Who plays bones?

Irish Flute
1

You know, those two flat, curved sticks? You hold them between two fingers in your fist? I’m just getting the hang of it. I want to know, how much control can you expect to get with these things? I just get rolling, and then I can’t stop or my bicep starts to ache with all the shakin’ goin’ on. My band mates are all like, “That’s too loud!” or “NOt so many clicks!”

Will I ever be a tasteful bones player? I wonder.

What is your experience?

2

I just started bones too! So I’m not going to try to answer your questions because I can’t play them! The problem I’m having is being able to get all the right sounds the moment I pick up the bones. It takes me a couple of beats to get into the rhythm. And also, I have trouble putting a single tap in the middle of a “roll” or whatever its called when you play all those taps… and then getting back into the roll again… I would love to hear anyone’s experience!! Thanks!

3

DITTO! It is hard to get all the clicks in place right off the bat. I think a process of deconstruction is how I’m going to handle it. I’ll go for a single tap per beat for as long as I can go, and move up from there. Mastering one aspect, then another, will give me the most confidence later on.

It’s such a weird balance requiring a loose wrist to get that “snap,” yet tight reflexes to vary the taps.

By the way fellow fluters, I’m sorry this is so off topic. I was inspired by a “do you play mandolin” thread on the whistle board posted by Loren. Loren, do you play bones?

Thurlowe

4

The other thing: Do you have trouble playing equally well on both hands? I guess that just comes with practice… but I can do a single tap better with the left hand, and a whole bunch better with the right hand. I’m trying to be better with my left hand, but the only way I can get all the sounds is if I move my right hand in the correct motion at the same time. Which would be fine, if it didn’t look so strange…

5

Ha-ha, that must look pretty goofy. As to playing with the other hand, I thought that was some sort of misprint in the “How to Play Bones” handout I have. “Learn on both hands? You’ve got to be kidding!” So I stick to my dominant hand, the left. And let my right hand sit uselessly at my side.

So we’re pretty lonely here on this thread, aren’t we? The bones “craze” must have come and gone. But there’s always the chance that me and Staten Island are…

The Bones Vanguard

6
  • My bones technique is marginal, and in one hand, the other nearly useless so far. -I only know to rotate the wrist rather than throw the forearm out to get a run going. Playing “bones” with a good weight to them may help, something like olive wood or actual bone.-Not too short may also help, so the pendular swing of the bone is easier to effect. I had the pleasure many years ago of watching Percy Danforth often, and his playing was a wonder, but something he had been at for a long time.(Decades) He put on a stirring show right up through advanced age. Teaching materials/bones bearing the Danforth name are available, but I haven’t tried them.-Good Luck!
7

Percy Danforth’s video is called Mr. Bones. If you’ve already got the hang of getting the bones to clack correctly, his video might help. I tried to learn straight from the video and couldn’t do it: I hired a bones teacher to get me started (actually a bodhran player who also plays bones), but then when I had the flick of the wrist right I was able to get a lot more out of the video. I still have no endurance, though.

Carol

8

OK, a little more accurately now, with my video case in front of me. Percy Danforth’s video is called Mister Bones: How to Play the Bones, and it is distributed by Lark in the Morning. It’s a piece of work. Highly recommended if you have any interest in the bones at all, and it includes lots of musical performances.

By the way, I’ve been whistling for a number of years now but just last week started my flute adventure. I am now the proud owner of an Olwell bamboo flute and a Casey Burns mopane flute. I have really enjoyed reading through the posts in the flute forum and look forward to much wisdom from the board.

Carol