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Published May 13, 2008 03:22 pm - Loose lips can sink ships, but they’re desirable when doing the didgeridoo. Didgeridoos and don'ts By BETTY SMITH Press special writer TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS — Loose lips can sink ships, but they’re desirable when doing the didgeridoo.
That was the first lesson about a dozen aspiring didgeridoo players learned from musician and meditator Phil Jones Monday night during a workshop at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Tahlequah. Jones, a native of Australia, discussed the origin of the aborigines’ instrument and its uses today as a tool for meditation and healing, as well as a musical instrument. He just relocated to Sparrowhawk Village, which he will use as his base while traveling nationwide, giving seminars on the didgeridoo. The students ranged from a physician to a band director, to several people curious about the ancient aboriginal art. Jones sees the didgeridoo as an instrument of empowerment. “The didgeridoo is a duster that erases the monkey chatter and the mind clutter from the consciousness at an accelerated pace,” he said. “I can reinvent myself. I can recreate my personality to be more of what I want to be today. I can reprogram my mind. My inner self is connected to the supreme self. I am one with it.” Before the workshop, participants examined a group of didgeridoos Jones furnished. Most were traditional, handmade of eucalyptus and painted with symbols such as fish and turtles. Three were a simpler plastic, which Jones described as for the “didgeridoo challenged.” “Aren’t they beautiful? Look at these things – they’re works of art,” Iris Tate said. Tate, a healer, wants to use the didgeridoo to access the higher power to work through her to heal people. Jones told them there are more than 250 varieties of eucalyptus in Australia, and 10 are suitable for making didgeridoos. White ants and termites hollow out the sticks, which are selected by aborigines during trips to the bush. It takes four to six weeks to make one. The tradition dates back 10,000 years. The workshop consisted of four phases. In the first, students learned breathing, how to make basic sounds, and meditating with the aid of the didgeridoo. “I have found in my experience that when people get behind the wheel of a didgeridoo, they turn into maniacs,” Jones joked. He told them to use loose lips and a gentle breath, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. “This is somewhat of a zen thing,” he said. “If you blow it really hard to make a sound, it will likely get away from you. If you relax, it will embrace you.” Some of the aspiring players’ first tries resembled the sound of a child blowing through a cardboard tube taken from a roll of paper towels. But as they practiced the breathing techniques and progressed, the didgeridoos began emanating the low, vibrant sounds for which they are famous. 
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