The History of Tambourines
The tambourine is a percussion instrument that comes in various sizes and forms. It originated in the Eastern hemisphere thousands of years ago, but found its way westward to The Americas and become a popular percussion instrument worldwide. The unique combination of metal jingles with a drum noise has made the tambourine a distinct feature many different styles and cultures of music.
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Origins
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Use of the tambourine and its variants has been documented as far back as ancient colonies in Greece, China, Rome and India, and is mentioned several times in the Bible. It was originally used as a form of celebration, with the player often dancing along while playing.
History
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After originating in the ancient Middle East and Asia, the tambourine made its way to medieval Europe, where it became a staple of music and entertainment of the time. It was used as part of operas, ballets and plays to accompany musicians or actors on stage and grew in use through the 18th and 19th centuries.
The tambourine became popular in America in the 19th century when the first minstrel show premiered in New York on Feb. 6, 1843 at the Bowery Theater. There, the band that called themselves the Virigina Minstrels primarily featured dancing with banjo and fiddle music but used the tambourine as a primary percussion instrument.
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Features
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The tambourine is a type of "frame drum" generally constructed with a hard frame and drum head, with metal jingles called "zils" attached around the edge. Some modern variations do not contain a drum head, but they produce the same simultaneous drum and jingle effect.
Functions
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The tambourine is commonly held in the player's hand, but can also be played as part of a drum kit. The most popular way to play it is to simply hit it with one hand or hit it against the thigh or hip.
It is most most often used by less skilled musicians to maintain or accentuate the rhythm of a piece, but the instrument has been known in other cultures, such as in the Central Asia with the Dayereh, to be played at high levels of skill.
Types
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Though most tambourines have the same general structure, the sizes and materials vary from culture to culture as well as the terminology. The riq, made of wood and either goat or fish skin, is the most popular type of tambourine in Arabic music. The buben is a smaller variation of the tambourine that originated in as early as the 10th century in Russia; its use has spread throughout much of Europe, often used in traditional folk music. A dayereh, or doyra, is a medium-sized type of buben popular in Iranian and Central Asian classical music. The daf is a larger form of buben that is popular in India, Turkey and Uzbekistan.
The Pandeiro
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The Pandeiro is another type of frame drum that has one important distinction from the traditional tambourine: the drum itself can be tuned to different pitches, allowing the player to choose the level of notes being played. The metal jingles produce a drier sound than most other tambourines, allowing for clearer, crisper rhythms.
The pandeiro originated in Portugal, and eventually made its way to Brazil with migrating settlers. It is now a very popular part of samba music, among other traditional Brazilian styles.
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