Thanks John, great tips. I improved my drone quite a bit within a couple of hours and started getting more control. Just as you mentioned in the vid i have accidentally tooted a few times and now actually practice those too. Cheers John 👍
I watched a lot of tutorials but your way of explaining really resonates most, especially the way you take time to go in depth and use personal experiences of own areas of improvement. What is also reassuring is the approximate time frames you give for learning certain things.
I haven't followed along except for the circulair breathing and using the examples in this video somewhat, but watched a few of his videos and I agree with what you've said. It's really nice and helpful that he gives examples of what not to do as well.
I have an interesting situation... I've just started learning the didgeridoo. I have my drone, now working on circular breathing. My girlfriend likes messing around with it too -- I've taught her the drone, I don't know if she'll want to keep learning as I do. Here's the thing... It's the same instrument, but her drone is a fair bit deeper than mine. The only possible reason I can come up with is, because her lips and cheeks are fuller than mine, she's able to have a more relaxed lip buzz, and maybe this translates to a lower drone. Whatever it is, she loves taunting me with it 😂 Thank you for your videos.
Glad your girlfriend is doing well on it. Your drone will get better as you practise and you can't judge how good you will be in future from an early good start. The secret of success is persistence along with a passion for it. Glad you like the videos🤗
John, thank you so much for your explanations. I love too se how much you enjoy WhatsApp you do. I hace bien following you for at least one or two years! You are now so familiar to me! Thank you
I accidentally found out the bottom lip thing on my second day and got a crisper sound on my drone. I can’t do much right now obviously but this video convinced me that I did something right! There is so much to learn with this instrument (I only know how to sing and play some guitar)😅 I am really grateful for people like you, putting these videos out for everybody! It’s amazing! ❤ You are a good teacher.
Just got a second-hand didgeridoo yesterday and tried playing it for the first time, immediately when I got home. I think I got the drone down pretty well instantly. It only sounds airy when I lose control. Does that mean I'm a natural? Even got some tonal and rhythmic changes out of it too! I'm just not in control as much as I'd like yet and feel like I have a long way to go if I want to use it as an instrument. I'll be focusing on the circulair breathing first. Got your tutorials saved ^^. Edit: wanted to try a didgeridoo for years now and got really lucky when I wasn't even looking. One came by and some very well off guy sold it 2nd hand for only €25! It's a proper eucalyptus 145cm didgeridoo and in my very amateurish opinion it sounds great.
Pleased to hear you got the drone quickly🤗. You may well have some natural ability but it also comes down to persistence, enjoyable practise and how much passion you have or develop for the instrument. It sounds like you're off to a good start and picked up a nice stick too
@@johnthorpedidge I think I got incredibly lucky with the stick I got. I imagine that's whats making it easier. It needs very little pressure to get a decent sound out of it. My tuner tells me it resonates on 63hz (B1) and I'm guessing that's quite low for a relative short stick. I used to beatbox and do some throat singing a little bit whenever I was alone and think that might help me with breath control now. Getting all kinds of sounds, tones, and even double vibrations out of it is possible for me, but I have little control and it's all over the place. I'll probably need as much practise as anyone else to get that in check. I find circulair breathing really difficult. Especially having enough pressure in the short amount of time I need to get in some air. Having a little bit of a leg up is very beneficial for me though, since I've always had big trouble with motivation, giving up and feeling insecure. Being able to get at least some nice sounds out of the thing is helping me to pick it up a few times a day. I really hope I'll be able to stick with it, since I believe this is exactly the right kind of instrument for me. I not only deeply love the sounds, but also like the the movements that are needed for playing it. P.s. Except for circular breathing I haven't tried following along with any lessons yet, but I've noticed that I have a much easier time playing the didgeridoo wrong. When I put my mouth sideways I'm able to get lots of different sounds out of it without breaking a sweat, but when I put my mouth in the center it suddenly becomes 5 times more difficult to do anything. Still have to buy bees wax to make a mouth piece so the opening is a bit large and rough now.
