Spoon (musical instrument) facts for kids
Spoons are not just for eating! They can also be used as a fun musical instrument. When played, they act like a percussion instrument, which means you hit them to make sounds. They are a type of idiophone, similar to castanets, and you play them by tapping one spoon against another.
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How to Play Spoons
There are several ways to play spoons to create different sounds and rhythms. Here are some common techniques:
- Tongs Style: Hold two spoons tightly with their curved sides facing out. Place your index finger between their handles to keep them slightly apart. When you hit the spoons, they quickly strike each other and then spring back. You can tap them against your knee, the palm of your hand, or other body parts to make different sounds and rhythms.
- Salad Serving Style: Hold one spoon with your little, ring, and middle fingers. Hold the other spoon with your ring, thumb, and index fingers. Arrange them so they can turn around your ring finger. You can hit the curved (convex) sides of the spoons together by bringing your fingers closer.
- Castanets Style: Hold two spoons in each hand. Place one spoon with its curved side against your palm, holding it down with your thumb. Place the other spoon between your ring and middle fingers, with your fingertips inside its curved part. You can hit the curved sides of the spoons together by squeezing your middle and ring fingers.
- Drumstick Style: Hold one spoon with its curved side against your palm, tucking its handle under your wrist watch strap. Hold another spoon between your ring and middle fingers of your left hand, playing it like a castanet. Then, use a third spoon in your right hand to hit both spoons in your left hand.
Spoons in American Folk Music
In the United States, spoons are often used in American folk music, especially in old-time minstrel shows and jug bands. These types of music often use everyday objects as instruments, like the washboard and the jug. Besides regular eating spoons, you can also find special spoons joined at the handle made for playing music.
Spoons in British Folk Music
In Britain, spoons are used as a percussion instrument to go along with fiddle playing and other folk music. For example, in the TV show Midsomer Murders, a character plays the spoons at a party with a fiddle player. He uses the "tongs style" technique. Guests often clap their hands to the music as well.
The song "This Old Man" talks about a similar idea, but it uses sheep bones (called "paddywhack") instead of spoons.
Spoons in Canadian Folk Music
In Canada, spoons are a popular instrument for accompanying fiddle music, especially in Québecois and Acadian traditions. People in Newfoundland and the Atlantic provinces also often play spoons at family gatherings. In Western Canada, playing the spoons is closely connected to the Métis culture.
Spoons in Greek Folk Music
In Greece, spoons used as a percussion instrument are called koutalakia (Greek: κουταλάκια), which means 'little spoons'. Dancers sometimes use them to tap out rhythms while they dance. Many of these spoons are specially decorated. This tradition is not very common in mainland Greece today, but it used to be popular among Greeks from Anatolia (modern-day Turkey).
Spoons in Russian Folk Music
Spoons are often used in ethnic Russian music and are known as lozhki (Russian: Ло́жки). People have been using spoons for music in Russia since at least the 1700s, and probably even earlier.
Usually, three or more wooden spoons are used. Players hit the curved (convex) parts of the spoon bowls together in different ways:
- Two spoons can be held by their handles in the left hand. A third spoon, held in the right hand, is used to hit the two spoons in the left hand. This creates a special sliding sound.
- Someone can hold three spoons in their left hand and put a fourth spoon in their boot or pocket. A fifth spoon is then held in the right hand and used to hit the other four.
- You can also hold the bowl of a single spoon in your left hand and hit it with another spoon. By holding the bowl more or less tightly, you can make different sounds.
These wooden spoons are commonly used in Russian folk music performances and sometimes even in Russian orchestras.
Spoons in Turkish Folk Music
Turkish spoons, called Turkish: kaşıklar, are a percussion instrument used in Turkish and Uzbek music. Spoons made from boxwood are especially liked. There are also different ways to hold and play them:
- Hold the handle of one spoon between your middle and ring fingers, with your fingertips in the curved part. Lean the curved part of a second spoon against the base of your thumb, back-to-back with the first spoon. This is a popular method, often used with two spoons in each hand while dancing. Closing your fist makes the spoon pairs hit each other. Sometimes, the tips of the spoon handles are brushed against each other for a different sound.
- Hold the handle of one spoon with your ring finger, thumb, and index finger. Place the handle of the other spoon behind your ring finger, but inside your little and middle fingers, back-to-back with the first spoon. Your ring finger acts like a hinge, helping to hold both spoons. Lightly clasping your fingers makes the spoons hit each other.
- Hold two spoons back-to-back on either side of your right hand's index finger. Hold the tips of the spoon handles lightly with your little and ring fingers. Then, hit the spoons down to your leg and up to the inside of your left hand. Your left thumb and index finger hold lightly, letting both handles slip through to make several spoon sounds in one up-down movement. The spoon tips can also skip over left-hand fingers or sleeve folds to create a rolling sound. This is a popular method when sitting.
- Hold spoons in your left hand as in the first style. Push a third spoon under your watch strap, and hold a fourth spoon in your right hand. This method is used when sitting down.
Famous Spoon Players
Many musicians have used spoons in their performances:
- Abby the Spoon Lady (born 1981) is a well-known street performer in the USA who plays the spoons.
- Artis the Spoonman (born 1948) is a street performer from Seattle. He was even featured in the Soundgarden song "Spoonman".
- Duncan Campbell (born 1958) from the British band UB40 is a reggae singer. He was once the only registered spoon player with the Musicians' Union in the United Kingdom.
- Noel Crombie (born 1953) includes spoons in his music.
- A. "Claude" Ferguson (1923-2006) wrote a booklet called "You, Too, Can Play the Spoons." He was featured in Highlights Magazine in 2007.
- Bobby Hebb (1938-2010) used spoons in his music.
- British actor Sylvester McCoy (born 1943), famous for playing the seventh Doctor Who, is skilled at playing the spoons.
- Children's singer Eric Nagler (born 1942) plays the spoons.
- Sam Spoons (died 2018) was a drummer and spoon player for the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band.
- Sr. Coronar is a traditional folk musician from California.
- Russian president Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007) was known to enjoy playing wooden spoons with his officials.
See also
In Spanish: Cucharas (instrumento musical) para niños
