Tambourine

        The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a frame, often wood or metal, with a pair of metal jingles, called "zils". Tambourines are also commonly used on regular drum sets. They can be mounted, but position is largely down to preference. Tambourines come in many different shapes, but a circular frame is the most common. The word tambourine is derived from the French word tambourin, meaning drum.

         Various versions of the tambourine have been found all over the world. Similar instruments include: the panderoa (found in Germany), the riq (found in Arabia), the buben (found in Russia), the deyereh (found in Persia), the Daf (found in Turkey), and the kanjira (found in southern India). As one can see, there are many variations of the tambourine that have been found. The oldest known instrument similar to the tambourine is the rabana, found in Southeast Asia dating back to around 700 A.D. The modern tambourine was invented in Germany in the eighteen hundreds.

         The tambourine is common in many different genres of music. It most commonly shows up in folk music, popular music, rock music, and gospel. It also plays a roll in classical, metal, Italian pop, progressive and alternative rock.

Here is a video (I recommend skipping a minute or two into the video):Preview not available, click to view full videoThe Tambourine Kingyoutube.com
And here are some "pics":