Singing Bowl Introduction
- Taylor Cook
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
Singing bowls are musical instruments that make sound through their own vibration, a type known as an idiophone. Other examples in this family include bells, gongs, xylophones, and even glass harmonicas. When you strike or rub the rim of a singing bowl, the whole bowl vibrates and produces a long, clear tone that seems to “sing” made of several tones at once.
A Struck Idiophone is when an object strikes the instrument to make it resonate (Bells), a Friction Idiophone is when the mallet is doing a strike-slip movement around the bowls edge to create resonance (Singing Bowl). Im sure you could find a mallet and use it delicately on a glass harmonica and call the instrument a struck idiophone, but why would you? its technique and purpose is to be played with friction. Same concept applies to singing bowls, you could use them like a standing bell, physically they can be identical in shape sometimes, but they have techniques and purposes designed for friction. This is what separates singing bowls as a musical instrument in its own right. (and deserves its own wikipedia page!)
Although metal bowls have existed for centuries, using them specifically to create a continuous singing sound is a modern development. This became popular since the 1970s. There’s absolutely no solid historical evidence that bowls or bells were used in this way before then, either in Asia or in the West. Today, however, singing bowls are enjoyed worldwide by musicians, meditators, and sound healers for their beautiful, sustained tones.
Origins of "Tibetan" Singing Bowls
The word “Tibetan” in Tibetan Singing Bowl doesn’t actually come from Tibet itself. It became popular after two musicians, Henry Wolff and Nancy Hennings, released a 1972 album called Tibetan Bells. This was the first major recording to feature these types of metal bowls used for music, and it inspired several follow-up albums over the next two decades. Because the music had a calm, meditative sound connected to ideas of Tibetan spirituality, the name “Tibetan” stuck, even though the bowls themselves weren’t originally from Tibet.
Singing Bowls and Buddhism
Today, singing bowls are often linked with Buddhism — seen in temples, meditation centers, and sound-healing sessions around the world. But this connection is actually quite recent. Traditionally, Buddhist ceremonies in China and Japan used standing bells, which are also metal instruments but are struck, not played around the rim like a singing bowl. These bells marked time during chants and meditation but weren’t used for the continuous “singing” tones we hear today.
The modern association between singing bowls and Buddhism really began in the late 20th century, when Western interest in meditation and Eastern spirituality grew. As musicians and healers began experimenting with the bowls’ long, soothing tones, they blended them with ideas from chakra healing, sound baths, Reiki, and mindfulness practice. Over time, the bowls came to symbolize calm, balance, and spiritual awareness — qualities that fit comfortably within modern Buddhist-inspired spaces, even if the historical connection is more poetic than traditional.
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