Transcription
Hi there! So I'm here with Ashley. She's been here about an hour and a half. We picked out her crystal singing bowls. She wanted to do chakra work, so she wanted a scale going up. If you watch my other videos, you'll learn that you don't have to start on the C to do your scale. So we're starting on a low G. The only essential thing is to have your scale go up all the way. I've heard some people on the internet selling a chakra set that starts, and then the next note drops to a really low octave. That doesn't work; you need your notes going up higher all the way. This is her scale.
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And what I'm using right now, we call these our bunny tail mallets. It's a very soft rubber ball inside, and it makes a very gentle tap. You can go super, super gentle, so you almost don't even hear it. Because the quieter you play, the more it pulls your listener inwards.
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One common mistake is playing super loud. When I got my first bowl, I cranked it up as loud as I could, and my sister was like, "Uh, yeah, no, not happening." I've even had people come here shopping, saying, "I was at a sound bath, and they played so loud, and it just bothered me so much." So the idea is to play very soft and gentle. If you forget how to play, on the learn section of my website, there's a video that shows and demonstrates proper hand position. Then, once you know how to play softly, you can do whatever you want. I mean, you could play like this, but as a beginner, that's very hard.
Okay, so we've got them set up. You've got your drone on your left, since you're right-handed, so you're not thinking about it. Your right hand is your more dominant hand, so it can move around a lot. So here, C to G to C is that perfect fourth.
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When you're on the balls, it gives a different sound than when you're off the balls.
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This is your perfect fifth: G, A, B, C, D. That's your most common perfect harmony for deep relaxation. If you want to inspire and uplift, we're going up to the E, because that's six notes: G, A, B, C, D, E. Now notice, this one wasn't loud enough, so I came off of here and I'm just playing this one now. This is too loud, so I'm going to come here, give it a bit, and then I really slowed down once it started. So if you find you're too loud and you're picking up a second bowl, you start this one louder and then drop it.
Yes, exactly. Yeah, if this is too loud, I'll give this extra and come off of there for a minute and pull it up. Now I want to hear more of that one to account for…
Yes, because you want to get that perfect balance.
Yeah. Okay, so what I even did, and I'm a musician…
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…I have little pieces of paper with the letter names on them, because as you play, you're going to come up with patterns. It's like, "Oh, I love doing this; I love doing that." Okay, when you're doing your chakras, you're just going to be playing one bowl at a time. You may… so let's back up first, doing your chakra work. So when you do your chakra work, you know, listen to the sound. When it's time to go to the second sound, you may want to bring their attention…
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This is your sacral…
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…breathe in the color. Okay, and then as you go to your next chakra, just to give them that little bit of focus, but very gentle. I could do it with this one, but listen to the difference. Yeah, it's a harsh sound, startling if you're… yeah, but this is very, just very soft, just that gentle nudge.
Yeah. Okay, so you would do that with your chakras going all the way up. But now, when you're first practicing with other people, even myself, if you're like most of us, your nerves are going to be like, "Hold on! Oh my god! Oh my god! What am I doing?" So you have your pieces of paper. If you don't know your scale, the first thing you could do is write 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 all the way up. Okay, I always include that eighth note because it closes off the scale. If we just went without the top G… oh, sorry, you're… you're leaving that body… our Western bodies want to hear that resolution and that closure. Okay, so that's why I always do an eight-step chakra instead of seven.
Okay, so apart from doing your chakra work, you can do all sorts of things. Like I said, was the fourth, the fifth, and the sixth. Now you're a musician, so I don't think you really need to write that down, but you could… you could, on here, write "opening," knowing that it's going with your root. Yeah, you could do this on the D and say "balance, relaxation," and then "inwards," yeah, "grounding." Then, either at the very beginning or near the end, I like personally to do some type of patterning. I love to do that. If people come who I'm working with are really like wild and just like I am when I go to massage, there, you know, I need something to calm me down. That might be at the beginning, just to pull me in so that I'm ready to now begin my chakra work, starting to stop the chatter.
Exactly, stop that chatter. Or near the middle/end, where I want to start bringing them up, like a start time to be waking up. I love to do that, too. So now, how do you know what to do? So first of all, just going every other note. Okay, so G and B…
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Okay, A and C, B and D…
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C, E, C, F, E, G. So two notes, like three notes apart. If you put the letters in your hand, yeah, one, two, three, they will always sound pretty together. Okay, so if I had a pattern like I did this…
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…and went, "Oh, I love that pattern, that song," I could take my marker and I might call this my "circle pattern." Okay, so then on here, I would have a circle one, and this was the other one of my circle pattern one. And now this is my circle pattern number two.
