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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 "". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head. 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 hand and played by tapping, hitting, or shaking the instrument.
Tambourines come in many shapes with the most common being circle. It is found in many forms of music: Albanian folk music, Arabic music, Balkan folk music, Israeli folk music, Turkish folk music, Greek folk music, Italian folk music, French folk music, classical music, Spanish folk music, Persian music, samba, gospel music, pop music, country music, and rock music.
At the same time, the tambourine expanded from gospel music to various forms of African American popular music including blues and jazz. For instance, singer and guitarist Blind Roosevelt Graves was accompanied by his brother Uaroy on tambourine and voice, singing both sacred and secular songs. Singer-songwriter Josh White got his start as a child performing for handouts in the street with an exuberant tambourine performance, beating the instrument's drumhead on his elbows, knees, and head.
In the 1950s as gospel elements were incorporated into rhythm and blues by African American singers such as Ray Charles, the tambourine often accompanied the changes. It continued its foray into popular music within the music of Motown. Motown singers and musicians often grew up with gospel music, and they carried the tambourine into pop performance. The Supremes performed with two tambourines – more for choreography than percussion – played by Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson standing apart from Diana Ross. Jack Ashford's distinctive tambourine playing was a dominant part of the rhythm section on many Motown records, for instance on the Miracles tune "Going to a Go-Go", and Marvin Gaye's "How Sweet It Is".
Inspired by African American examples, musicians of all races have used the tambourine in modern pop music. It was featured in "Green Tambourine", a busking-oriented song from the Lemon Pipers, a 1960s White Americans band. Similarly, the Byrds released a hit version of "Mr. Tambourine Man" in 1965, a folk rock and psychedelic rock recording of a song written by Bob Dylan. The tambourine part of the song serves to drive the beat forward.
Singers who rarely play an instrument are likely to play the tambourine at concerts: among the most well-known examples are Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, Jim Morrison of the Doors, Janis Joplin leading Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Stevie Nicks as part of Fleetwood Mac and as a solo performer. Very often, the instrument used in pop music is the headless tambourine or "jingle ring", lacking a drum head. The singer should, however, play the tambourine with the overall song arrangement in mind; in some cases, band members have purposely hidden the tambourine from an irresponsible lead singer who disregards the interplay of rhythm. On the other hand, skilled performers such as Jagger have brought a fine sense of timing to their tambourine playing. In the Rolling Stones' 1964 U.S. single of "Time Is on My Side", the less-known version, Jagger lays the tambourine on the front of the beat while Charlie Watts holds the snare to the back of the beat, which allows the longer decay time of the tambourine to synchronise with the snare at the end. The result is an intentional feeling of running to catch up.
In jazz, the tambourine was used prominently but non-traditionally by percussionist Joe Texidor who backed Rahsaan Roland Kirk in 1969 on Volunteered Slavery. In 1960 when Nina Simone wanted to play the old minstrel song "Li'l Liza Jane" at the Newport Jazz Festival, she said "Where's my tambourine?", as heard on the album Nina Simone at Newport. Jazz drummer Herlin Riley often takes the stage while beating and shaking a tambourine, and he is featured on the tambourine in Wynton Marsalis's jazz oratorio Blood on the Fields, which tells the story of slavery in the US.
Jazz, pop and rock drummers sometimes mount a headless tambourine in the drum kit. Some position the tambourine above the toms in the same manner as a cymbal, for instance, Nathan Followill of Kings of Leon, and Larry Mullen Jr of U2. Bill Ward of Black Sabbath connected a tambourine to a foot pedal, for his left foot to operate like a hi-hat. John Bonham of Led Zeppelin simply mounted a tambourine above the hi-hat for extra sonic colour. The Subdudes, a roots rock group from New Orleans, opted for a tambourine player, Steve Amedée, instead of a drummer.
