page_title: Music of Croatia
section_title: Tamburica
hierarchical_section_title: Music of Croatia / Folk music / Tamburica
caption_attribution_description: Bisernica, a Croatian instrument used in tamburica ensembles. Size compared to that of a chair.
context_page_description: The music of Croatia, like the divisions of the country itself, has two major influences: Central European, present in central and northern parts of the country including Slavonia, and Mediterranean, present in coastal regions of Dalmatia and Istria.
  In Croatia both pop and rock are popular, as well as pop music influenced by Dalmatian or Slavonian folk elements.
  Since the mid-20th century, schlager and chanson-inspired music have formed the backbone of the Croatian popular music.
context_section_description: Tamburica (diminutive of tambura) music is a form of folk music that involves these and related string instruments. It became increasingly popular in the 1800s, and small bands began to form, paralleling similar developments in Russia, Italy and the Ukraine.
  The main themes of tamburitza songs are the common themes of love and happy village life. Tamburitza music is primarily associated with the northern, Pannonian part of the country. It is sometimes said that the first sextet of tambura players was formed by Pajo Kolarić of Osijek in 1847. In 1971 one of the most famous and long lasting tamburitza ensembles Slavonski Bećari was formed led by the legend of tamburitza music Antun Nikolić Tuca.
  Traditional tamburitza ensembles are still commonplace, but more professional groups have formed in the last few decades. These include Zlatni dukati and Ex Panonia, the first such groups, Zdenac, Slavonske Lole, Berde Band and the modernized rock and roll-influenced Gazde.
  The style of Tambura music played most often in the United States during the latter half of the 20th Century was not significantly different from the style played at the turn of the 19th Century.  Free of the influences of pop music in Jugoslavia and the nascent, independent republics, and without large quantities of immigrants bringing new methods and styles, American-style Tambura music, and to a lesser extent, Canadian-style Tambura music stayed true to its roots.
  Today, the most prevalent forms of Tambura music are folk-pop combinations.
caption: Bisernica, a traditional taburitza instrument
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