First exercises on the handpan: where to start

A handpan requires neither music theory nor prior lessons, but it does require a specific touch. Unlike a drum, it is not force that creates the sound: it is the precision of the contact point and the speed at which the finger leaves the surface. Here are the four exercises with which to start.

1. Posture before the note

Place the instrument on your lap, tilted slightly toward you, or on a stand at waist height. The ding — the central dome — should be facing you. Your forearms should remain relaxed and your wrists supple: it is the wrist that provides the impulse, not the arm.

A handpan placed flat on the lap does not sound as good: the bottom shell is muffled, and the sustain is shortened. If you play often, a stand really changes the sound.

2. The strike: rebound, don't press

Strike a tonal area with the pad of your finger, not the tip, and let your finger rebound immediately. The contact should last only a few milliseconds. If you leave your finger on the steel, you will mute the vibration you just created.

Test the difference: strike a note while leaving your finger resting on it, then by pulling it away immediately. The second sounds twice as long. This is the most important technique to acquire, and it should be practiced on a single note.

3. Alternating hands

Play the ding with your right hand, then a neighboring note with your left, alternating steadily. Count slowly, four beats, without trying to play fast. The goal is not speed but consistency in volume: both hands must produce the same intensity.

This is the exercise that separates mechanical playing from musical playing. Your non-dominant hand will take a few sessions to catch up to the other.

4. The first phrase

In the D Kurd scale, all the notes harmonize with each other: you cannot play a wrong note. Choose three adjacent notes and play them in any order, leaving silence between them.

Silence is just as important as the note. A handpan has a long sustain: if you fill every beat, the resonances will overlap, and the result will become muddled. Play less, listen more.

How long per session

Fifteen to twenty minutes is enough at the beginning—every day is better than one hour on Sunday. The strike is a delicate gesture: it is acquired through short, regular repetition, not through endurance.

Our two learning methods cover this progression in detail, with timed exercises and visual cues. They are written without music theory and are delivered in PDF format.