Originaly, an ordinary laundry ustensil
Washboard players are part of a special, isolated world.
Nevertheless, originally, a washboard was really used to wash ones laundry.
Today, they are used as percussion instruments. You can play the washboard two different ways: * standing up, the washboard against your chest (what is also called à l’américaine)
* The washboard set on a rack (this time called à la française)
Washboards carry along rhythm and swing and are much easier to carry than drums.
It is indeed a washboard you can scratch, pat, and knock with real thimbles.
Some even consider it drums’ ancestor since it was formerly used in rural bands. At that time, two different types of washboards were used, one entirely made of wood, the other one was a framed waved steel sheet metal.
The music coming out of washboards is quite unique.
You can play the same rhythms you play with drums.
A good washboard is, like the name Jacques Pallas gave it, inoxydable (=stainless).
Copyright(c)2009 Jacques Pallas
