Tumbi

[$un$hyn]

The Tumbi (Punjabi ਤੂੰਬੀ tūmbī) is a traditional North Indian instrument from the Punjab region. The high pitched, single string plucking instrument is associated with folk music of Punjab and presently very popular in Western Bhangra music.



The instrument is made of a wooden stick mounted with a toomba or wooden resonator covered with skin. A metallic string is passed on a resonator over a bridge and tied to the key at the end of the stick. The string is struck with the continuous flick and retraction of the forefinger.

The tumbi was popularized by the Punjabi folk-singer Lal Chand Yamla Jatt.


Ustaad Lal Chand Yamla jatt

In the 1960s, 70s and 80s most of the singers used the tumbi. The most popular were Kuldip Manak, Amar Singh Chamkila and Mohammed Sadiq.
Get your freak on by Timbaland and Missy Elliott saw the introduction of the distinct tumbi sound into the popular mainstream music scene.

Mundeya to bach ke rahi (Beware of Boys) from Panjabi MC, a huge hit in the UK charts, is perhaps the most widely-known example of the use of tumbi in popular western music.

The tumbi was also featured in the hit song "20 Inch" by Master P feat: Jamaican reggae artist Cutty Ranks and rap artist Kobra Khan. The tumbi played by Toronto, Ontario, Canadian native Shawn Ramta (grandson of the famous Punjabi folk singer, Hazara Singh Ramta).​

 

[Palang Tod]

tfs............

 

[P-a-r-d-e-s-i]

tfs....

 

[SHauKeeN GaBRu]

i've got two
but dunno how to play

 

[$un$hyn]

he he he..

bas string nu chedi jao i thnk..
ape bajj ju...

 

[SHauKeeN GaBRu]

baj te jandi ae...but not in rhythm

 

[$un$hyn]

lol...sur taal di training laini pau fer..

 

[SHauKeeN GaBRu]

odhe vaste time he nai

 

[$un$hyn]

..kadd lea karo tym apne virse lai v...

 

[SHauKeeN GaBRu]

but aethe sikhayega kaun??

 

[$un$hyn]

dhoondne se to Bhagwaan bhi mil jata hai..

 

[SHauKeeN GaBRu]

hun dhoondega kaun?? odha v time he nai

 

[$un$hyn]

koi ni fer....betaali hi bajai jaoo..
kade na kade te sur fadugi...

 

[SHauKeeN GaBRu]

y dont u help me out???

 

[$un$hyn]

..yeah why not...
mai te jida expert a...


menu v ni aundi...

 

[SHauKeeN GaBRu]

taanhi te keha...u learn first, then teach me

 

[$un$hyn]

meko te hai hi ni.....

 

[$un$hyn]

HOW TO PLAY TUMBI

Well... the first thing to do is to tune your tumbi. You do this by turning/twisting the pin at the end of the string. Be very careful and gentle with it because it can easily snap your string. Make it tighter to tune it up to higher pitches, and looser for lower pitches. A little warning... loosening/tightening the string a tiny little bit makes a big difference, so keep checking if it gets in tune. You should be looking out for a familiar note (with no fingers pressed down) that you hear in the popular songs.

Then before you start learning the fingering, the best thing to do is to get used to actually striking the string properly so that a nice clean sound comes out everytime... both down stroke and up stroke. This shouldn't take too long, but a little practice goes a long way.

Next would be to find out where the first finger should go to make the second note. First note is open string. Second note is played by putting your first finger on the string close to the bridge. Like before you should recognise when you got it right because you've probably heard it a million times in the popular bhangra tracks.

After that you do the same for the next note, and the next. When you got 4 notes down, you can try to replay some of the common melodies you hear in songs, about 90% of them are played with the first 4 notes.


One thing to note, once you've worked out the fingering, it stays the same for every open note you tune your tumbi to. eg. If you tune your tumbi for high pitched tunes like those in classic Chamkila/Yamla Jatt tunes, the fingering will be the same as when its pitched a little lower for tunes in recent songs.

 

[SHauKeeN GaBRu]

get one...
ok me goin, meanwhile get enrolled into some classes

 

[$un$hyn]

...koi ni...