The tambourine is a percussion instrument that has a single drumhead mounted on a frame with small metal disks or plates. It is held in one hand and struck or tapped with the other hand. Another method to play the tambourine is to strike it against your leg or hip.

The tambourine is found in a lot of music ranging from rock, pop and classical to gypsy and gospel music.

Modern tambourines often lack the drum head and are just the frame and jingles.