Yeah. So I did these two next…
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…and then the third one… well, let's just take a look. Where do I want to resolve that to? It could… if I wanted to lead them somewhere…
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…again, it's drawing somewhere, but say I said I wanted to make it feel home…
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…so then that's still my circle song. So then… ah, so this is the third part of my circle song. So I do the circle and number three. So now I've got… now my rhythm can change up…
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Okay, I can change my patterns. I'm going to have to just practice and practice so I know what I want to do, or I can just do it intuitively. But at least now I know, because now I know what direction I was going. Okay, this is sort of like yoga. You go to yoga teacher training; they teach you all the poses. You have a class; you have to decide yourself what are you going to do, where. Okay, these are just poses. Okay, so then say I had another pose… I don't like that…
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…that's kind of questioning, leading, opening up somewhere. I like that. One, two, three, four. So now I might call this my "triangles," and write "triangle one," yeah, this was one I went here, "triangle two," here, "triangle three," and here, "triangle four."
Yeah. Now I would not do too many patterns, otherwise… a circle, where's the square? Exactly, but I have two patterns here. Yeah, so now I know I've got my… just my beautiful harmony… yeah, which I throw my G up in there. Okay, and I can throw my B in here…
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…there's my fifth. So I know these always work. So you had asked a question earlier about what if you hit a wrong note; it doesn't sound right. Okay, like even when you're tapping, you hit that one, and we both kind of like… oh, it doesn't sound right.
Yeah. Okay, so sitting here… okay, and I went to here, and it was like, "Oh, that doesn't sound right." So I resolved it; I brought it somewhere else. Yeah, because that B didn't fit with the C, C. Okay, and I don't think you even notice it, or the listeners even know that, because when I was doing that, I added… it was like, "No, that's not right." I didn't tell you it wasn't right; I just then moved up to… I know that I knew fit in that scale. But what you can do is when you have something that doesn't fit right… let me go here… not so nice… I'm going to go to the letter beside it. So that was the F; I'm going to go down to the E, and now it fits nice. So do you drop down one? I moved up instead.
Okay. Yeah, so when I'm teaching, I'm moving very quickly… yeah, in a soundbite, or going extremely slow.
Yeah. Okay, so…
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And then, because these are sitting so far back, you can either twist, which is great yoga moves… okay, with twists, or you can just play in the front here. I tend to have these a little bit back so that I'm not leaning way over, because spending an hour playing like this is really bad for your lower back. And so, same thing here, I might just play on this; I go around to get it going…
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Okay, just playing in there. Okay, another question: Is it personal preference when you go back onto a bowl, or do you just let it sing out? Like, do you just let it sing out until… personal preference, or is there a certain spot at that singing-out point that you're like, "Oh, it needs to be…" Totally preference. And there's something magical that happens… when I say magical… okay, something happens when you go into that pure silence.
Yeah. Okay. There, it can be as powerful… pure silence… yeah… as can be sound.
Yes, 100%. Okay, so by all means, like, it's still singing, and that's going to then force the listener, their subconscious, to keep yearning and searching for that sound. And when your body is searching for the sound, your monkey chatter… it just can't… you can't do them all together. So that's the whole idea with all this is to stop that monkey chatter, to pull them into the deepest relaxation possible. So then you can either do the chakra work, or you can just leave them to be in their own presence, because it's like guided meditations. You take them in, and then just sometimes leave them to explore.
Yeah. And you softly bring them back in.
Exactly. Now, if you're going to leave them into pure silence at the beginning of your practice, whatever it is, always let them know that when we're in pure silence, you just relax. At the very end, I'm going to leave you in pure silence, and you're going to totally relax and embrace it, because at the very end, I will let you know when it's time to come out with my words. I have had many sound baths ruined because five minutes after she stopped, we're still lying there, and we finally realized that the girl's not going to say anything, and it's like, "Oh, I guess we're supposed to sit up." And as soon as you do that, you question… you're like, "Are we supposed to move? What's happening?" Yeah, you've now brought up anxiety, and then it's gone. So do you do like a chime or a bell or anything like that at the… rendering? Do you just use your words to bring people back?
My favorite is the koshi chime.
