A clap is the

percussive A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excl ...

sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often quickly and repeatedly to express appreciation or approval (see

applause Applause (Latin ''applaudere,'' to strike upon, clap) is primarily a form of ovation or praise expressed by the act of clapping, or striking the palms of the hands together, in order to create noise. Audiences usually applaud after a performance ...

), but also in rhythm as a form of body percussion to match the sounds in music,

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

chant A chant (from French ', from Latin ', "to sing") is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes ...

s, hand games, and

clapping game A clapping game (or hand game) is a type of usually cooperative (i.e., non-competitive) game which is generally played by two players and involves clapping as a rhythmic accompaniment to a singing game or reciting of a rhyme, often nursery rh ...

s. Some people slap the back of one hand into the palm of the other hand to signify urgency or enthusiasm. This act may be considered uncouth by others. Clapping is used in many forms of music. In American music, clapping is popular in Gospel,

Doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

and early

Pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

. In flamenco and sevillanas, two Spanish musical genres, clapping is called '' palmas'' and often sets the rhythm and is an integral part of the songs. A sampled or synthesized clap is also a staple of electronic and pop music.

Musical works that include clapping

Classical works performed entirely by clapping *

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, a ...

, '' Clapping Music'' (1972) * Robert Paterson, ''Voices'' (1988) *

Pascal Zavaro Pascal Zavaro (born 3 October 1959) is a French composer. Life Zavaro studied at the Conservatoire de Paris. In his music, rhythmic thinking is predominant. The sources are very broad, from rock, Bartók, Stravinsky or some scores of Steve Re ...

, ''Kino-Klap'' (2008) Classical works which include clapping *

Carlos Surinach Carlos Lund (or Carles Suriñach)
i Wrokona (; March 6, 1915 – November 12, 1997) was a Spanish-born

, ''Ritmo Jondo'' (1953) *

David Chesky David Chesky is an American pianist, composer, producer, arranger, and co-founder of the independent, audiophile label Chesky Records. He is also co-founder and CEO of HDtracks, an online music store that sells high-resolution digital music. Ches ...

, ''Flute Concerto'' et ''Violin Concerto'' The clapping patterns known as

keplok Keplok is a style of clapping used in Javanese gamelan. The clapping is in a specific interlocking rhythmic pattern and is performed by the gerong when they are not singing. It is usually associated with the lively ciblon (Surakarta) or batangan ( ...

are important in Javanese gamelan. A type of synthesized clap is popular in many rap and hip hop songs as well. This is derived from and mimics the technique used in older popular music (e.g.

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

of the 1970s), in which multiple instances of real handclaps were recorded or a single recording was made of a group of performers clapping in unison. This was usually done for the purpose of reinforcing the

snare drum The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used ...

beat on the 2nd and 4th beats of the bar (

offbeat Offbeat, originally a music term meaning "not following the standard beat", which has also become a general synonym for "unconventional" or "unusual", may refer to: Music *Syncopation *Off-beat (music), the musical term in more detail *Off Beat (l ...

). Modern R&B, hip hop, and rap often omit the snare drum, making the claps a more obvious and central feature of the beat.

Acoustics and medical applications

Clapping is useful in (medical) opening up blocked blood circulation. Clapping can be used in

acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...

to check the reverberation time of a room. This is determined by measuring the clap's decay time. A recent contribution can be found in

Pedagogical applications

:''See: Counting (music).'' Clapping is often used to help people recognize the rhythm in sounds. It can be used to help musicians count out rhythms. It is also used to teach phonological awareness to students learning the ways words are constructed. They often clap out

syllables A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "bu ...

to learn to break words into their component sounds.

Sports and other pursuits

Iceland at the UEFA European Championship Iceland qualified once for a UEFA European Championship, the 2016 edition. They directly qualified after securing the second spot in their qualifying group, with still four group matches remaining; this meant they would appear on a major tourname ...

during UEFA Euro 2016, Iceland's fans became widely known for their 'volcano clap' (or 'Viking clap') with a 'huh' chant, though it originated with fans of Scottish club Motherwell F.C. Canberra Raiders fans subsequently adopted the 'Viking clap'. Similarly, fans of the Minnesota Vikings have also adopted the 'Viking clap' to show support for the team, chanting 'skol' rather than the original 'huh' chant. The term "clap hands" or "clap hands Charlie" is also used in aviation to mean an aircraft collision or wing-to-wing contact, the phrase being derived from the refrain in the popular song " Clap Hands! Here Comes Charley!" In the mid 2010s, a practice of clapping as a way to emphasize talking points emerged among African American women, especially when clapping out individual syllables in words. This was pointed out in popular media by the comedian

Robin Thede Robin Thede ( ) is an American comedian, actress and writer. Raised in Iowa, she has also worked as an entertainment correspondent, host, and radio personality. In 2015, she became the first African-American woman to be head writer for a late-n ...

on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore. It has since become more widely applied both online, often using the "hand clap" emoji, and in person.

Notes

{{reflist

References