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Bones (instrument)
Encyclopedia
Musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
(more specifically, a folk instrument) which, at the simplest, consists of a pair of animal bone
Bone
Bones are rigid organs that constitute part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells and store minerals. Bone tissue is a type of dense connective tissue...
s, or pieces of wood or a similar material. Sections of large rib
Rib
In vertebrate anatomy, ribs are the long curved bones which form the rib cage. In most vertebrates, ribs surround the chest, enabling the lungs to expand and thus facilitate breathing by expanding the chest cavity. They serve to protect the lungs, heart, and other internal organs of the thorax...
bones and lower leg bones are the most commonly used true bones, although wooden sticks shaped like the earlier true bones are now more often used. If metal spoon
Spoon
A spoon is a utensil consisting of a small shallow bowl, oval or round, at the end of a handle. A type of cutlery , especially as part of a place setting, it is used primarily for serving. Spoons are also used in food preparation to measure, mix, stir and toss ingredients...
s are used instead, as is common in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, this is called "playing the spoons
Spoon (musical instrument)
Spoons can be played as a makeshift percussion instrument, or more specifically, an idiophone related to the castanets. "Playing the spoons" originated in Ireland as "playing the bones," in which the convex sides of a pair of sheep rib bones were rattled in the same way.- Techniques :# A pair of...
". The technique arrived in the U.S. via Irish immigrants, but has a history stretching back to ancient China, Egypt, Greece, and Rome.
They have contributed to many music genres, including 19th century minstrel shows, traditional Irish music, the blues, bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
, zydeco
Zydeco
Zydeco is a form of uniquely American roots or folk music. It evolved in southwest Louisiana in the early 19th century from forms of "la la" Creole music...
, French-Canadian music
French-Canadian music
French settlers brought music with them when inhabiting what is now Quebec and other areas throughout Canada. Since the arrival of French music in Canada, there has been much intermixing with the Celtic music of Anglo-Canada....
, and music from Cape Breton in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
. The clacking of the loose rib bones produces a much sharper sound than the zydeco 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....
or frottoir, which mimics rattling a bone up and down a fixed ribcage.
They are about 5" to 7" in length and curved, roughly resembling miniature barrel staves. They are played by holding them between one's fingers, convex
Convex polygon
In geometry, a polygon can be either convex or concave .- Convex polygons :A convex polygon is a simple polygon whose interior is a convex set...
surfaces facing one another, and moving one's wrist in such a way that they knock against each other. The customary method involves placing the bones to either side of the middle finger
Middle finger
The middle finger or long finger is the third digit of the human hand, located between the index finger and the ring finger. It is usually the longest finger...
such that approximately two-thirds of their length extends along the palm while the remainder protrudes above the fingers on the backside of the hand.
Ring finger
The ring finger is the fourth digit of the human hand, and the second most ulnar finger, located between the middle finger and the little finger. It is also called digitus medicinalis, the fourth finger, digitus annularis, digitus quartus, or digitus IV in anatomy.- Etymology :According to László A...
is gently held against the palm by the tip of the ring finger placed on its edge, while the other bone is left free to move in the "hinge" formed by the index
Index finger
The index finger, , is the first finger and the second digit of a human hand. It is located between the first and third digits, between the thumb and the middle finger...
and middle fingers as they gently hold it.
A player may use a pair of bones in each hand, or just a single pair in one hand.
A critical element to playing the bones is not trying to force them to make contact with one another through finger manipulation but allowing their momentum to do the work. By moving the hand back and forth across the chest, with just enough force on the bones to keep them from falling out of the hand, a patient learner can produce a triple click. This "click-it-y" sound is the essential ingredient to playing the bones. A double-click can be produced by the same movement of the hand with the addition of a bit of pressure to the bones to suppress the third click. Once these elemental triple and double figures have been mastered, they can be combined to create complex combinations of rhythmic sounds. The effect is further enhanced by the use of two pairs of bones, one in each hand. A skilled practitioner can produce a wide variety of percussive sounds reminiscent of those made by a tap dancer.
The comparison of the function of banjo roll
Banjo roll
In bluegrass music, a banjo roll or roll is a repeated pattern of eighth notes, an accompaniment pattern played by the banjo that by subdividing the beat 'keeps time'...
s with that of bones within an ensemble suggests that stereotypically a subdivided
Meter (music)
Meter or metre is a term that music has inherited from the rhythmic element of poetry where it means the number of lines in a verse, the number of syllables in each line and the arrangement of those syllables as long or short, accented or unaccented...
accompaniment pattern is played on the bones.
External links
- Modern Bones Players. Accessed May 31, 2007.
- John Burrill and the History of the Bones by Alan Lewis, July 4, 2002. Accessed May 31, 2007.
- Bones and the Man: Toward a History of Bones Playing Robert E McDowell (1982) The Journal of American Culture 5:1, (Spring 1982) pp. 38–43.
- Bone Tips and Techniques by Aaron Plunkett
- Rhythm Bones Society The Rhythm Bones Society is an IRS 501c(3) non-profit educational society formed for the purpose of the continuation, promotion, and improvement of rhythm bones and other related musical instruments.