Oh, yes. Okay. Yes, so let me just grab one. For those who don't know about them, so I got one sitting right here… let me grab… oh, perfect. I was going to talk about these, actually. So koshis are named by the four elements… have nothing to do with the four elements. This was a question: I didn't know if they were, because I've seen them sold and set to force… I didn't know if it was one tuned to a different… for the element… they're different chords. Okay, it's great marketing. There's so much marketing in this business. It's chords. So since your bowl starts on a G, I do believe, and you want it to go really, really nice, you would get the one that has that low G, has the tuning of your bowls. So we have koshis… we have theta koshis… tend to say "I'm home." Yeah, thetas… the chorus structure leaves it more opening. Yeah. Okay, and then we have the Zafirs, which also have that sense of home, because it's a solid major chord. Okay, so we listen to this…
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…is nice, but this one really goes here. So this is the earth, and it really harmonizes beautifully with your C. As I think it's the fire that would go with the G. And then I've got three others that would also go with that. So that's what I do. I go into the silence, and actually, I like to take two of these that complement each other, and you go one, and then you play the other one. And that even still… then I do that to bring them out, and then I say, "Now begin to come back… move… you know, move your fingers, move your toes," however… yeah. Okay, so do you ever play the chimes through, or just… oh, so I will do…
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…I want to give my people at least 20 minutes of just smooth playing: no tapping, no chimes, nothing else. So it's either at the beginning of my bath that I will do my chimes… my… I like to keep my flute to the end. So I'll do my chimes… um, maybe my handpan or my tongue drum, my shakers at the beginning. That's to pull them in, to slow them down. Then my 20 minutes of just smooth going around, then start bringing them back out, whether it's with the tapping here, patterns, playing my flute. But yeah, you have to give them that long period—at least 20 minutes—soaking. Okay, so another question: Do you play intuitively for 20 minutes, or do you watch a clock and play each bowl a certain-ish amount of time, like three to five… purple… or just totally intuitive?
Intuitive. Okay, each one is different. The girl who… sorry for the phone… Lauren, who got me into this first sound bath, she never played any bowls together; it was all one note at a time. And one day I watched her, and I think she went like around 40, 50 times around just one bowl at a time, so it was a good five minutes on each bowl. And I just… oh my god… I just like… so melt away… so profound. You can do that beautifully with the chakras—walk them all the way up, and then exactly drop them off, and then walk them all the way back down. Exactly, and you can also, when you walk them back down, keep your drone going…
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…much slower… okay, and just drawing it all the way down.
Okay. Yeah, there is no hard and fast rule, with the exception: you don't want to startle.
Yeah. Okay, so that's why I don't like to hit with these. Yeah, it's just too hard. Okay, um, when people first come in, if you can also do a breathing activity, such as… okay, let's breathe in, out… oh, I don't like that. See? And so then you learn… okay, what was that? Then that was because I was going F, D, and then I went G, C, which they don't work together. Okay, so I might do something that you breathe in, out. So now we're E and G, C and G, because we're all part of the major chord. Breathe in, we're doing square breathing, hold, across, out, but super slow. Okay, again, we're trying to… to just jump right into… for some people, it's just to be that mind child, and then they're like, "I'm not getting into this. Yeah, it's not working," and then they… they do that fatalism and forget it. Yeah, but if you start with that…
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…and repeat it over, because we want predictability, no startle, just keep going over and over and over, and then the brain will go, "Okay, I'm with you now." That's where I asked that 3, 5, 7, 9… like, do you repeat things for that reason? So yes, it's just more soothing, calming.
Exactly. Yeah, pretty… you want predictability, you want stability, you don't want any startle. Yeah, if you keep jumping from one thing to the next to the next to the next, the body is like, "I'm just about to let go, finally." And also, this was a question about this, so you're now using… internet… how do you quietly put it down without that startle… practice problem… how do you go…
Yes, perfect. So when you're playing… when we first got the drone… when we first got it, we were like… and it's like, "No…" The ideal way is just…
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…so what I do when I'm playing, I'm doing that as I come closer to the floor, and… and trust me, it is practice, practice, practice, because I've seen people play it, and then they put it down like… oh, that would drive me mental! I was in the middle of it, and it clink, clink, clink, clink, clink! Yeah, so here we're going… okay, so yes, so to help circumvent, in case I make a noise just as that touches the floor, I'll do this…
Okay. Yeah, just not really… that's just exactly… yeah, but yeah, it's big-time practice. Some of my early videos, you hear that clunk, and it was like… but it's… it's a learning process.
Okay, interesting. Yeah, cool. Any other questions?
I don't think so. Okay, so I'm going to give you… we're going to write all this out on a map. Okay, if you decide you want to change things, by all means, go ahead and change it however you like. This is your journey.
