page_title: Tambourine
section_title: African American influence
hierarchical_section_title: Tambourine / Popular music / African American influence
caption_attribution_description: English: Bobbye Hall studio session percussionist early 1970s.
context_page_description: 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 "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all. Tambourines are often used with regular percussion sets. They can be mounted, for example on a stand as part of a drum kit, or they can be held in the hand and played by tapping or hitting the instrument.
  Tambourines come in many shapes with the most common being circular. It is found in many forms of music: Turkish folk music, Greek folk music, Italian folk music, classical music, Persian music, samba, gospel music, pop music, country music, and rock music.
context_section_description: African American slaves were denied drums which might be used for long-distance communication. To supply rhythm in music, they turned to smaller percussion instruments such as the bones and the tambourine, as well as clapping and body percussion. The tambourine could accompany the singing of spirituals, and it was used for celebrations and dancing. The tambourine became one of the main instruments of the American minstrel show in the early 1800s, often performed by whites in blackface such as Ned Christy, or sometimes by actual black performers. On stage, the tambourine and bones players in minstrelsy stood to the far left and far right of the Interlocutor (master of ceremonies) and were titled Brother Tambo and Brother Bones: because of their position they were called the end men. The tambourine was also used in some vaudeville acts, including the 1840s dance and musical performances of Master Juba who was able to elicit a wide range of sounds from the instrument including the chugging of a steam train. Used for Pentecostal praise in revival meetings in the early 20th century, by the 1920s the tambourine was firmly established as the primary percussion instrument of gospel music. The tambourine was played by gospel groups and choirs, and carried prominently by singers who did not otherwise play an instrument, notably by Bessie Jones and Luther Magby.
  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 American band.  Similarly, the Byrds released "Mr. Tambourine Man" in 1964, a folk rock and psychedelic rock song about a dealer of illegal drugs. 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 int
caption: Bobbye Hall records on xylophone and headless tambourine in the early 1970s
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