Why Can a Tambourine Be Both Struck and Shaken?

A tambourine looks like a very shallow drum, yet its most recognisable sound often comes not from the head but from the small metal cymbals mounted in slots around the frame. An Egyptian riqq in the Metropolitan Museum of Art has twenty-four cymbals arranged in six double rows, while a nineteenth-century American tambourine carries five pairs on small rods. In both cases, the metal is left just free enough to collide when the frame moves.

This gives one instrument two kinds of attack. A finger, palm or knee striking the head produces a brief, definite pulse, while the impact also sets the jingles flashing. When the player shakes the frame continuously, many slightly unsynchronised collisions create a flowing sound with softer edges. The Philharmonia also describes a thumb roll, in which a finger rubs across the head and keeps the jingles sounding with surprisingly little force.

When listening to a tambourine, it is worth hearing more than the beats it marks. Notice how the player moves between a precise point and a sustained metallic sheen. At the height of a dance, it can illuminate an accent; in a quiet passage, a gentle roll can maintain tension without covering the melody. Its musical importance lies less in pitch than in its ability to turn the shape of a gesture directly into rhythmic texture.

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/504421
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/501170
https://philharmonia.co.uk/resources/instruments/percussion/