Percussion instrument | |
---|---|
Other names | Riq, Buben |
Classification | hand percussion |
Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 112.122(+211.311, with drumhead) (Indirectly struck idiophone, sometimes including struck membranophone) |
Timbre | bright, complex |
Volume | medium |
Attack | fast |
Decay | fast |
Playing range | |
High sound of jingles, plus some have a skin with a lower sound. high |
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Related instruments | |
Riq, Buben, Dayereh, Daf, Kanjira, Frame drum |
High sound of jingles, plus some have a skin with a lower sound.
The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all. Tambourines are often used with regular percussion sets. They can be mounted, for example on a stand as part of a drum kit (and played with drum sticks), or they can be held in the hands and played by tapping or hitting the instrument.
Tambourines come in many shapes with the most common being circular. It is found in many forms of music: Turkish folk music, Greek folk music, Italian folk music, classical music, Persian music, samba, gospel music, pop music and rock music.
Tambourines originated in Egypt, where they were known as the kof to the Hebrews, in which the instrument was mainly used in religious contexts. The word tambourine finds its origins in French tambourin, which referred to a long narrow drum used in Provence, the word being a diminutive of tambour "drum," altered by influence of Arabic tunbur "drum". from the Middle Persian word tambūr "lute, drum".
Ancient Greek black-figure pottery depicting a girl playing the tambourine. Bourgas Archaeology Museum.