A
wood block (also spelled as a single word,
woodblock) is a small, two-toned
slit drum made from a single piece of
wood and used as a
percussion instrument. The term generally signifies the Western orchestral instrument, though it is related to the
ban time-beaters used by the
Han Chinese, which is why the Western instrument is sometimes referred to as
Chinese woodblock. Alternative names sometimes used in ragtime and jazz are
clog box and
tap box. In orchestral music scores, wood blocks may be indicated by the French
bloc de bois or
tambour de bois, German
Holzblock or
Holzblocktrommel, or Italian
cassa di legno .