Flamenco Castanets

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Flamenco castanets are the first thing to look out for in line of the most important accessories in flamenco dancing. Flamenco castanets add flair to the flamenco dance, as these accessories make the dance seem more vibrant and make the whole dance seem like a joyful ensemble for everyone that watches that show.

Flamenco dance is actually a traditional part of the Spanish culture. However, the origin of the dance can be traced back to Andalusia. More than that, Latin America, Cuba, Extremadura, and Murcia all have contributed greatly to the several form developments of the flamenco dance. Flamenco music, together with the flamenco castanets, is an intrinsic part of the flamenco dance. The flamenco music styles called the palos are classified according to the chord progression, rhythmic pattern, geographic origin, mode, and form of stanza. There are actually over 50 palos flamencos that exist worldwide; however, most of them are hardly performed nowadays.

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There are some forms of flamenco dancing that would allow for improvisations from the dancers.  These improvisations are usually inspired by the rhythm and the beat of the guitars, plus the flamenco castanets drawn by the handclapping of the audience. The bailaor, which is the name given to the dancers of the flamenco, start to do spontaneous movements that will then match the rhythm of the song. The flamenco castanets will usually accompany the flamenco dancer costume, and these instruments contribute greatly to the uniqueness of every dance.
Flamenco castanets can be square, oval, rectangular, triangular, round, or pear-shaped. The largest know castanets today are called the “castanyolasses” which originated from Ibiza. They are the ones secured to four fingers like the “chacaras” which come from the Canary Isles.

There are also palm-sized castanets that are fixed to the middle finger which have become very famous today due to their use in Spanish Folklore.

The castanets first arrived in the scene at the beginning of the 18th century, wherein the birth of the classical Spanish dance schools invaded the panorama. The castanets used during this time are the ones that are attached to the thumb. These castanets become the obligatory accompaniment to all the Spanish dances. However, in the flamenco dance, flamenco castanets are not necessary. But dancers have been using these things to improve the dances and make the performance livelier. Most dancers will use these things together with the flamenco clothes tailor-made to make the performance visually appealing.

There are basic ways of playing the flamenco castanets. Generally, every pair of the castanets is composed of a male and a female. In order to tell these apart, you will have to look first at the marks of each shell. These marks are located in the area where the chord is found. Usually, the male half is the one that would have either one mark, or none at all. The sound that it produces is graver than the female counterpart. On the other hand, the female part has one or more marks, and the sound is more acute when compared to the male counterpart.