A tamborim is a small, round Brazilian frame drum of Portuguese and African origin.

The frame is 6" in diameter and may be made of metal, plastic or wood. The head is typically made of nylon and is normally very tightly tuned in order to ensure a high, sharp sound and a minimum of sustain. The drum is devoid of snares or jingles. Metal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Plastic is a term that covers a range of synthetic or semi-synthetic polymerization products. ... A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood is an organic material found as the primary content of the stems of woody plants, especially trees, but also shrubs. ... This article covers the material nylon. ...

The tamborim is used in many genres of Brazilian music. It is most commonly associated with samba and pagode, but is also used in chorinho, bossa nova, and some northeastern folklore rhythms such as cucumbi. Strong influences on the music of Brazil come from Africa, India, Portugal and the natives of the Amazon rainforest and of other parts of the country. ... Samba is the most famous of the various forms of music arising from African roots in Brazil. ... Pagode is a Brazilian style of music which originated in the Rio de Janeiro region as a variation of Samba. ... Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music invented in the late 1950s by a group of middle-class students and musicians living in the Copacabana and Ipanema beachside districts of Rio de Janeiro. ...

In most musical styles, the tamborim is played with a short, thin wooden drumstick. In samba, it is played with a beater made of several flexible nylon or polyacetal threads bound together. On rare occasions, it may even be played with the fingers. A drum stick is an item used to hit percussion instruments to produce sound. ... This article covers the material nylon. ...

The tamborim is held with the weaker hand with the thumb crossing the rim and resting on the drumhead. The other fingers are curled under the rim, with the index typically applying and releasing pressure on the underside of the head to achieve higher or lower notes. The beater is held by the very tip with the strong hand and the head is struck a little off-center. A playing technique called virado is often used, in which the drum is rapidly flipped upside-down to produce ghost notes and syncopated grooves. The instrument may also occasionally be struck on the rim. A drumhead is a membrane stretched over one or both of the open ends of a drum. ... Ghost notes are beats which are played very quietly on a drum. ...

Tamborim players alternate between repetitive groove patterns and through-composed signature phrases which function as a melody and are easily distinguished above the other percussion instruments.