The player sits astride the box, tilting it at an angle while striking the head between their knees. The percussionist can play the sides with the top of their palms and fingers for additional sounds. Some harder hitting players use protective drumming gloves to protect their hands from bruises and blisters. Some percussionists attach a bass drum pedal to the instrument, enabling them to play it with a single foot. There are also lap cajons which are smaller and more portable that sit on the lap of the musician.
The instrument has been played not only with hands, but also with plastic and metal brushes, as used for drum kits, for example with the Pen Technique, developed by Patrizio Migliarini, which allows the musician to play jazz and funky rhythms with a completeness and dynamic richness close to that of a drums, through the use of metal brushes. Another way of playing the cajón is to use an ordinary bass drum pedal, thus turning the cajón into an indirect percussion instrument which can be played with the feet. This enables the player to beat it just like a pedal-bass drum, thus leaving the hands (and one other foot) free to play other instruments. On the other hand, it also restricts the player's standard cajón-playing position, as when the cajón is placed on the ground, in the bass drum location, it is hard for the performer to slap it with her or his hands.
