How to Play the Bones Instructional Video with Percy Danforth
Learn to play the bones with the legendary Percy Danforth
Video dvd by Percy Danforth

This is my hands-down favorite video for a beginning player. Experienced players could learn a few tricks too.

Sample video clip...
View a short video excerpt of How to Play the Bones with Percy Danforth at the Rhythm Bones Society website.

Benchmark Bones Video
This recording is 20 years old, yet it still remains the benchmark how-to bones video. The video is clearly "dated," but a more comprehensive introduction to playing the bones has yet to be produced.

Percy First Began Teaching Bones in the 1970s
"Percy Danforth is a name familiar to most people in the bones-playing community worldwide," reports Sandor Slomovits in a story about Ray Shairer. Ray is the master woodcrafter who began making Danforth Bones after a phone call and visit from Percy in 1976. "Percy, who learned to play the bones as a young child in the early 1900s," writes Sandor, "began teaching them to others in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the mid 1970s and went on to play and teach the bones throughout the United States and even in Great Britain right up until his death in 1992."

Old School Production
If you own a copy of the original VHS version like I do, then you know the video quality stands at the lower end by today's standards. Like other vintage videos transferred from magnetic tape, this recording faced enormous reproduction challenges. "There are a few sound drop outs (not the music but Percy's voice) in a few spots," says Mickie Zekley who produced this DVD, as well as the original recording. "We have done the best job we could restoring this old footage," Mickie tells me. "I am glad that lots of folks will be watching Percy. I enjoyed all my times with him."

A Must-have Recording for Every Bones Player at Any Skill Level
This classic "how-to" video was the most sought after instructional bones recording for over 20 years. It is among the first "how to play the bones" videos ever made. The original vintage VHS version disappeared from the marketplace, but is now back again in DVD.

Why Choose this Video?
No other video offers such an extensive combination of insider tips, in-depth instruction on how to play various musical styles, plus first-hand commentary on the history of rhythm bones. This video has clearly withstood the test of time and belongs in your personal collection. If you do not own a copy of this important DVD, then you need to get one.

• Originally Recorded: 1989
• Remastered to DVD: 2011
• Recording type: Video dvd
• Menu: 1 track
• Running Time: 1:21:10 (1 hr, 21 min)
• Label: Lark in the Morning
• Weight: 3.3 oz

Percy Danforth interview with David Holt


Percy's Legacy
by Ray Shairer (Danforth bonesmaker 30+ years)

"When he was over ninety-years-of-age, he was invited to make a video of his bones playing by Lark in the Morning, the music store in Fort Bragg, California. He flew out to California and back all alone. After he returned he told me he had worked very hard during the making of that video; four eight-hour days, plus the air trip back and forth. He was, indeed, a tired old man. But he had succeeded in leaving a great legacy for himself and the bones. His health failed rapidly after that...Percy died in 1992. I am sure he left for a better place with a pair of bones in each hand."

From Danforth Bones: The First 30 Years

A National Treasure
The legendary Percy Danforth was "a renowned folk musician known as "Mr. Bones" for the hand-held wooden strips he used as instruments," reported the Orlando Sentinel after Percy died in 1992. He "performed at folk music festivals across the country" the article continued, "and was named a National Treasure by the Smithsonian Institute during the 1970s."

Video interview with Percy's grandson, Jonathan Danforth (at Bones Fest IX in Chattanooga Tennesse, 2005).

This DVD Brought to you by the Same Folks who Produced the Original VHS Recording
The VHS version was widely available online and in stores until supplies ran out several years ago. With a succession of ownership this classic video disappeared from the marketplace. During that period I was negotiating for reproduction rights. But ownership of the property was unclear. A short time later Lark in the Morning was re-acquired by the original owner, Mickie Zekley who re-mastered Percy's how-to video on DVD in May, 2011. It is nice to know this DVD release is from the same people who produced the original 1989 VHS version recorded on magnetic tape.