This is long. But hopefully it will give someone a good start. Please don't reproduce this without contacting me. sol@nmax.net

Andrea

Castanets, a centuries-old percussion instrument, are part of the musical heritage of Spain. They consist of two pairs of shallow, cup-shaped, pieces of wood. A piece of strong cord, is passed through a pair of holes drilled into each half and closed by a sliding knot. The sliding knot allows the cord to be adjusted to the finger size of the musician.

One castanet of the pair is higher pitched. She is the female, in Spanish called the hembra, but also known as the chatterer. The other is lower pitched. He is the male, the macho, an instrument of few words in comparison to his partner. The hembra is held in the dominant hand of the musician. For most people that means the right hand. Many beginner castanets will have some sort of mark to designate the macho if you can't hear the pitch difference.

Carmen de Vicente says this of castanets:

The Castanets, part of Spain's musical heritage, are a percussion instrument popular in various Spanish dances. Mastery of the castanets requires separate study from dance to gain maximum artistic expression. (footnote 1)

And she should know, being one of less than four professional castanet players in the world.

Castanets are used differently depending on whether you are doing regional dances from the south or north of Spain.

A common northern dance that uses castanets is the Jota. (pronounced [HOH-tah]). The strings are slipped onto the middle finger of each hand. The larger knuckle is in between the two sides of the string loop. The castanets are struck with the middle two fingers of each hand. During this dance, the arms are often held extended above the head, or extended out to the side. The palms are facing the ground. The castanets dangle open. This method of playing is generally not what people mean when they want to know how to play castanets. However, it is considered the more ancient method.

The castanet playing that accompanies the sevillanas [seh-vee-LYAH-nahs], a southern regional dance from Seville, is the more commonly known method of playing the castanets around the world. This is because the sevillanas has been adopted in the flamenco dance repertoire. Flamenco is the best-known type of Spanish dance and is taught all over the world.

Back to learning how to play the castanets. A basic rhythmic component of this method is the carretilla, which means the little cart. But in English it is generally called a roll. A roll consists of 5 beats, four on the hembra with the macho having the final word.

To begin the roll, start with the pinky and strike the hembra near the edge around 5 o'clock if you imagine a clock face on the castanet. Curl the fingers toward the palm of the hand. Continue with the ring, middle and index fingers. Finish the roll with a strong golpe by using middle two finger pads in approximately the middle of the macho.

Start out slowly. Each strike of the castanets should be evenly paced, including the golpe. Ra-ta-ta-ta-TAT. The golpe of the macho should sound slightly stronger or louder, but only slightly. It's like putting a period on the end of a statement. With practice comes proficiency and with proficiency comes speed. There is no need to rush it. The consistency of the sound is more important. A golpe, striking the center of the castanet with the two middle fingers, can be done on either the hembra or the macho. But during a carretilla, it is always done with the macho.

After becoming competent with the carretilla, it is important to learn some rhythms that accompany different dances. In _The_Language_of_Spanish_Dance_ by Matteo, he identifies patterns for four different dances. These would be an excellent starting point. The instructions are written for a musician who is right hand dominant. If you have matching sheet music and a recording, this may help you match the castanet rhythm to the dance time signature.

Vals (Waltz) 3/4 time

Both Left Roll

1 2 &3

Sevillanas 6/8 time

Left Roll Roll Right

1 &2 &3 &

Bolero 3/4 time

Both Left Roll Left Roll Both

1 & 2 & 3 &

Pasodoble 2/4 time

Both Left Roll Both

1 & 2 & (footnote 2)

1 http://www.carmendevicente.com/castanet.html

2 Matteo, The Language of Spanish Dance, Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1990, pg. 28.