Edging towards the harpists

The tongue drum is almost always met with the assumption: “That’s a percussion instrument, isn’t it?”

Which is fair enough, given its origins.

The standard playing style, the meditative style — both carry that unmistakably percussive air.

And yet, I don’t really think of myself as a percussionist.

When the work calls for it, I’ll play that way, of course.

But what I actually want to do with the chromatic tongue drum is to play melody supported by harmony.

Keeping a rhythm going is rarely on my mind — not entirely absent, but rarely.

So when someone says, “You’re a percussionist, aren’t you!” I can’t help but feel a little unsettled.

And when I’m placed in the percussion section on stage, the sense of this isn’t quite right is so strong that I find myself quietly edging towards the harpists.

All the while thinking: I’m not a percussionist, for goodness’ sake — and yet, more often than not, no one quite gets it.

Surely there’s room for a chromatic tongue drum player like me?

My playing is——

lyrical rather than percussive

resonant rather than driving

intimate rather than virtuosic

……and that’s rather the point.

The moment when I realise my ears are still with the harpists...