Exploring Tambourines - Types and Techniques Every Percussionist Should Know

[@Svett357]

just purchased a headless tambourine at a music store and this has been a great help getting insight on the instrument

[@RhythmNotes]

I'm glad it helped!

[@kabelguy70]

Love the videos man

[@RhythmNotes]

Thanks! I’m glad you like them.

[@revkelly58]

Help me please , I play all the tambourines-jingle sticks at the beginning of this video. I can’t stop!!!!

[@KieranTully]

Any techniques for tenuto on tambourine? I have a choral score with tambourine part, and I've been "volunteered" to play the tambourine part, which has accents and tenutos.

[@RhythmNotes]

Since a tenuto is a type of sustain and percussion like tambourine can only sustain with a roll, I would try either a short thumb roll or a short shake roll. It depends on the style of music and the composer's intent with the part. I use wax on the tambourine for more consistent thumb rolls and with the shake roll I adjust the angle that I'm holding the tambourine to achieve the jingle reaction that I need. And all of those adjustments and roll types can depend on the tempo and not durations. I hope this helps.

[@KieranTully]

@RhythmNotes thank you so much for the suggestions, I'll experiment with that. Elsewhere on the score a long roll is indicated, but I hadn't considered a short roll for the tenutos, which had me very confused! I suspect the composer is not a percussionist, and copied the articulation from their vocal parts, where it makes more sense.

[@RhythmNotes]

I'm glad I could help. Enjoy making music! It's a beautiful thing.

[@mvl8209]

Can any sort of wax help achieve a thumb roll on a headed traditional tambourine when the head is very smooth (with very smooth, I mean like you'd see on a reso head of a drum)

[@RhythmNotes]

Probably … if it doesn’t work, you could wash it off. But I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. I use Grover wax which is formulated for tambourines.

[@mvl8209]

@@RhythmNotes Thank you :) Do you reckon I could use any kind of beeswax? Because Grover's site says it's beeswax with "a special recipe" I ask, because I'm not going to pay 80+ dollars shipping for something that costs 14$ (I live in Europe, so ordering directly from Grover is going to be a nope. I checked other sources, like music stores, but they don't carry tambourine wax)

[@RhythmNotes]

I buy it from Sweetwater $14 (but I'm not sure if it's the same price shipped to Europe). ... I would try any beeswax. I certainly wouldn't spend too much on it. www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TW--grover-pro-percussion-tambourine-wax