When we speak of Tamburashi music in America, we are referring to the musical tradition of Croatian and Serbian-Americans, going back to the late 19th century. The community that it serves numbers some two million persons in such diverse places as Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Southern California, the New York City area, Galveston, Texas, Chicago Gary and Detroit. The popuation concentrations are either at seaports, near docks and fishing industries, or close to steel mills and coal mines, and, in the past, in the lumber and railroad-building camps of the West.

The term Tamburashi itself derives from the name of the instrument played--the tambura, as shown in the accompanying photographs. It is a family of instruments varying in size, tonal color and function.

There are two types of Tamburashi music in the United States--the large trained Tamburitza ensembles developed by church groups and community organizations, and the smaller bechar groups that play for weddings, as well as for social gatherings within the community such as picnics, boat rides, bowling and basketball tournaments, celebrations and social gatherings.