Elements & Instruments

[Altair]

After doing some digging online, it seems the following correspondences are usually assigned to the four classical elements in Western esoteric tradition for musical instruments:

EARTH--Drums. Makes sense to me.

AIR--Wind instruments. Another no-brainer...although I didn't see anything that specified whether that's woodwinds or brass instruments. I suppose it's meant to include both?

WATER--Metal percussives (bells, cymbals, gongs, chimes, tambourine, triangle...). Not as intuitive, but I can go with it.

FIRE--String instruments. What?

I don't get that last one at all, except for by exclusion (everything else was taken). Why violins/cellos/guitars/harps for fire? Further, in the context of a large-scale ritual, the other 3 all involve sounds that will carry a great distance; strings, not so much. So why strings?

I know correspondences are what we say they are, and there's lots of variations (the endless swords-wands debate!)...so does anybody out there have any thoughts on how the instruments align with the elements? Has anybody worked that into their practice, or perhaps even used it in ritual?

And WTF is up with fire?

[Anon100]

WATER--Metal percussives (bells, cymbals, gongs, chimes, tambourine, triangle...). Not as intuitive, but I can go with it.

FIRE--String instruments. What?

Just on intuition and connections I'd imagine it's because the main body of most stringed instruments is wood ( which can burn ), violins in particular also have friction which can cause fire. The sound also is sharper which makes me think of fire biting.
There's always singing glasses ( not sure if that's their name, the ones which get filled with water so they give different tones ) for water.

[Ashmire]

Just on intuition and connections I'd imagine it's because the main body of most stringed instruments is wood ( which can burn ), violins in particular also have friction which can cause fire. The sound also is sharper which makes me think of fire biting.
There's always singing glasses ( not sure if that's their name, the ones which get filled with water so they give different tones ) for water.

That sounds better than what I was thinking, which was that there is historically a folkloric connection between stringed instruments and Satan/Hellfire ( Charlie Daniels didn't totally make that up himself!), which wouldn't necessarily apply or appeal to many pagans.  All in all, though, I'm not sure you can really get all things connected to all elements.

[Morag]

FIRE--String instruments. What?

I don't know, having heard Vanessa Mae's violin pieces...I can see the fire/strings correspondence.



Personally though, I might be more inclined to put metal percussive instruments as Fire and strings as Water...or not. I don't know really; it's not something I ever gave any thought to before.

[Allaya]

WATER--Metal percussives (bells, cymbals, gongs, chimes, tambourine, triangle...). Not as intuitive, but I can go with it.

Absolutely intuitive for those possessing the historical context. What you're missing is a knowledge of the medieval water clock, which is a fairly obscure bit of trivia nowadays.

Have a watch of the fabulous James Burke explain the water clock here (go to the 15:00 minute mark): https://archive.org/details/james-burke-connections_s01e05

[Aisling]

I don't know, having heard Vanessa Mae's violin pieces...I can see the fire/strings correspondence.

She sprang to my mind as well.  For me, violin/fiddle resonate with the fire association.  Cello and other strings, not so much. 

[Ashmire]

Absolutely intuitive for those possessing the historical context. What you're missing is a knowledge of the medieval water clock, which is a fairly obscure bit of trivia nowadays.

Have a watch of the fabulous James Burke explain the water clock here (go to the 15:00 minute mark): https://archive.org/details/james-burke-connections_s01e05

Equally intuitive if you've ever been in a metal-roofed building during a rainstorm!

[PerditaPickle]

WATER--Metal percussives (bells, cymbals, gongs, chimes, tambourine, triangle...). Not as intuitive, but I can go with it.

Tinkling, sounds like water flowing (bells and chimes especially - would xylophone come under this category, too (I'm aware they could have either metal or wooden keys, if keys is the right word)?  Also, the thumb harp, which my husband was gifted for Christmas by my folks.

Oh, and this lovely drum thingy, which I really want one of:  http://tonguedrum.co.uk/ (please note my browser is telling me this site's not secure, apparently).


[ETA missing word and punctuation -- PP]

[SunflowerP]

Oh, and this lovely drum thingy, which I really want one of:  http://tonguedrum.co.uk/ (please note my browser is telling me this site's not secure, apparently).

Hey, nifty. <bookmarks... after doing the operation described below>

A secure connection can be made just by adding 's' to 'http' (thus, 'https'), and (as is not always the case when converting to the secure https!) the site still appears and functions. Or, here is the secure clickylink.

Sunflower

[MadZealot]

WATER.

One that comes to mind for me is the singing bowl. I think that's probably because bowl = vessel, and whatever other meaning you wanna attach to that.

Also, a cursory googling tells me you can play the bowl while there's water in it. So.

[Aster Breo]

After doing some digging online, it seems the following correspondences are usually assigned to the four classical elements in Western esoteric tradition for musical instruments:

EARTH--Drums. Makes sense to me.

AIR--Wind instruments. Another no-brainer...although I didn't see anything that specified whether that's woodwinds or brass instruments. I suppose it's meant to include both?

WATER--Metal percussives (bells, cymbals, gongs, chimes, tambourine, triangle...). Not as intuitive, but I can go with it.

FIRE--String instruments. What?

I don't get that last one at all, except for by exclusion (everything else was taken). Why violins/cellos/guitars/harps for fire? Further, in the context of a large-scale ritual, the other 3 all involve sounds that will carry a great distance; strings, not so much. So why strings?

And WTF is up with fire?

The first thing that popped into my mind, as a former violin player, is the friction between the string and the bow.

Not saying that's a solid reason.

What kind of instrument do you think would be better for fire?

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[Sefiru]

What kind of instrument do you think would be better for fire?

I would think brass instruments for fire (because metalworking). Woodwinds for air.

My first thought for strings would be water, especially harps, because of the flowing sounds they make (or in some cases of plucked strings, sound like raindrops).

[PerditaPickle]

A secure connection can be made just by adding 's' to 'http' (thus, 'https'), and (as is not always the case when converting to the secure https!) the site still appears and functions. Or, here is the secure clickylink.

Ah thanks.

I'm torn between supporting this company and going for a (much!) cheaper model I've seen advertised elsewhere -- it'd be a risk because the cheaper ones may be inferior quality, but then again I cannot justify spending the amount charged by tonguedrum.co.uk.  Ah well, on the wish list it goes.

[PerditaPickle]

My first thought for strings would be water, especially harps, because of the flowing sounds they make (or in some cases of plucked strings, sound like raindrops).

Ah yes, fair point.

[Sefiru]

After doing some digging online, it seems the following correspondences are usually assigned to the four classical elements in Western esoteric tradition for musical instruments:

Not an *elemental* correspondence exactly, but I often think I would like to have an F# bell. Because reasons.