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CASTANETS

Castanets are a percussion musical instrument, which consists of two round hollow halves connected by a cord. Initially, castanets were made only of wood; today, fiberglass is often used for their manufacture. A particularly widespread musical instrument in Spain, Latin America, Italy.

Translated from Spanish, the name of the instrument means "chestnut", but it is made from walnut, granadillo, rosewood, ebony and even ivory.

Origin

The origin of the castanets is not known for certain. This is one of the most ancient musical instruments. Images of instruments similar to castanets can be found on the frescoes of Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece. The very first such musical instruments were the so-called crotalo, very similar to castanets, only elongated.

It is impossible to determine exactly where the tool originally appeared, because almost every nation of the world has a variant similar in principle. It is considered to be Spanish, because most often it became an accompaniment to flamenco dances, which were widespread in this country.

There are also opinions that the castanets were brought by Christopher Columbus from the New World. Some claim that the Roman Empire was their homeland.

Another legend says that castanets were donated to the Spaniards by the Moors during the capture of Spain.

In Italy, the instrument was also famous and popular, as in Spain, so Italians often challenge the primacy of the castanets.

However, it is the Spanish dancers who master the instrument perfectly, creating incredible rhythms and dance patterns.

Using castanets

Since the 17th century, castanets have been used as a musical instrument to accompany ballets. Here the instrument was even used solo.

In the 20th century, the instrument was glorified by the great dancers La Argentina and Carola Goya. Moreover, Goya used castanets, accompanied by a symphony orchestra.

Today, castanets in classical music are used to accompany Spanish dances. Orchestras use special castanet machines.

There are two ways to play castanets:

• folk;

• classical.

In the classical game, the right hand holds a castanet, which sounds louder, it is played with four fingers, and the instrument is attached to the thumb.

In folk playing, the castanet is attached to one or more fingers, and the sound is produced by moving the hand, not fingers. The sound for this type of game is much louder.

How to keep castanets?

Beautiful and accurate performance on castanets depends on the correct use of the musical instrument. Therefore, you need to know how to hold castanets.

• in your right hand take castanets with a higher sound - "hembra";

• to the left - respectively, with a more muffled sound - "macho";

• fasten the castanets on the thumbs;

• wrap the lace connecting the two castanets shells around the thumbs so that you can tap the upper part with your fingers, making a sound;

• The right hand on the castanet is played with four fingers: the little finger, ring, middle and index fingers, which, like hammers, extract fast trills along the outer half of the castanet.

• The left hand emphasizes the rhythm with separate notes (golpes).

Playing castanets requires a lot of patience and skill, therefore their accompaniment is used less and less nowadays and only during the dancer's solo performance.