The Drone
A drone is a single note held on and on, for others to play or sing against — the sound behind bagpipes and the Indian tanpura. Pick any note below and hold it steady: a fixed pitch to tune to, to improvise over, or to test whether your own singing stays in tune.
Ways to use it
- Tune your ear. Hold a note and sing it back — can you match it exactly?
- Improvise over it. Set a drone on C, then play or sing only the notes of C major on top. Everything will sound like it belongs.
- Feel “home”. A drone is the tonic — the note a key is built on. Play a scale over it and hear how the last note settles back home.
- Practise in tune. String and wind players use a drone to check every note against a steady reference.