How to Play Crystal Singing Bowls

One of the many wonderful things about crystal singing bowls is that pretty much anyone can play them. Yes, as well as going to sound baths, you can have a bowl or set at home that you play to calm and centre yourself whenever you like. Many holistic practitioners also build up to playing for clients to complement their other offerings like yoga or Reiki. 

When getting started with crystal singing bowls, the big question is how to make them sing with their beautiful angelic sounds. Let me walk you through the main techniques and top tips for finding your flow with playing singing bowls. 

Crystal singing bowl playing techniques

There are 3 main techniques you can use to play singing bowls. I’ve recorded videos of me demonstrating each technique. For the best sound, use headphones!

Chiming

This is a great place to start. It’s one of the easier techniques to pick up but don’t worry if it takes you a few tries to find your sweet spot. We’re creating a reverberating chime with the mallet and singing bowl. Soften your wrist and chime lightly on the bowl. The best places to do this are around two-thirds up the bowl and on the rim of the bowl. 

Playing around the rim

This one is all about finding the right angle, speed and pressure. It comes with practice! Start by holding the mallet with about as much grip as you would a pen and tilting it to a slight angle. Add pressure to the rim as you move your hand in a circle pressing against the bowl. You should hear the sound start to build. At a point, you’ll have built the sound up enough to release and let it reverberate. You’ll learn to find the optimum point to stop playing and let your bowl sing!

Circle friction

This is my personal favourite! Don’t be put off if it takes longer to master. When you’ve got the angle and rhythm right, you’ll see why I love it so much. Move your mallet horizontally around the side of the bowl. You need to hold the speed and pressure and not let the mallet drop as you rotate your wrist. If you find this tricky, try to match the speed of the movement to your breath and direct your focus to the centre of the bowl.

Once you’ve become a natural at these techniques, you can start practising playing two bowls at once. Chiming one bowl while using one of the other techniques to build up the sound on another bowl creates a beautiful soundscape. 

Top tips for playing crystal singing bowls

Before sitting down to play crystal singing bowls, I think everyone should know these things. They will help you pick up and master your technique.

• Don’t store the mallet in the bowl - Crystal singing bowls can last years but only if we look after them properly. As the middle of the bowl is the weakest point, storing a mallet (or anything else for that matter) inside it isn’t a great idea. 

• Securely set up the bowl - All crystal singing bowls come with an O-ring. It lifts the bowl just off the ground to create the best vibrations. When positioning your bowl, make sure it’s securely and evenly on the O-ring. A wobbly bowl won’t help with practising your technique. If you’re playing multiple bowls, make sure they are far enough apart that you can comfortably circle a mallet around them.

• Use the right mallet - Suede mallets can be used for all the techniques listed above. However, silicone mallets aren’t as flexible. Chiming with them creates a tinny sound. I only use them for playing around the rim of the bowl. Still, a silicone mallet can be handy to have when playing two bowls at once because it gets the bowl to sing quicker.

• Match your playing to your breathing - This helps you find a good speed as you use the different techniques to create your soundscape. You’ll also find yourself tuning into the bowls and having a moment of mindfulness. 

• Add pressure - The sound we hear emanating from singing bowls comes from the pressure of the mallet on the bowl. So if you’re struggling to get a bowl to sing, it could be because you’re not putting enough pressure on it. 

• Match your bowls - You can absolutely start with one bowl. That’s enough for an at-home practice. Find the one that you are drawn to most by listening to the sound library. 

When/if you’re ready to add more, think about the musicality of the bowls and how they will come together to create a soundscape. Like keys on a piano, certain notes sound better together. We also need to think about the cents. As singing bowls can’t be tuned, we want to make sure the bowls we choose are in the same range. I explain more about how cents work here. I can help you match your existing bowls to new bowls in a discovery call. 

How to play for yourself

Once you’ve got the technique down, what does it look like to use singing bowls as a self-care practice? It really is up to you. I often pair it with other self-care techniques. I find it useful to do before breathwork or meditation because it starts the process of calming my body down. It can also work well with journaling because you can ask the bowls questions before you play, reflect as you play and write out whatever comes to mind afterwards. 

Even if you only have 3 minutes, singing bowls can bring your mind and body into balance and relaxation. Simply sit down with a bowl, close your eyes and set an intention for how you would like to feel and what you would like to get from the session. Then start playing, even if it’s just a couple of chimes.

How to play for others

When playing singing bowls for others, intentions are important too, both the intentions you set as the practitioner and the intentions the receivers set. I’d also think about how you can create a serene sensory experience. Small touches like candles and fairy lights with incense and palo santo add to the relaxation. 

I have a flow I like to follow in sound baths because it takes the participants on a journey. I start with deeper notes to ground everyone and help them reach deep relaxation. Then once we’ve washed away the stresses of the day, I explore higher notes as these are more accelerating. I’ve got tips for running sound baths here. 

Playing singing bowls is such a wonderful experience I love sharing with others. I know choosing your first bowl and getting confident with playing it can be a bit intimidating but I’m here to help. I offer free discovery calls to guide you through finding the right notes and bowls for you. 

I also offer workshops in my showroom in Bristol. You can try a few bowls before choosing your first. Then I’ll share foundational knowledge about singing bowls and practice your technique with you. The first stop is always the sound library. Listen to the sounds of the bowls so we can be guided by the ones that resonate with you.