Zill

Zill
A close-up of a person holding zills (traditionally, it would be held on the middle finger instead of the pointer, and above the last knuckle)
Percussion instrument
Other names
  • Zils
  • finger cymbals
  • sagat
  • zagat
  • zillia
  • fanglesnaps
Classification Percussion
Hornbostel–Sachs classification111.142
(Concussion or percussion vessels)
Related instruments
Sound sample

Zills or zils (from Turkish zil 'cymbals'), also called finger cymbals, are small metallic cymbals used in belly dancing and similar performances.[1] They are called sāgāt (صاجات) in Egypt.[2][3] They are similar to Tibetan tingsha bells. In Western music, several pairs can be set in a frame to make a tambourine.

Names in other languages include nuqaisāt (after the naqus) in Arabic and used among Berbers,[4] ṣunnūj ṣaghīra in Arabic,[5] Zang-e sarangoshti (Persian, possibly related to the zang), sanj angshati (سنج انگشتی) (Persian, related to Sanj), çeng in Turkish, p'eng chung in Chinese.[6]

  1. ^ Zill 2017.
  2. ^ Sawa, George Dimitri (2015-04-30). An Arabic Musical and Socio-Cultural Glossary of Kitāb al-Aghānī (in Arabic). BRILL. ISBN 9789004279094.
  3. ^ Koskoff, Ellen (2008). The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: The Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia. Routledge. ISBN 9780415994040.
  4. ^ Marcuse, Sibyl (1964). "Nuqaisāt". Musical Instruments: A Comprehensive Dictionary. New York: Doubleday. p. 369.
  5. ^ Farmer, Henry George (2001). A History of Arabian Music to the XIIIth Century. New Delhi: Goodword Books. p. 47.
  6. ^ Marcuse, Sibyl (1975). A Survey of Musical Instruments. New York: Harper & Row. pp. 12–13. ISBN 0-06-012776-7.

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