Jingle Stick

✨✨✨

It is difficult to pin down the origin of the JingleStick. It has many different names, and seems to have originated in Australia and/or England. They are often visually striking, relatively simple to play, and bring immense joy and levity to any audience. Other names for this instrument include: stump fiddle, pogo cello, humstrum, bladder and string, jingling johnny, boomba, and ugly stick.

How to Obtain

These are difficult to find online—I recommend making one! My partner and I had a lot of fun making ours, especially because he has a bunch of random metal nick-nacks lying around. We just picked out the ones that sounded cool, and screwed them to a large stick (or broom handle). An improvised shaker can be made and attached using metal pie tins filled with popcorn kernels. You can attach a rubber stopper to the bottom of the stick, or incorporate a large spring on the bottom.

How to Learn

Hold the jingle stick in your non-dominant hand and bounce it on the ground repeatedly to make a steady beat. Then, hold a smaller stick with your dominant hand and hit various parts of the jinglestick while you bounce it to create different rhythms.

Similar Instruments

← →