The name is related to Greek language βόμβος ('low and hollow sound') and βομβύλη ('a breed of bees') and related to Indo-Aryan bambharas ('bee') and English language bee. Buben is known to have existed in many countries since time immemorial, especially in the East. There are many kinds of bubens, including def, daf, or qaval (Azerbaijan), daf or khaval (Armenia), daira (Georgia), doira (Uzbekistan and Tajikistan), daire or def (Iran), bendeir (Arab countries), pandero (Spain). In Kievan Rus, and military timpani were referred to as buben. palace, Isfahan, 17th century, Iran]]
In classical music
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was among the earliest western composers to include the tambourine in his compositions. Since the late eighteenth century it has become more common in western orchestral music, as exemplified in some of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's dance pieces from the Nutcracker Suite. Gustav Holst's seven-movement orchestral suite The Planets also features the tambourine in several places, especially in the "Jupiter" movement. Georges Bizet's Carmen opera includes the famous "Habanera" aria which has a series of tambourine strikes in each chorus.Georges Bizet. Carmen. Opéra comique en quatre actes. Critical Edition edited by Robert Didion. Ernst Eulenberg Ltd, 1992, 2003 (No. 5 Habanera, p. 99).
Similar instruments
Buben
Buben (Бубен in Russian language, Бубон in Ukrainian, boben in Slovenian, buben in Czech language, bęben in Polish language) is a musical instrument of the percussion family similar to a tambourine. A buben consists of a wooden or metal hoop with a tight membrane stretched over one of its sides (some bubens have no membrane at all). Certain kinds of bubens are equipped with clanking metal rings, plates, , or little bells. It is held in the hand and can be played in numerous ways, from stroking or shaking the jingles to striking it sharply with hand. It is used for rhythmical accompaniment during dances, soloist or choral singing. Buben is often used by some folk and professional bands, as well as orchestras.
Daf
A daf (دف) is a large-sized tambourine or Perso-Arabic frame drum used to accompany both popular and classical music in Iran, Azerbaijan, the Arab world, Turkey (where it is called tef), Uzbekistan (where it is called childirma), the Indian subcontinent (where it is known as the dafli) and Turkmenistan. Daf typically indicates the beat and tempo of the music being played, thus acts like the conductor in the monophonic oriental music. The Persian poet Rudaki, who widely used names of the musical instruments in his poems, mentions the daf and the tambourine (taboorak) in a Ruba'i: A common use of tambourine (Daf) is by Albanians. They are often played by women and bridesmaids in wedding cases to lead the ceremony when bride walks down the aisle.
Pandeiro
Originated in Galicia or Portugal, the pandeiro was brought to Brazil by the Portuguese settlers. It is a hand percussion instrument consisting of a single tension-headed drum with jingles in the frame. It is very typical of more traditional Brazilian music.
Panderoa
The Basque music pandero is a folk instrument currently played along with the trikitixa (basque diatonic accordion) in a duo most of the time. Sometimes the players, who play in festivities to enliven the atmosphere or less frequently at onstage performances, sing along. At times the pandero accompanies the alboka or txistu too. Yet these kinds of duos have not always been the case. As attested in 1923, the youth gathered to dance to the rhythm of the bare pandero, with no other music instrument implicated but the player's (a woman's) voice.
Riq
The riq (also spelled riqq or rik) is a type of tambourine used as a traditional instrument in Arab music. It is an important instrument in both folk and classical music throughout the Arabic-speaking world. The instruments are widely known as shakers.
Dayereh
A dayereh (or doyra, dojra, dajre, doira, daire) is a medium-sized frame drum with jingles used to accompany both popular and classical music in Iran (Persia), the Balkans, and many central Asian countries such as Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It is a percussion instrument, and is something intermediate between a drum and a tambourine.
Kanjira
The kanjira or ganjira is a frame drum of the tambourine family. It is mostly used in Carnatic music concerts (South Indian classical music) as a supporting instrument for the mridangam. The instrument is called dafli (डफली in the northern Hindi-speaking parts of India and is a common instrument in orchestras and solos. Nepal also has a variety of tambourines, going by the names daanf, Damphu drum (), hring, and khaijadi ().
Tar
Tar () is a single-headed frame drum of Turkish origin, but is commonly played in North Africa and the Middle East.
Timbrel
Timbrel or tabret (the tof of the ancient Hebrews, the deff of Islam, the adufe of the Moors of Spain), the principal musical instrument of percussion of the Israelites, similar to the modern tambourine., South Sumatra, with its typical red, black, and gold color]]
Rabana
A rabana (plural raban) is a one-sided traditional tambourine played with the hands, used in Sri Lanka.
Rebana
Rebana is a Malay tambourine that is used in Islamic devotional music in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore.
See also
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