It's good to be able to play it the best way that works for you, eg side on lips. If you love the sound then the desire to continue will hook you and enjoy learning it and enjoy every bit as you discover it's sound like an adventure. Some get frustrated at not being able to do stuff quick enough which is a shame because so much enjoyment is to be had by just getting the sound and simple increments over time and, like a journey that you wouldn't want to rush, each twist and turn is exciting , not knowing exactly where you'll end up even though you may have goals! 🤗
@@johnthorpedidge wow very well said. And now that I'm older I'm able to look at it that way. It's easy to get lost in goals, but it's truly the journey itself that should be appreciated. You inspire me to keep at it. Thank you.
Thank you for this video. I just got my didgeridoo today and have been practicing it all day. I have a question. I can get a drone that sounds good ,but I have to buzz my lips like a horse to get it. The only problem is when I go to circular breath and force the air out of my mouth, to breath in, the sound is higher pitched than the drone is when I'm breathing out. So it doesn't flow very well. I tried raising the pitch of the drone when I'm breathing out, but when I do it sounds like a neverending fart. What can I do to improve it? Is there anyway to lower the pitch of the mouth drone when I'm breathing in? So basically I want the drone of when I'm breathing out to sound like the drone of when I'm breathing in.
Sounds like the air pressure/ lip tightness is too tight on your in breath. Try and focus your attention on in breath through nose but particularly on what you're doing, IE, how forceful you squeezing cheeks in or pushing jaw up or tongue depending on how you circular breathe. That way you can learn how to drop the air pressure inside your mouth as you breathe in. Another practise that may help is to practise different lengths in breaths, eg, short sharp in breath, medium and long in breath. On the long sniff in you're slowing it down which may help you to be aware of and reduce pressure so that it begins to match the out breath. Hope that helps🤗
@@johnthorpedidge thank you I did what you said and it works. I relaxed my lips when breathing in and it matches the low pitch drone when breathing out. It gives me something to practice on.
Thanks John, great tips. I improved my drone quite a bit within a couple of hours and started getting more control. Just as you mentioned in the vid i have accidentally tooted a few times and now actually practice those too. Cheers John 👍
I watched a lot of tutorials but your way of explaining really resonates most, especially the way you take time to go in depth and use personal experiences of own areas of improvement. What is also reassuring is the approximate time frames you give for learning certain things.
Thanks for your feedback🤗
I haven't followed along except for the circulair breathing and using the examples in this video somewhat, but watched a few of his videos and I agree with what you've said. It's really nice and helpful that he gives examples of what not to do as well.
I have an interesting situation... I've just started learning the didgeridoo. I have my drone, now working on circular breathing. My girlfriend likes messing around with it too -- I've taught her the drone, I don't know if she'll want to keep learning as I do. Here's the thing... It's the same instrument, but her drone is a fair bit deeper than mine. The only possible reason I can come up with is, because her lips and cheeks are fuller than mine, she's able to have a more relaxed lip buzz, and maybe this translates to a lower drone. Whatever it is, she loves taunting me with it 😂
Thank you for your videos.
Glad your girlfriend is doing well on it. Your drone will get better as you practise and you can't judge how good you will be in future from an early good start. The secret of success is persistence along with a passion for it. Glad you like the videos🤗
John, thank you so much for your explanations. I love too se how much you enjoy WhatsApp you do. I hace bien following you for at least one or two years! You are now so familiar to me! Thank you
Hi Alberto, thankyou for your nice feedback. It makes me feel doing my videos is worthwhile
I accidentally found out the bottom lip thing on my second day and got a crisper sound on my drone. I can’t do much right now obviously but this video convinced me that I did something right! There is so much to learn with this instrument (I only know how to sing and play some guitar)😅 I am really grateful for people like you, putting these videos out for everybody! It’s amazing! ❤ You are a good teacher.
Great, thanks for your comment🤗
Just got a second-hand didgeridoo yesterday and tried playing it for the first time, immediately when I got home. I think I got the drone down pretty well instantly. It only sounds airy when I lose control. Does that mean I'm a natural? Even got some tonal and rhythmic changes out of it too! I'm just not in control as much as I'd like yet and feel like I have a long way to go if I want to use it as an instrument. I'll be focusing on the circulair breathing first. Got your tutorials saved ^^.
