The Ney is held with the right hand covering the three bottom holes and the left hand is used to cover the top three front holes and the thumb covers the back hole. The holes have to be firmly covered to get the Ney playing properly.

Place the top part of the Ney on the mouth. The Ney will feel like an extension to the lips and you should be ready to start making a sound...

The lips have to be pearced and the blown air is directed at the edge of the Ney. The embosure is not the same as playing the bottles or the transverse flute. Basically there is no good way to describe this. It is like someone explaining whistling to you. You just put your lips together and blow.

Initially, you may get screeching sounds or whistling in the Ney. It takes a lot of practice to get clean notes. You should also start with all the holes open. When you are able to get a clean sound, cover the back hole then start over. As you get better, cover more holes until you are able to get sounds from all the holes of the Ney.

It will take a lot of practice to get the ney playing properly. It took me about three weeks to get sound from one hole only. If you are feeling dizzy, that means that you are trying too hard.