master and time taken to get to know how best you bowl likes to be played.

All our bowls come with a swede covering on one end of the wooden beater – sorry vegans! We tried to make veggie sticks covering it with felt, however it is impossible to get a sound out when played around the rim. Felt is best when used as a beater like how you would beat a gong. You can tap the bowl and get very good sounds from it this way, or you can use a wooden beater.

Most sellers often sell a bowl with just a wooden stick and this can be a very useful tool for some of the more advanced techniques of using the Singing Bowl, however if you are using the bowl for therapeutic and relaxation reasons, having a swede covering allows you to ‘pull’ the sound from the bowl without hearing the metallic sound of the wood scraping against the bowl.

All Himalayan singing bowls prefer warmth in the atmosphere compared to cold as it allows the bowl to expand and contract easier.

With all the Singing Bowls being calm and relaxed will help you get the best sound from you bowl.