Edit: wanted to try a didgeridoo for years now and got really lucky when I wasn't even looking. One came by and some very well off guy sold it 2nd hand for only €25! It's a proper eucalyptus 145cm didgeridoo and in my very amateurish opinion it sounds great.
Pleased to hear you got the drone quickly🤗. You may well have some natural ability but it also comes down to persistence, enjoyable practise and how much passion you have or develop for the instrument. It sounds like you're off to a good start and picked up a nice stick too
@@johnthorpedidge I think I got incredibly lucky with the stick I got. I imagine that's whats making it easier. It needs very little pressure to get a decent sound out of it. My tuner tells me it resonates on 63hz (B1) and I'm guessing that's quite low for a relative short stick.
I used to beatbox and do some throat singing a little bit whenever I was alone and think that might help me with breath control now. Getting all kinds of sounds, tones, and even double vibrations out of it is possible for me, but I have little control and it's all over the place. I'll probably need as much practise as anyone else to get that in check. I find circulair breathing really difficult. Especially having enough pressure in the short amount of time I need to get in some air.
Having a little bit of a leg up is very beneficial for me though, since I've always had big trouble with motivation, giving up and feeling insecure. Being able to get at least some nice sounds out of the thing is helping me to pick it up a few times a day. I really hope I'll be able to stick with it, since I believe this is exactly the right kind of instrument for me. I not only deeply love the sounds, but also like the the movements that are needed for playing it.
P.s. Except for circular breathing I haven't tried following along with any lessons yet, but I've noticed that I have a much easier time playing the didgeridoo wrong. When I put my mouth sideways I'm able to get lots of different sounds out of it without breaking a sweat, but when I put my mouth in the center it suddenly becomes 5 times more difficult to do anything. Still have to buy bees wax to make a mouth piece so the opening is a bit large and rough now.
It's good to be able to play it the best way that works for you, eg side on lips. If you love the sound then the desire to continue will hook you and enjoy learning it and enjoy every bit as you discover it's sound like an adventure. Some get frustrated at not being able to do stuff quick enough which is a shame because so much enjoyment is to be had by just getting the sound and simple increments over time and, like a journey that you wouldn't want to rush, each twist and turn is exciting , not knowing exactly where you'll end up even though you may have goals! 🤗
@@johnthorpedidge wow very well said. And now that I'm older I'm able to look at it that way. It's easy to get lost in goals, but it's truly the journey itself that should be appreciated. You inspire me to keep at it. Thank you.
Thank you for this video. I just got my didgeridoo today and have been practicing it all day. I have a question. I can get a drone that sounds good ,but I have to buzz my lips like a horse to get it. The only problem is when I go to circular breath and force the air out of my mouth, to breath in, the sound is higher pitched than the drone is when I'm breathing out. So it doesn't flow very well. I tried raising the pitch of the drone when I'm breathing out, but when I do it sounds like a neverending fart. What can I do to improve it? Is there anyway to lower the pitch of the mouth drone when I'm breathing in? So basically I want the drone of when I'm breathing out to sound like the drone of when I'm breathing in.
Sounds like the air pressure/ lip tightness is too tight on your in breath. Try and focus your attention on in breath through nose but particularly on what you're doing, IE, how forceful you squeezing cheeks in or pushing jaw up or tongue depending on how you circular breathe. That way you can learn how to drop the air pressure inside your mouth as you breathe in. Another practise that may help is to practise different lengths in breaths, eg, short sharp in breath, medium and long in breath. On the long sniff in you're slowing it down which may help you to be aware of and reduce pressure so that it begins to match the out breath. Hope that helps🤗
@@johnthorpedidge thank you.
@@johnthorpedidge thank you I did what you said and it works. I relaxed my lips when breathing in and it matches the low pitch drone when breathing out. It gives me something to practice on.
Thats great, glad to hear that helps@@cyruss3813