You, Too, Can Play The Spoons

Chapter 4

First, some things the spoon player need not worry about. Forget about notes and the scale, chord, key, pitch, sharps, flats, major and minor. While the other musicians are futtzing with such matters, you can fiddle a bit with your spoons and tap them lightly in a manner that will impress the easily impressed.

You will need to know a lot about beat, off-beat, accent, rhythm, bar (measure), time, tempo, song form, chords and chord changes and themes and theme changes.

The beat is the number of whole or partial notes that are played in a group before the group is repeated. The group can be one, two, three; one, two, three; etc. or one, two, three, four; one, two, three, four; etc. The beat is what the musicians express with their toes as they tap them on the floor while playing, or awaiting their turn to play.

Accent is the emphasis put upon each beat. The accent can be the same or it can be ONE, two, three; ONE, two, three; etc. It can be ONE, two, THREE, four; ONE, two, THREE, four; etc. The changes in accent establish the rhythm of the song.

A measure (bar) is made up of a set number of beats between the vertical bars on a music sheet. The measure is expressed as a fraction and is called the time. Times are 3/4 (waltz), 4/4 (fox-trot and polka), 2/2, 5/4, 6/8, 12/8, etc. The spoon player will mostly play in 3/4 and 4/4 time. You can try the other times and learn to play those where the spoons are appropriate.

The off-beat is a slightly softer note that alternates with the beat to create a double-time. Most folks can drum with their fingers on a table playing the beat with one hand and adding the off-beat with their other hand. Most folks can also do this with drum sticks in their hands. One need only transfer these beats to their spoons.

With apologies to Lawrence Welk, one can also say one "an a" two "an a" three "an a" four with the number being the beat and with "an a" being the off-beat.

Tempo describes the speed at which the song is to be played. It is noted at the beginning of the printed music as slowly, rather slow, not too slowly, not too fast, brightly, lively, with spirit, march time and various Italian words. Tempo is usually no problem for the spoon player. He just lays back until it is established by the leaders of the group and he can fall right in.

Sometimes the job of maintaining the tempo and beat falls on the rhythm section of which the spoon player is a part. If the group playing falters or slackens, it is the job of the rhythm section to maintain the beat and tempo through thick and thin.

Sometimes the spoon player is the pillar that holds the show together until the others can pick themselves up again.

Form is the arrangement of a song into themes and chords. Many songs have two themes which are repeated several times. The themes give the song its melody or structure. Chord progressions are also repeated several times. The progression might be one wherein chord (A) is followed by a second (B) and then the first is repeated (A). A common variation is A-A-B-A.

The song leader selects and announces the beginning chord for each tune so that the other musicians and vocalists can prepare themselves to play the tune in the announced chord.

Most tunes have one or more themes. In songs with vocals, the theme changes can be recognized in the differences in he music for the verses and for the chorus. In fiddle tunes, they can be easily recognized in the musical changes. The chords and themes give a song its melody or structure.

It is very important for the spoon player to know the point of the chord and theme changes and know how to make changes in his beat and off-beat and in his role as a player at these change points.