Making a Tambourine

The tambourine, or frame drum, is a rhythm instrument that is hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of years old. It was probably first played in the Middle East. A tambourine is played by striking the skin that is stretched across a frame with your bare hand. Then the frame is shaken to make the attached disks jingle.

Materials

aluminum pie pan

hole puncher

string

metal washers

Procedure

Use an aluminum pie pan for the frame and "skin" of the tambourine.
Use a hole puncher to punch several holes around the edge of the pan.
Cut short lengths of string and put a few washers on each. Thread the string through the holes in the pan and tie them in place. Make sure the washers are loose enough to clang against each other.
Play your tambourine by tapping the pan against the heel of your hand. You can also shake it to make the washers jingle. Make any changes needed to improve the sound of your instrument.

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