Didgeridoo Length for Learners: How Size Changes Your Lip Buzz

If you are learning the didgeridoo, the length of your instrument shapes how your lips need to work every time you play. In this part of the Didgeridoo Buyers Guide, Benny from Didgeridoo Breath explains how length relates to the note a didgeridoo plays and why beginners are usually better off avoiding the extremes. Here is what that means for your practice.

Your lips set the speed

The drone comes from your lips buzzing against the mouthpiece. Benny's key point for players is this: on a lower, deeper didgeridoo your lips vibrate more slowly, and on a small, higher one they vibrate faster to reach the note. He demonstrates on a PVC didgeridoo, which has a uniform shape, so you can clearly hear that the longer it is, the deeper it sounds.

For a learner, that means your instrument decides the kind of buzz you are training. A very deep instrument asks for a slow, loose vibration. A very short one asks for a quick, tighter one. Neither is wrong, but both are harder to settle into when you are still finding the basic drone.

Why the middle is the easiest place to start

Benny says the question comes up a lot, often from parents asking what suits a child who wants to learn. The recommendation from Didgeridoo Breath is not to go for the extreme deep or the extreme high when starting out. Aim somewhere in the middle and you will be right. A mid-range instrument gives your lips a vibration speed that is neither sluggish nor rushed, which makes it easier to hold a steady drone while you work on everything else.

He also makes the point that what is right for one person is not necessarily right for another. If you already own a deep or high instrument, keep playing it. Just be aware that some of the difficulty you feel may be the instrument rather than you.

Practice tips based on your instrument's length

• On a longer, deeper didgeridoo, keep your lips relaxed and soft. Trying to force the buzz tends to choke the slow vibration this kind of instrument wants.
• On a shorter, higher didgeridoo, expect the buzz to feel quicker and a little firmer. Let the instrument guide you to its note rather than pushing for a sound it does not want to make.
• If you play more than one instrument, give yourself a minute to settle when you switch. Your lips need to find the new speed.
• Listen for richness, not just pitch. Benny explains that two didgeridoos can share a note, say F, while one is long and the other tiny. The longer one usually has more resonance and a richer sound. Paying attention to that fullness is good ear training.

Natural timber adds its own character

PVC makes the length rule easy to hear, but eucalyptus didgeridoos are different. Benny notes that many factors play into how a natural instrument reaches its note, so length is a useful generalisation rather than an exact formula. Every timber didgeridoo is its own instrument, which is part of what makes learning on one so rewarding.

Once you have an instrument that suits you, the next step is building a reliable drone and good breathing habits. Our beginner didgeridoo lessons walk you through those foundations one step at a time, whatever length of didgeridoo you are playing.