Castanets, also known as clackers or palillos, are a percussion instrument (idiophone), used in Spanish, Calé, Moorish,[1] Ottoman, Italian, Mexican, Sephardic, Portuguese, Philippine, Brazilian, and Swiss music.

One pair is held in each hand, with the string hooked over the thumb and the castanets resting on the palm with the fingers bent over to support the other side.

Origins further back in Ancient Egypt (which knew castanet-like instruments made of wood, ivory, and metal) are deemed probable.

[2] In more modern times, the bones and spoons used in Minstrel show and jug band music can also be considered forms of the castanet.

Their association with African dances is even stated in the ballet Flore (1669) by Lully, "... les Africains inventeurs des danses de Castagnettes entrent d'un air plus gai ..." A rare occasion where the normally accompanying instrument is given concertant solo status is Leonardo Balada's Concertino for Castanets and Orchestra Three Anecdotes (1977).

The Conciertino für Kastagnetten und Orchester by the German composer Helmut M. Timpelan, in cooperation with the castanet virtuoso, José de Udaeta, is another solo work for the instrument.

In the late Ottoman Empire, köçeks not only danced but played percussion instruments, especially a type of castanet known as the çarpare, which in later times were replaced by metal cymbals called zills.

One can also see Spanish influence in the music of Naples through the presence of castanets, as it was registered by Athanasius Kircher on his Tarantella Napoletana (tono hypodorico).