Spoon (musical instrument)
Encyclopedia
Spoons can be played as a makeshift percussion instrument
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...

, or more specifically, an idiophone
Idiophone
An idiophone is any musical instrument which creates sound primarily by way of the instrument's vibrating, without the use of strings or membranes. It is the first of the four main divisions in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification...

 related to the castanets. "Playing the spoons" originated in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 as "playing the bones
Bones (instrument)
The bones are a musical instrument which, at the simplest, consists of a pair of animal bones, or pieces of wood or a similar material. Sections of large rib bones and lower leg bones are the most commonly used true bones, although wooden sticks shaped like the earlier true bones are now more...

," in which the convex sides of a pair of sheep rib bones were rattled in the same way.

Techniques

  1. A pair of spoons is held with concave sides facing out and with a finger between their handles to space them apart. When the pair is struck, the spoons sharply hit each other and then spring back to their original position. The spoons are typically struck against the knee and the palm of the hand. The fingers and other body parts may also be used as striking surfaces to produce different sounds and for visual effect.
  2. Salad serving style: one spoon between little, ring, and long finger; the other spoon between ring, thumb, and index finger in such a way that they can be moved with ring finger as the common axis. They can be hit to each other at the convex sides by gathering the fingers (mostly middle and thumb).
  3. Castanets style, two in each hand one held down by the thumb, one between ring and middle finger.
  4. One spoon in the left hand, one under the watch belt, these hit with one on the right hand.

British folk music

As percussion, spoons accompany fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...

 playing and other folk sets. An example is seen in Midsomer Murders
Midsomer Murders
Midsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was...

 Series 6, episode 2, where Detective Sergeant Gavin Troy plays the spoons at a house party joining a fiddle player who is entertaining the guests. He uses the first technique. The guests also contribute percussion by hand clapping in time with the music.

Greek folk music

The spoons in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, as a percussion instrument are known as koutalakia , which means also, spoon. The dancers hold the wooden koutalakia, to accompany with a variety of knocks their dance rhythms. The most of them, are very beautifully sculpted or painted.

American folk music

In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 spoons as instrument are associated with American folk music
American folk music
American folk music is a musical term that encompasses numerous genres, many of which are known as traditional music or roots music. Roots music is a broad category of music including bluegrass, country music, gospel, old time music, jug bands, Appalachian folk, blues, Cajun and Native American...

, minstrelsy
Minstrel show
The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface....

, and jug and spasm bands. These musical genres make use of other everyday objects as instruments, such as the washboard
Washboard
A washboard is a tool designed for hand washing clothing. With mechanized cleaning of clothing becoming more common by the end of the 20th century, the washboard has become better known for its originally subsidiary use as a musical instrument....

 and the jug
Jug (musical instrument)
The jug as a musical instrument reached its height of popularity in the 1920s, when jug bands, such as Cannon's Jug Stompers were popular. The jug is just that: an empty jug played with the mouth...

. In addition to common tableware, musical instrument suppliers make spoons that are joined at the handle.

Russian folk music

Spoons are often used in ethnic Russian music
Ethnic Russian music
Ethnic Russian music specifically deals with the folk music traditions of the ethnic Russian people. It does not include the various forms of art music, which in Russia often contains folk melodies and folk elements or music of aother ethnic groups living in Russia.-History:The roots of Russian...

 and are known as lozhki ( [plural]; Pronunciation: [singular]). The use of spoons for music dating at least from the 18th century (and probably older). Typically, three or more wooden spoons are used. The convex surfaces of the bowls are struck together in different ways. For example, two spoons are held by their handles in the left hand, and the third, held in the right hand, is used to hit the two spoons in the left hand. The hit, in a sliding motion, produces a typical sound. One can also hold three spoons in the left hand and put a fourth into the bot or the pocket. A fifth spoon is then held in the right hand and used to hit the other four. Finally, one can hold the bowl of a single spoon in the left hand and hit it with another spoon. In this style, different sounds can be emitted by holding the bowl more or less tightly.

These wooden spoons are commonly used in performances of Russian folk music and sometimes even in Russian orchestras. A video of a choir performing a Russian folk song with spoon and balalaika
Balalaika
The balalaika is a stringed musical instrument popular in Russia, with a characteristic triangular body and three strings.The balalaika family of instruments includes instruments of various sizes, from the highest-pitched to the lowest, the prima balalaika, secunda balalaika, alto balalaika, bass...

 accompaniment can be found below.

Turkish folk music

Kasik (spoon) is a Turkish percussion instrument. The ones made from boxwood
Buxus
Buxus is a genus of about 70 species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood ....

 are particularly favoured. The handles are taken between the fingers and the oval parts are held towards the inside of the hand in a back to back position. There are also different holding styles.

Musicians

  • Duncan Campbell
    Duncan Campbell (UB40)
    Duncan Campbell is a British musician and current lead singer of the British reggae band, UB40. He joined the band in 2008 after the departure of his brother Ali Campbell.-Early life:...

     British Reggae
    Reggae
    Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

     singer, formerly the only registered spoon player with the Musicians' Union
    Musicians' Union
    Organizations calling themselves the Musicians' Union include:*Musicians' Union *Musicians' Union *Several locals of the American Federation of Musicians, e.g. Musicians' Union Local No. 6 San Francisco*Musicians Union of South Africa...

     in the United Kingdom
    United Kingdom
    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

    .
  • Bobby Hebb
    Bobby Hebb
    Bobby Hebb was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his writing and recording of "Sunny".-Biography:...

     and Noel Crombie
    Noel Crombie
    Noel Crombie is a New Zealand singer and former member of the band Split Enz. He fulfilled multiple roles including costume and hair designer, percussionist, album cover designer, and music video director...

     are well-known spoons players.
  • In 1994, Seattle Grunge
    Grunge
    Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...

     band Soundgarden
    Soundgarden
    Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...

     had a hit with the song "Spoonman
    Spoonman
    "Spoonman" is a song by the American rock band Soundgarden. Written by frontman Chris Cornell, "Spoonman" was released on February 15, 1994 as the first single from the band's fourth studio album, Superunknown . "Spoonman" is often credited as one of the songs that launched Soundgarden's career...

    " that features a spoons performance by street artist Artis the Spoonman
    Artis the Spoonman
    Artis the Spoonman is an American street performer from Seattle, Washington, who uses spoons as a musical instrument....

    .
  • British actor Sylvester McCoy
    Sylvester McCoy
    Sylvester McCoy is a Scottish actor. As a comic act and busker he appeared regularly on stage and on BBC Children's television in the 1970s and 80s, but is best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who from 1987 to...

    , who most notably played the seventh incarnation of Doctor Who, is adept at playing the spoons, as evidenced during his tenure on Doctor Who as well as in his role in Ian McKellan's King Lear.
  • Sam Spoons, drummer of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band.
  • Abby the Spoon Lady, also known as the Nashville Spoon Lady is a street performer known for playing the spoons.

External links

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