Pipe and tabor is a pair of instruments played by a single player, consisting of a three-hole pipe played with one hand, and a small drum played with the other. The tabor hangs on the performer's left arm or around the neck, leaving the hands free to beat the drum with a stick in the right hand and play the pipe with thumb and first two fingers of the left hand.

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Quick Facts Classification, Playing range ...

Pipe and tabor

Classification	Wind Woodwind Percussion
Playing range
1-2 octaves
Related instruments
Tinwhistle Snare drum Fife and drum

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The pipe is made out of wood, metal or plastic and consists of a cylindrical tube of narrow bore (1:40 diameter:length ratio) pierced with three holes near one end, two in front and one in back. At the opposite end is a fipple or block, similar to that used in a recorder.

Tabor pipes are widespread throughout the globe, found on most continents and in many countries. Each culture has developed a different style of pipe, so a different method of playing and a different range of notes. The smallest of the family is the Picco pipe, while the largest is the fujara.

In Europe there are many variations of instrument. The pipe and tabor is depicted in illuminated manuscripts, carvings on ecclesiastical buildings in stone and wood, stained glass windows and early printed books.

Although there had been flutes in Europe in prehistoric times, in more recent millennia the flute was absent from Europe until its arrival from Asia, by way of "North Africa, Hungary, and Bohemia."^[1] It began to be seen in illustration in the 11th century.^[1] The pipe and tabor combination is illustrated in a plate in the 13th century work, Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[1] In the 17th century, Mersenne mentions a virtuoso, John Price, who could rise to the twenty-second on the galoubet. Praetorius, author of the 1618 book De Organographia, mentions and illustrates three sizes of the Stamentienpfeiff, the treble 20 in. long, the tenor 26 in. and the bass 30, the last being played by means of a crook about 23 in. long. A specimen of the bass in the museum of the Brussels Conservatory has middle C for its lowest note.

• Early descriptions
• 13th century, Crown of Castile. Plate from the Cantigas de Santa Maria.
• Triumph of Scipio from The Introduction of the Cult of Cybele at Rome (Andrea Mantegna)
• Whimsical depiction of a bear playing pipe and tabor, from a prayer book of the mid 15th century.
• Tabor with soprano and bass pipe as depicted by Michael Praetorius
• 19th-century English pipes and tabors

We can see medieval representations of pipe and tabor in sculptures and illuminations from XIII century.

Fife, drum, pipe, and tabor are both combinations of a wind instrument played in its upper register accompanied by a drums. The fife, however, is a transverse (side-blown) flute, whereas the pipe is a fipple flute. The fife requires two hands, and thus the drummer must be a separate person. The fife and drum are associated with military marching. The pipe and tabor has a much longer history and is associated with civilian music and Court etiquette.^[2] It was used for dancing (for all classes of society), ceremonies and processions, folk customs and street entertainment.

Three-hole pipes made from bone and dating to the early Middle Ages have been found in England.^[3] There are images of medieval taborers in buildings, for example York Minster, Lincoln and Gloucester cathedrals, and Tewkesbury Abbey.

In the plays of Shakespeare's time clowns performed between acts, often dancing to the music of pipe and tabor.^[4]

The pipe and tabor are also known as whittle and dub and whit and dub (also spelled dubb) in some parts of the country.^[5] Pipe and tabor playing survived into the 20th century. It was close to extinction in the early part of the century, but a revival of interest occurred and the English pipe and tabor tradition remains alive in morris dancing, early music and all manner of cultural displays.

In the 20th century, the makers of Generation pennywhistles introduced an economical English tabor pipe made of metal and with a plastic mouthpiece. The English tabor has changed shape through its history and is now seen in a range of sizes and shapes according to the whim of the player. Traditionally it is played with a snare on the upper face, but today is sometimes played without.

• Fipple
• Flabiol
• Flageolet
• Jacques de Vaucanson
• Morris dance
• Psalterium (instrument)