Hi Peter -

Tried to log in yesterday and couldn't. Yes, I think you've got it. You want to pull the string tight enough so that the halves of the castanets are apart (maybe a 30- to 40-degree angle?), but not so tight that you cut off your circulation. Then you keep your fingers cupped around the castanet to play, as I described earlier.

It doesn't take too much time or practice to begin to get a fairly decent sound, which is encouraging, but to get the really intricate rhythms is lots of work. I never achieved that higher level in the semester I lived there, but I did gain more fluency with the language and had a lot of fun besides.

Cheers,

Liz