Unique percussion instrument in India

Have you ever heard of the instrument called Jal Tarang? I have never heard of them until we visited our local symphony orchestras’ music event. They introduced them briefly as a part of the percussion family. There are many bowls tuned with water. It was an awe-inspiring, beautiful sound for us, and we wanted to try to play at home with the bowls we have in our kitchen. Our setup and tuning might be wrong, but we just wanted to try them for fun.

Here is the video we found on Youtube. In this short documentary film, the musicians explain the Jal Tarang, and you will get more detailed information from them. They show beautiful scenery in India with their beautiful Jal Tarang and other percussion session sounds in this video

What We Used

• Small bowls (preferred porcelain or ceramic)
• Chopsticks
• Water

Activity Idea

We can teach how the water level in the bowl can tune them. Adding more water will increase the pitch of the sound. Lower water level gets lower pitch. I found this video, and it will help them to explain. Having fun with playing Jal Tarang can be a great science activity too!

Resources for Learning Topics

Websites

The Jal-tarang, one of the most rarely heard instruments! (The Score Magazine)

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Happy learning!

Featured Photo by Tom Crew on Unsplash