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Eating with chopsticks is a crowd pleaser--a real chance to impress.
It looks hard to master but isn't! To begin, hold the first chopstick at
about the center, just slightly towards the back. Rest this chopstick on
the inside of your middle finger beside the nail, and in the crook
between your thumb and forefinger. Use your thumb around the joint to
secure it. This chopstick is your anchor, and remains stationary.
Fortunately it is lighter than a real anchor or you might be working all
day to get that first bite of Kung Pao. |
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Now place the other chopstick between your thumb and forefinger, the
way that you would hold a pencil. Again, hold it at about the center of
the chopstick. Unlike the other chopstick it is necessary to move this
one so that you can actually pick up the food. |
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Bending your index finger brings the ends of the chopsticks together.
Practice opening and closing the chopsticks until it's comfortable
before trying it with the food (to avoid starvation).
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Learning with fried rice, eggrolls, and especially soup, may be too
big a challenge--you may want to begin with something that's a little
easier to pick up, for example of a ball of scotch tape. While not as
tasty as an eggroll it is lighter and a lot stickier. Good luck!
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It helps to be a little familiar with the piano keyboard before
beginning. Print out the accompanying example if you need the extra
help. Knowing the difference between the black keys and the white ones
is just about all you’ll need for this. |
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Start with your left index finger on F and your right index finger on
G. You'll play these together six times. Yes, it's supposed to sound
like that. |
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Now move your left finger down one key to E while keeping your right
finger on G. Notice how the left changes notes, but the right stays on
G. Play these together six times. By now you should be hearing a
pattern. |
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Move your left finger to D (down one) and your right finger to B (up
two) and play these together six times. These are quick, hard notes. As
if your fingers were a very musically inclined woodpecker.
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Finally move your left finger down to C and your right finger up to C
and play these notes six times.
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And that's all there is to it. Repeat steps 1 through 4 until you, or
the rest of your household have had enough.
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This is the more advanced version:
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Start with your left index finger on F and your right index finger
on
G. You'll play these together six times. Don't worry, this is not the
advanced part. |
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Now move your left finger down one key to E while keeping your right
finger on G. Notice how the left changes notes, but the right stays on
G. Play these together six times. Trust me, it gets trickier. |
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Move your left finger to D (down one) and your right finger to B (up
two) and play these together four times. See? Good thing you were paying
close attention. Then on the fifth beat, move each finger together one
key (left on E, right on A), then back to D and B for the sixth beat.
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Finally move your left finger to C and your right finger to C and
play these notes four times. On the fifth beat, move your fingers
together one key (left on D, right on B). And on the sixth beat, move
your fingers together one key again (left on E, right on A). This
variation adds a nice little flourish and will hopefully tack on at
least five minutes to the amount of time it will take for the rest of
the people in your house to lose their patience.
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Finally, begin step one again with your fingers on F and G. And now
you've mastered the advanced chopsticks. Roll over Beethoven!
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| I recommend against trying to master the use of chopsticks while you're
hungry. Your low blood sugar and ravenous appetite will hinder both your
dexterity and patience for it. Eat a bit with your fork, knife and
spoon, and get your practice in towards the end of the meal. |
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Bill Spady
Dillon, CO |
Have a tip? E-mail it to us! |
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To use chopsticks:
chopsticks
scotch tape (for practice)
To play chopsticks:
piano or keyboard
one finger per hand |
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Click here to print this page! |
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