Okay, sorry, I do have one question. So this is set up right-handed. If my husband's a lefty, my daughter's a lefty, would…
Okay, so the reason I do this: if I'm droning here, it's to your opposite hand. You can… yes, this is easier for me to be bouncing around. For people who've never done two things at once… yeah, most non-musicians… you're like, "I can't get two balls playing at once." Yeah. Okay, so once you get your drone going and you're not thinking about… so say this is my drone, this is my good hand, this is my non-dominant hand, it's going to be a bit more awkward. Okay, I'm not gonna have that same distance control. So for them… I mean, there's no reason why they can't play this way either. Okay, but if you are the most confident player in the house, and you want your husband and daughter to succeed better, have more confidence… let them have the drone, because you're not using it. Yeah, so they just don't even think about it. So that challenging part doesn't have to think; all it has to do is stay right there. I don't know… it may not affect them because they both play sports right-handed. So yeah, so if they're ambidextrous, it might not make a difference. But some people who are very predominant one hand, and the other hand has never done anything interesting… that would be far too difficult for them to do; they'd have to be thinking too hard. Which I assume you think too hard through the whole first learning bit until it just becomes second nature.
Yes, exactly. Yep. And just remember, just super soft and gentle with this. I'm not holding it this way. Yep, it's just tapping. It's… it's… it's like this little finger is pushing it out so it can just bounce. So you… another question: You keep picking up different sets; so one's hard and one's soft. Is that again just to play…
Yeah, it's different sounds. So the harder balls are… listen to the difference…
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Oh, yeah, wow. Okay, so the harder balls just give that brighter… more like a bell… like a chime…
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Oh, don't like that…
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So now this would be great for waking me up. Okay, I want them to come to… I want them to pay attention to me. So do you always have different… details? Right now… yeah, ideally, I prefer that. So right now, because unfortunately with… code…
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…get markers or they're the same, so then we'll put a little marker on these two… um, so that you know they're the harder ones. Okay, normally these would be one color, this is another color, which we'll be getting back in… yeah. Okay, but yeah, drink over there's… yeah. Okay, I just didn't know if it…
Okay. Yeah. Yeah, and actually, we'll put the little mark up here, because then you'll be able to see it easier.
Okay. Okay, but normally be like blue and white or gray and white.
Yes, but ideally… yeah, it's perfect to have both: so you're calming, you're brightening, waking up. And these are also great on metal bowls. Oh, this was another question: So you… the Tibetan bowl… there's quite a different like tonal sound. If you added those in, do they have to be… how do you add them into this set? How would you add them?
Okay, right behind you… grab me a few bowls. So we're not gonna pass over; it's gonna go under. Okay, so metal bowls… Eddie, you take your pick. We're gonna take two just to show. So metal bowls, when you play them… so I'm going to use the hard one… plays six, eight, ten different sounds… yeah, as well as your fundamentals. The tiny mallet is going to let the high note sing; the felt mallet will let the low notes sing. Okay, the fundamental note… I check how many Hertz it is, convert it to notation. So all the metals on there, the fundamental is perfect pitch, so I know any bowl on that shelf is guaranteed going to sound gorgeous here. All my other bowls, they might… they might not… depends on how… where that fundamental note is. So this is a G sharp… oops… okay, so this is a half-tone higher than my G, so I'm going to put it over here. And this bowl… oh, it's an E3. Remember you liked that giant E, but it was like… I can't afford the space and the money to buy that giant bowl. So let me move the chime… never go over, always around. So I'm going to put this bowl here… so E, F, G… nice…
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Oh, I don't like that harsh, so I'm gonna go soft…
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Okay, this was the G sharp…
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…here the difference, the two mallets…
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So I'm using my ear; I'm just finding what sounds pretty. That G sharp doesn't fit totally well in our scale. Is there a small bowl up there? Oh, or actually, you know, the bottom shelf… that unusual… that's an… unusual… antique one. So this one, too… this is um… an antique, unusual bowl… like… yeah, I'm just gonna say I haven't seen that… yeah. Okay, what note is that? Um… that is a B… a B… oh, and that's a B2. Pass it around. So this is going to be really, really low…
Oh, wow.
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So you can incorporate them in; they just have to fit in the scale, but I… yeah… oh, this is that… oh my gosh…
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So they add a different dimension. I am all for mixing metal… okay, crystal with chimes with flutes with tongue drums, because they're quite a different tonal sounding. So that's why I didn't know if you could mix and add them, or do you… oh… okay, yeah, absolutely beautiful. So around… I'm gonna put it right here, 'cause that's…
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I like this bowl over with this combination… yeah…
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…and you can hear that ringing in that, because they have the overtones which the crystal bowls don't. So it's kind of nice to incorporate them just for them.
