Zills: Music On Your Fingertips
About Finger Cymbals
Ibexa Press © 2016
133 pages, B/W

By Dawn Devine ~ Davina
Photos by Alisha Westerfeld
Illustrations by George Goncalves


Zills: Music on Your Fingertips – All About Finger Cymbals is written for the belly dancer who’s looking for concepts, ideas, and information that will help them take their zill playing to the next level. This book is broken down into six sections that focus on different aspects of the zill playing process.

Continuing History– This section is a brief overview of the history of finger cymbals from antiquity to today. We hit the highlights and turning points along the timeline of the development of zills, and then situate them within the world of contemporary belly dance.

Construction & Manufacture – Finger cymbals are made in a variety of ways, and in this section, we present the basics of zill manufacture and different modern production methods.

Selection & Preparation – Once you know how zills are made, we explore the issues to consider when purchasing zills. Budget, style, tone, volume, and appearance all key features that figure into the selection process.

Playing Finger Cymbals – The heart of this book includes a breakdown of the four major approaches to playing zills: playing with the drum, the melody, with the accents, or, if you are dancing, with your own moves. The most popular drum rhythms are broken down for you in easy to understand charts with notations for different methods of play.

Dancing with Finger Cymbals – There are many approaches for integrating zills into your performances.

Care & Storage – In this section, we present methods for cleaning, ideas displaying and storing your favorite zills. We’ve also put together a collection of our favorite DIY projects for bags, wallets, and zill mufflers.

Research & References – Also included are a collection of resources including lists of suggested practice music, instructional videos, and a selected bibliography.