Instruments of the Modern Symphony Orchestra/TAMBOURINE

by Arthur Edward Johnstone

TAMBOURINE

Italian	German	French
Tamburino	Baskische Trommel	Tambour de Basque
	Schellen Trommel
	Tambourin

This little instrument is said to have been in use practically unchanged for the past two thousand years. It consists of a small wooden hoop, on one side of which is stretched a parchment head, the other side being open. The hoop is cut away at intervals to allow the insertion of small pairs of metal plates called jingles. The head, when struck by the hand, gives forth a treble drum-like sound without definite pitch. The jingles may be trilled by shaking the instrument without striking the head. The use of the tambourine in the orchestra is confined mainly to the production of oriental effects, though the jingles alone are sometimes employed in connection with other percussion instruments in music of a violent or barbaric nature.