Tambour (also called tambor, tamboro or tambora, written in music as tamb.), is a technique in

Flamenco guitar A flamenco guitar is a guitar similar to a classical guitar but with thinner tops and less internal bracing. It usually has nylon strings, like the classical guitar, but it generally possesses a livelier, more gritty sound compared to the clas ...

and

classical guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...

that emulates the sound of a heartbeat. The player uses a flat part of the hand, usually the side of the outstretched right thumb, or also the edge of the palm below the little finger, and sounds the strings by striking them rapidly just inside the bridge of the guitar. Duration can be from a single articulation to an extended drum roll-like tremolo. If performed incorrectly, the effect is similar to a right-hand apagado, or dampening of the strings. Variation in tone can be achieved by striking different distances from the bridge and using different parts of the thumb (especially fleshy vs. bony parts). Variation in chord texture can be achieved by selecting different strings to strike.

Examples

An example of tambour in popular music occurs at the beginning of the second verse of ''Your Time Is Gonna Come'' by

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

. One of the most remarkable modern compositions for the guitar, '' Sonata op.47'', by Argentine composer

Alberto Ginastera Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentinian composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical composers of the Americas. Biography Ginastera was born in Buen ...

, was inspired by the folk music of Indians and Argentinean Gauchos and uses a lot of effects typical of the guitar, such as tamboro. Both tambour and pizzicato can be heard in ''Aconquija'' by Barrios.

References

Guitar performance techniques {{Guitar-stub