It has been said that the didjeridu is not an instrument at all. When you learn to play most musical instruments, like the guitar, piano, or clarinet, you spend a lot of time learning to work the moving parts of the instrument. The didjeridu has no moving parts. All the movement is within the player’s body. The didjeridu provides a musical sound directly from the breath and lips of the player.

As such, the didjeridu can be played in many ways. These pages are not comprehensive, but introduce the fundamentals and discuss how Yolŋu yidaki playing differs from most of the didjeridu music you may have heard. While there are many traditional and modern styles in Australia and around the world, they all have a few basics in common.