Learning to guide singing bowl practice · Article 05
Teaching singing bowls: is it the hand, or where the bowl is?
In that singing bowl class, a learner sat in front of a set of white bowls.
I told the learner to move to the small bowl near the hand and turn the body a little, so there was no need to reach. The learner moved the mallet to the bowl next to it.
Then I asked: “Does it feel much easier like this?”
“Just turn your body a little.”
Watch the learner on the left move to the small bowl. At the end, I ask how it feels.
Read the words in the clip
- Gradually move to the smaller bowls.
- Your hand is close. No need to reach.
- That makes it easier.
- Change bowls now. That’s it.
- Move to the small bowl. Turn your body a little.
- Does it feel much easier like this?
The word I used in Vietnamese is very plain, almost country talk. No course manual would put it that way. But I was really asking. Only the person sitting there knows if the hand feels easy or hard.
In an earlier article, a learner could not get a sound with the left hand yet. I said: “You need to practise.” That problem was in the hand. However well I explain, the learner still has to practise.
This time the problem was where the bowl was. If a bowl is a bit far, you have to reach. Practise as much as you like, the bowl is still far. Change to the bowl near your hand, turn your body a little, and it already feels different.
When a learner looks clumsy, it is easy to think right away: this person needs more practice. Sometimes that is true. Sometimes the bowl is just in an awkward place.
In the same class, I told the group: once you decide to train other people, it is your job to find ways to make things easier. Then I ended with:
“There. Find a way.”
To find, you have to look. Where is the bowl, compared with the hand? Which way is the person facing? Do they have to reach? Try one small cue, then ask the person holding the mallet.
The teacher can only guess. The learner knows.
So ask.
Sources and further reading
From an in-person singing bowl class. The audio is Vietnamese, with Vietnamese and English subtitles. Filler words are removed from the subtitles and quotes.
Giang Hoang
IPHM Certified Sound Healing Practitioner (UK)
Yoga teacher, E-RYT 500 & YACEP (Yoga Alliance)
Giang Metta Academy: IPHM Accredited Training Provider (No. IPHMNC22210) · RYS 200 & RYS 500 (YA ID 442630)
Based in Da Lat, Vietnam. Teaching online worldwide.