Musical Spoons

Up until Soundgarden release the video of Spoon Man, few people were really aware of musical spoons. All of a sudden, they reached a brief period of popularity. People who never would have been caught dead playing music spoons were suddenly clicking away against the knees, legs, chest, and neighboring objects.

While most of these kids didn't realize was that spoons music went back far before that video. Musical spoons are one of the most simplistic, basic instruments for creating rhythm. The only simpler thing than musical spoons is using your hands alone. This is called ham bone, and is quite an art In Appalachia even to this day.

The principle behind musical spoons is pretty simple. You hold them almost like chopsticks, except you brace them against the back of your hand. You place them so that the actual bowls of the spoons are only half an inch apart, give or take a centimeter. When you hit the spoons against something, they will click together. By doing this quickly and precisely, you can create simple rhythms and even give a live performance

although musical spoons are pretty rudimentary instrument, they do have some advantages. One of my favorite parts about playing the spoons is that I can play them anywhere. I have a good pair of music spoons that I bought from a traditional music store, but in reality any ordinary spoons will work just fine. If I am at a party that is getting kind of boring, I can start beating out a rhythm on spoons. If I run into someone who is playing guitar and want to lay down a little rhythm, I always have an instrument with me. Drums are still my main thing, but I do get a surprising amount of use out of those musical spoons.

The biggest thing in playing musical spoons is to come up with a lot of interesting tricks to do. The actual music that you make out of them is basically little more than a rhythmic clicking. The trick of the thing is to put in some showmanship. If you can put on a good show with a novel instruments, you can really get the audience in on it. It's especially good skill for busking, as people love to see unusual things on street corners. Everyone has seen hippies banging away on hand drums before or guitars strumming, but playing the spoons is a bit out of the ordinary.

Summary: Musical spoons have a long history. It is the simplest instrument to play, and many in Appalachia consider it an art form. Soundgarden helped revive playing spoons with the vidoe release of Spoon Man, and now many people are taking the time to play the spoons once again.

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