Jingle

The jingle is a member of the shaken and scraped idiophones (Hornbostel–Sachs 112.13). Listen to 2 recordings and learn how it makes its sound.

Listen to the jingle

Zündfunk Radiotop Polyphon Jingle - 1994

0:06CC BY-SA 4.0by Maximilian SchönherrWikimedia Commons

0:06

Jingle Bells (Calm) (ISRC USUAN1100188)

2:22CC BY 3.0by Jingle Bells (Calm) Kevin MacLeodWikimedia Commons

2:22

Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.

How the jingle makes its sound

In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the jingle belongs to the shaken and scraped idiophones: the body is shaken, scraped or split – rattles, maracas and guiros.

More broadly it is one of the idiophones, where the solid body of the instrument itself vibrates, without strings or a stretched membrane.

Players shape its sound through technique and materials; the resonating body filters the raw vibration, boosting some harmonics and damping others.

From Wikipedia

In percussion, a jingle is one of a cluster of small bells, shaken or tapped on the palm of the player's hand. The small metal discs arranged around the frame of a tambourine are also called "jingles". In the Hornbostel–Sachs instrument-classification system, they are described as "shaken idiophones". Jingles were often found in ancient times as harness ornaments suspended from the trappings of horses, mules, and camels (Blades and Holland 2001).

That term is referenced in Bob Dylan's hit song, "Mr. Tambourine Man". It is an onomatopoeic term, often used together with jangle. An example of that usage is found in the Frank Loesser song "Jingle Jangle Jingle".