How to Hold the Handpan

There are two common sitting positions when playing the handpan. Depending on how you will sit when playing, there will be a slightly different way to hold the instrument securely.

Before we get to them, there are a few things to sort out first.

Before you start #

Take off any rings, watches and bracelets. A metal ring striking a tone field is a small hammer, and it can knock a note out of tune. A watch strap clicking against the steel will spoil your sound too.

Make sure your hands are clean and dry. Sweat and grease left on the steel can cause rust, especially on a nitrided handpan.

Which way round it goes #

Look at the notes around the ding. They get smaller as they get higher, and they climb in a zigzag, from side to side. Turn the handpan so that the two lowest notes — the two biggest tone fields, 1 and 2 — are nearest your body, one either side of the centre. The highest notes will then be at the far side of the ding, away from you.

If you’re not sure which notes are the lowest, strike each one gently. Note 1, A3, is the lowest note around the ding, and B♭3, note 2, is the next one up.

Position 1: Sitting on the floor #

Sit down on the floor in a cross-legged position. A cushion under your hips helps a lot: it lifts your hips above your knees, so your back can sit up straight instead of slumping.

The handpan should rest across both of your thighs, with the ding in front of the middle of your body and notes 1 and 2 nearest you. Tilt the far side of the handpan down slightly, away from you, so that you can see the whole note layout. Somewhere between 10° and 20° is about right.

Your crossed legs make a natural cradle for the handpan. You should be able to let go of it completely without it moving.

Now check your reach. You should be able to reach every note with both hands without leaning forward, twisting or lifting a shoulder. If you have to hunch to reach the far notes, the handpan is too far away. If your wrists are bent sharply, it is sitting too flat or too high.

Position 2: Sitting on a chair #

If sitting cross-legged is uncomfortable, a chair works perfectly well. Choose one without armrests, and low enough that your thighs are roughly flat, parallel with the floor.

Sit towards the front of the chair with both feet flat on the floor and your knees slightly apart. The handpan should rest across both of your thighs, with the ding in the middle and notes 1 and 2 nearest you, tilted slightly away from you just like before.

On a chair, the handpan tends to slide forward. A folded towel or a grippy mat on your lap stops it. Do the same reach check as before: every note, both hands, no leaning.

Using a stand #

You don’t need a stand to start, and plenty of excellent players never use one. A stand lifts the handpan off your legs, which lets the bottom shell ring freely and gives the instrument a little more sustain and bass. If you do use one, get a stable one — a wobbling handpan is both annoying and a hazard — and set it at about the height of your lap.

Playing while standing #

Playing standing up, on a tall stand, is a performance position rather than a practice one. It changes how your hand falls onto the steel, and most players find they hit harder standing up without meaning to. My advice would be to learn and practise sitting down. This will allow you to build your foundations in a strong position. Once you’re confident in your basics, give playing standing up a try!

Which hand plays what #

On a handpan, both of your hands can play every note. But when we’re learning, it helps enormously to give each hand a job, just like we do on the darbuka.

• Your right hand plays the main strokes of the rhythm: the ding and the Tek. We’ll learn these in the next two lessons.
• Your left hand plays the ornaments: the Ka, which we’ll learn in Lesson 7.

When a hand isn’t playing, let it hover just above the instrument, or rest it on your leg. Don’t rest it on the steel. Anything touching a note or the ding will stop it ringing.

Space allows sound to travel #

When you choose where you will sit to play, practise or perform, you should consider what’s around your handpan — and underneath it.

Remember the gu, the hole on the bottom of the handpan? It needs to breathe. The air inside the instrument has its own deep note, and it adds a lot of the warmth you hear. If the gu is blocked, your handpan will sound thinner and quieter. Assess your surroundings:

• Is the handpan sinking into a soft cushion or a duvet?
• Are your legs pressed together underneath the gu?
• Have you put it flat on a table or on the floor to try it out?
• Are you sat on your bed reading this lesson on your laptop?!

All of these will choke your handpan’s sound, and will make your playing sound dull even if you’re using the correct technique! Never play a handpan resting flat on a hard surface: it kills the ring of the bottom shell completely.

The room matters too. A handpan loves hard surfaces: a room with wooden or tiled floors and bare walls will make it sound bigger and ring longer. Thick curtains, carpets and sofas soak the sound up. In an ordinary house, many people find their best sound in the kitchen or a hallway.

There’s one more thing nobody warns you about. When you play, your head is directly above the handpan, and the sound travels outwards, away from you. You are sitting in the worst seat in the house! Someone two or three metres away hears a fuller, warmer sound than you do. Put your phone on a chair a few metres away, record yourself for a minute and listen back. You might be surprised how good it sounds.

The good news? Unlike the darbuka, the handpan is a quiet instrument. Your neighbours will probably thank you for choosing it.