Renoir's 1909 painting Dancing girl with castanets

Castanets

The castanets are a percussion instrument (idiophone), much used in Moorish music, Roma music, Spanish music and Latin American music. The instrument consists of a pair of concave shells joined on one edge by string. These are held in the hand and used to produce clicks for rhythmic accents or a ripping or rattling sound consisting of a rapid series of clicks. They are traditionally made of hardwood, although fibreglass is becoming increasingly popular. Renoir, painted in 1909. ... Renoir, painted in 1909. ... The name Renoir refers to more than one person. ... 1909 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Castanets Source: Dutch Wikipedia nl:Afbeelding:Castagnetten. ... Castanets Source: Dutch Wikipedia nl:Afbeelding:Castagnetten. ... Percussion instruments are played by being struck, shaken, rubbed or scraped. ... An idiophone is any musical instrument which creates sound primarily by way of the instrument itself vibrating, without the use of strings or membranes. ... 19th century print of Roma musicians Roma music is highly varied among the diverse communities of the Roma (aka Gypsies). ... For many people, Spanish music is virtually synonymous with flamenco, an Andalucian-Gitano form of music. ... Latin American music, is sometimes wrongly called Latin music. ... Glass-reinforced plastic (GRP), is a composite material or fibre reinforced plastic made of a plastic reinforced by fine fibers made of glass. ...

In practice a player usually uses two pairs of castanets. One pair is held in each hand, with the string hooked over the thumb and the castanets resting on the palm with the fingers bent over to support the other side. Each pair will make a sound of a slightly different pitch. The higher pair, known as hembra (female), is usually held in the right hand, with the larger macho (male) pair held in the left. In music, pitch is the perception of the frequency of a note. ...

Castanets are often played by singers or dancers, and are prominently used in flamenco music. The name (Spanish: castañuelas) is derived from the diminutive form of castaña, the Spanish word for chestnut, which they resemble. In Andalusia they are usually referred to as palillos (little sticks) instead, and this is the name by which they are known in flamenco. Flamenco dancer Belen Maya, photograph taken by Gilles Larrain at his studio, 2001 Flamenco is a song, music and dance style which is strongly influenced by the Gitanos, but which has its deeper roots in Moorish musical traditions. ... Chestnut is also used to describe a certain colour of coat in horses that resembles the colour of the chestnut nut. ... Motto: Dominator Hercules Fundator Andalucía por sí, para España y la humanidad (Andalusia for herself, for Spain, and for humanity) Capital Seville Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked 2nd  87 268 km²  17,2% Population  â€“ Total (2003)  â€“ % of Spain  â€“ Density Ranked 1st  7 478 432  17,9%  85,70...

The origins of the instrument are not known. The practice of clicking hand-held sticks together to accompany dancing is ancient, and was practiced by both the Greeks and the Egyptians. In more modern times, the bones and spoons used in Minstrel show and jug band music can also be considered forms of the castanet. A pair of musical bones carved from maple The bones are a musical instrument (more specifically, a folk instrument) which, at the simplest, consists of a pair of bones, human or animal, or pieces of wood or a similar material. ... A common silver spoon A spoon is a common eating utensil, or item of cutlery, like a small spade, that occurs in a number of sizes and forms and is also suitable for liquid food and for stirring, and can have a number of other uses. ... The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, is an indigenous form of American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, usually performed by white people in blackface. ... A jug band is a band employing a jug player and other traditional and homemade instruments, such as rhythm guitar, washtub bass, washboard, jug, mandolin, and kazoo. ...

When used in an orchestral setting, castanets are sometimes attached to a handle, or mounted to a base to form a pair of machine castanets. This makes them easier to play, but also alters the sound, particularly for the machine castanets. It is possible to produce a roll on a pair of castanets in any of the three ways in which they are held. When held in the hand, they are bounced against the fingers and palm of the hand; on sticks, bouncing between fingers and the player's thigh is one accepted method. For a machine castanet, a less satisfactory roll is obtained by rapid alternation of the two castanets with the fingers. Orchestra at City Hall (Edmonton). ... This article is about the drum roll, a percussion technique. ...

Castanets are often used in classical music to evoke a Spanish atmosphere, as in Georges Bizet's opera, Carmen, or Emmanuel Chabrier's orchestral work España. They are also found in the "Dance of the Seven Veils" from Richard Strauss' opera Salome and in Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser. An unusual variation on the standard castanets can be found in Darius Milhaud's Les Choëphores, which calls for castanets made of metal. Classical music is music considered classical, as sophisticated and refined, in a regional tradition. ... Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (October 25, 1838 – June 3, 1875), was a French composer of the romantic era best known for his opera Carmen. ... The foyer of Charles Garniers Opéra, Paris, opened 1875 Opera is an art form consisting of a dramatic stage performance set to music. ... Carmen is a French opera by Georges Bizet. ... Emmanuel Alexis Chabrier (January 18, 1841 - September 13, 1894) was a French composer. ... Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864 – September 8, 1949) was a German composer of the late Romantic era, particularly noted for his tone poems and operas. ... Salome is a German opera by Richard Strauss. ... Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813 – February 13, 1883) was an influential German composer, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his groundbreaking symphonic-operas (or music dramas). His compositions are notable for their continuous contrapuntal texture, rich harmonies and orchestration, and elaborate use of leitmotifs: themes associated... In the Venusberg by John Collier, 1901: a gilded setting that is distinctly Italian quattrocento for soft-core High Culture. ... Darius Milhaud (September 4, 1892 - June 22, 1974) was a French-Jewish composer and teacher. ... Hot metal work from a blacksmith In chemistry, a metal (Greek: Metallon) is an element that readily forms ions (cations) and has metallic bonds, and metals are sometimes described as a lattice of positive ions (cations) in a cloud of electrons. ...