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Castanets are traditionally made from wood - the harder the wood, the better the sound. The traditional wood for castanets is granadillo. Ebony, rosewood, pomegranate and oak also give a good sound quality.
The more you use wooden castanets, the better they sound. To play at their best, they must also be kept warm and dry (many flamenco dancers keep their castanets in a woollen sock!). Excessive cold, heat or hard knocks can crack or break wood castanets.
Modern castanets are often made from pressed canvas or fibreglass because those materials are more resistant to knocks and temperature variations. Many dancers still claim the sound improves with playing and that they must be kept warm, like the wooden ones - however I'm not convinced it makes any difference at all to fibreglass castanets.
Always, always buy professional castanets. Don't be sucked in by descriptions like "semi-professional" or "student" - they're tourist quality and will sound awful. A good pair of castanets will last you for life so it's worth getting it right first time.
Take care to buy the right size castanet. If they're too big, you won't be able to control them. A castanet should be smaller than the palm of your hand - but not too small, or you'll have trouble doing rolls.
Unfortunately, there's no standard sizing for castanets. You'll see recommendations that children should play size 3, or women should play size 6, or men should choose size 8 - but that's meaningless unless you know what make of castanets they're referring to.
A good guide is to measure the width of your palm, just under your fingers. If you choose a castanet that's the same width or slightly less, they will probably be about right. Don't buy a pair that is even a little wider, though - they will be too big.
Photo by Arteunporro on Flickr
The cajon is, basically, a box that is used like a drum. It's played by sitting on top of the box and playing the front face between the legs.
It originated in South America (possibly Peru) but is now an essential element of flamenco. If you're looking for a cajon to accompany flamenco, make sure it's the Spanish version - it has strings or metal objects added to make it resonate. Some South American cajones are just a hollow box.
If you're a dancer, it's worth having some cajon lessons because it gives you a different insight on the rhythms.
The sound of castanets is instantly identifiable - outside Spain at least! - as flamenco. Flamenco purists dismiss castanets as not being "authentic", but in fact, there are a lot of things about modern flamenco that aren't authentic - so why pick on castanets?
Look carefully at the hand position in this clip:
If you want to play castanets well, you must get the hand position correct, right from the start. Most beginners start out all right, then quickly let their hands fall into a more comfortable - but less efficient - position. Get into that bad habit and you'll never master castanets!
The other mistake beginners make is to have the strings too loose. Sorry, but you should have a nasty red groove in your thumb when you take off your castanets!
Finally, don't be tempted to buy cheap castanets just because you're a beginner. Many cheap castanets are made for tourists, not for real dancers. They're often too small, and even the correctly sized ones sound dreadful. If you buy a good pair of castanets and decide to give up dancing later, there's a good chance you can sell them on to another dancer.
