Jean-Philippe Rameau - Tambourin - Guitar Tab

"Classical Serenity: Bach, Mozart & more"

2026 0:56

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About Tambourin

Rameau's "Tambourin" was originally a harpsichord piece, and arranging it for guitar sits squarely in the rewarding corner of Classical guitar repertoire. Written in E minor, the piece revolves around a persistent drone bass note that imitates a tambourin drum, while the upper voices carry a bright, dance-like melody above it. Keeping that bass drone steady while independently voicing the melody is the central technical challenge: your fretting hand must hold down the low E string repeatedly while your fingers move freely on the upper strings. At 120 BPM the tempo feels lively, so nail the coordination at a slower speed first. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop the opening bars slowed down until the bass-melody independence feels automatic. Jean-Philippe Rameau packed a lot of rhythmic momentum into a short form, so clean articulation and consistent tone between the bass and melody voices will make or break the performance.

• The defining technical demand is maintaining a repeated open or stopped bass drone while voicing an independent melody above it, a classic guitar independence exercise.
• Playing it cleanly at 120 BPM requires solid right-hand finger alternation, so practise the melody-bass separation well below tempo before building speed.
• Standard tuning works well for this arrangement in E minor, as the open low E string can serve directly as the drone bass throughout many passages.