Michelle emailed us to say:
“This is a question for Tim Bowdler, who wrote the Do’s & Don’ts for Percussionists article. Thanks for the article! Can you please add a paragraph for the egg shaker? We have one on our team, but are sometimes at a loss as to when to play it, style, etc.”
Tim replies:
The foolproof way to play the egg is to turn the sharp end of the egg away from you and shake in a kind of ‘throwing a javelin’ technique. Play in a 4/4 time so the shake at the pointed part of the egg is hitting the ‘on beat’ (1,2,3,4). You do look a bit stupid, but it does work. If you are playing a 6/8 time, do the same but get the accents on the 1 and the 4. There are other ways of playing the egg, but that should get you on your way. Hope that helps.