Yeah, interesting. Oh, see, now here I've discovered something new. It's like, "Ooh, I like this progression," just going…
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…nah, I want to go up. So it really is just a play… yeah… oh, I don't like going to there… I like… no, I like to stop in here, too…
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And that's what it is. So this is kind of… it took you up, and that just settles…
Yes, yes. And that's what this is all about. Some people, like, you know, "Oh, I'll buy a set of bowls, and I'm going to do an event this weekend." No, it takes months of… I mean, unless you're spending several hours every day, and you have a good ear, it takes a while to really learn what you're doing. That being said, if you bought the set of bowls like… I've got an event to do this week… great, no problem. This is what you're going to do; this is what you're getting. I know what… all… as long as you can play super soft… yeah, just play one note, next note… yeah, next note, and just work your way up your set and work your way down. I mean, like I say, that was my first experience, and it was profound. But you're going to spend three to five minutes on each note. Yeah, and then before you go to the next note, just let it play out into pure silence. So that's why I say you don't have to be a musician to be able to do it, but if you want to go to that next level, it's practice and practice, finding your… okay… idea… for more questions. So when you're playing, if it gets that chatter, or if it gets that… "Oh crap! My hand hit it!" Or… yeah, the stick hit it… do you just ignore it and continue playing, or is there a save from that as well?
Nope. So however you're playing, and you go… you just try this sometimes. You can fake it. So if it does that… or do it again a couple of times to make it like you did on purpose. See? There, I just did that. And so I faked it by adding…
Yeah, I was gonna say, if you tap it and it can save it, just add a couple taps to make it like you did on purpose.
Yes, exactly. It was all great except the tap in the middle, actually.
Yeah. Yes. So yesterday's video, I had my bracelet, and you know what? My bracelet made me noise, and at the end I just apologized that they… in the video, and said, you know what… so you don't wear your beaded bracelets when you're playing, because they… as you lean over, you're gonna hit…
Yeah, it's the same. I wear them until I do mediumship, and I take them off. It's a weird…
Yes. Yeah. So why do you do that? I'm like… it just makes noise, and it's…
Yeah. Yeah, same thing.
Interesting. I'm excited; my smile is like this big under this mask.
Okay. Yeah. There we go. Awesome! You're gonna have so much fun, and… um… yeah, so for those who hung out through the whole video… so now this video is for Ashley. So when she goes home… because hubby wanted to come but couldn't… he's got that video; he understands how to use the set; you understand what to do with it; you've got a plan for when you know nothing at all, but you… you know, family's like, "Oh, great, you've bought these bowls; we're coming over to you; we want to experience something great." You're just going to play that for five minutes, five minutes, five minutes… just work your way up and work your way down. Because if you're like me and everybody else, you're like sweating bullets and you forget everything. Okay, so just do that. And then on your own, practice your patterns. Practice… I don't do a lot of time… like I said, tapping at the beginning or tapping at the very end. But give at least 20 minutes, and that's just a specific tapping type. Yes, but still, that specific tapping is just… for me, my preference, because there is no hard and fast rule. Is either the beginning to get them out of their mind chatter… yeah… or near the end to bring them back there. I love the tapping, but I get… I wouldn't want to… yes… of it… oh, hey… but so like I said, there is no hard and fast rule. There's a gentleman I follow on the internet, and the whole time, all he does is tapping.
Oh, interesting.
So then your body becomes so relaxed, the whole sound bath is… and it is stunning, because now that is the norm, and so there is no startle, because the whole time we're tapping, we're tapping.
Exactly. And then your body just sinks right into these beautiful harmonies. See? So that happens when you're not paying attention. So when you're playing, you do need to focus. Okay, because all guaranteed, every time I do that tap, is I'm not watching, I'm not paying attention. But yeah, so you could just tap your whole sound bath, because it's that startle reflex; we just want them to… no… predictable… this is what's happening; this is how it's going to happen. But even tapping, you can go louder to softer… yes… drop it off… absolutely… yeah. So there you go. Awesome! Thank you.
You are welcome. My idea… and so everybody else, if you are interested in bowls and this scale does not do it for you, check out… I've got so many videos under sets… just pick the lowest note on the filter; it says "What's your lowest note?" Just click that in, and then the filter will send you all the bowls that are in that note… uh… key. I should say low note. And if you don't find anything you like, give me a call; I'll happily make a new video, or you know, if you're overwhelmed, just call; I'll help you out, talk to you, figure out what your needs are, and guide you in the right direction. Awesome! So have a great day, and thank you, Ashley, for having me and participating in the video.
Thank you very much.
Alright, bye!