Castanets are percussion instruments whose origins date back thousands of years. Made of wood, they are two concave pieces joined by a cord that must be hit together to produce their characteristic sound.
The musician should attach the cord to the middle finger or thumb, using the rest of the fingers to achieve the tapping. Castanets are similar to rattles , small metal cymbals that also collide with each other to sound.
With four fingers of the right hand, movements must be made to play the instrument, in the following way: we begin by giving a small blow with the little finger and continue with the ring finger, the largest finger and, finally, with the index finger. The elder of the left hand, on the other hand, must accompany the ringing and set the rhythm of the music.
There are many exercises on the Internet to start practicing with castanets if we have not yet found a teacher or if we do not have the money to take private lessons. The first thing we should do is practice finger coordination, a fundamental point in playing any instrument, and especially castanets.
To improve the control of the movement of our fingers we can begin by making small strokes with the right hand in the following order: little finger, ring finger, middle finger and, finally, index finger. Once this short sequence is completed, it is time for the left hand to respond with the middle finger.
This exercise may seem simple, but mastering it to the point of not needing to "think" about the actions our hands perform takes time, and that is why it is necessary to repeat it for a while, increasing the speed progressively, until the tapping sounds fade away. they found
Once we have reached a good level with the previous exercise we can move on to one that consists of alternating a touch from each finger of the right hand with one from the middle finger of the left hand. A third possible exercise to increase mastery of the castanets can be with two strokes of each right finger, also alternating with one of the left largest finger.
With these three exercises we have a good basis to begin to get used to the use of this very peculiar instrument, which seems easy to execute from the outside but requires a degree of coordination that not all of us have within our reach, especially without hours and hours of practice. . To become professionals, the key is the same as any other company: dedication, patience and perseverance, without losing sight of our goals despite the difficulties.
Castanets are believed to have been created by the Phoenicians . Commercial activity brought castanets to the Mediterranean region and thus this musical instrument settled in Spain , Italy and other countries . Currently castanets are part of traditional Spanish culture .
The bolero dance school , fandango and flamenco , among other cultural manifestations, use castanets. Various Ibero-American folkloric genres also use these instruments.
During the first stage of learning , students usually use plastic instruments, which are very popular among children. Castanets for professionals, on the other hand, are made from wood. There are castanets of different sizes, suitable to fit the hand. It is important to keep in mind that, in a pair of castanets, each one sounds different.
Castañuela , in the singular, is the name used to name plants such as Cyperus rotundus , Bunium balearicum , Pallenis spinosa and Bolboschoenus maritimus , among others. It is also the name of the fish Chromis chromis , which belongs to the order of perciformes.