StringsEach tube hangs from the top on its own string.
TubesIts length, width, thickness and material set the note it sounds.
Down the middle 3
ClapperA ball or disk hung in the middle; it strikes the tubes.
Center stringIt hangs down the middle and carries the clapper and the sail.
Wind sailThe flat piece at the bottom that catches the wind.
How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two independent sources use it. (1) Wikipedia, Wind chime, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_chime, text only (suspended tubes or rods; a central clapper, hung, shaped as a ball or level disk; a disk fixed on the cord with the wind sail; frequency set by length, width, thickness and material). (2) Lee Hite, Say It With Chimes, a builder's step-by-step guide, http://leehite.org/Chimes.htm (chime tubes, support line or cord, striker, wind sail or wind catcher, support disk). (3) A chime maker's questions page and parts list, names only, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20050228213040/http://www.woodstockchimes.com/faq.html and https://web.archive.org/web/20140408062427/http://www.chimes.com/c-45-parts.aspx (center string, windcatcher, clapper, tubes, chime string, chime top). Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's chime, nothing traced. Licence: own work
How it works
The parts of a wind chime hang from one top piece: tubes on strings round its edge, and a center string with a clapper among the tubes and a wind sail below them.
Read the full guide
Round the edge
Numbers 1 and 2. Each tube hangs from the top on its own string. The tubes differ in length, so each sounds its own note.
Down the middle
Numbers 3 to 5. The center string carries the clapper among the tubes and the wind sail below them. Wind moves the sail, and the clapper strikes the tubes.
Names vary: the clapper is also called the striker, and the wind sail is also called the windcatcher.
Questions and answers
What hangs down the middle of a wind chime?
Two things hang on the center string. The clapper, also called the striker, hangs among the tubes and strikes them. The wind sail, also called the windcatcher, hangs at the bottom and catches the wind.
What does the wind sail on a wind chime do?
It catches the wind. The sail hangs below the tubes on the center string, and when the wind pushes it, the string swings the clapper into the tubes.
Why are the tubes of a wind chime different lengths?
So that each sounds a different note. The note a tube gives depends on its length, width, thickness and material.
What is the top of a wind chime called?
Names differ. One maker sells it as the chime top, and a builder's guide calls it the support disk. It is drawn here without a number, because no one name had two sources.