The Percussion Family
A detailed introduction
The percussion family is a very broad group of instruments. From the humble tambourine to the glockenspiel, it’s more diverse than the winds, strings and brass’.
A brief history
Percussion instruments have been used by major civilisations all over the world; in war, ceremonies, celebrations or as means of communication. The marching band has been heavily associated not only with the brass section, but also the percussion section.
In around 1720 the Janissaries (Turkish Military) introduced their variety of drums and bells to Europe. Their military bands emboldened the troops and struck fear into their enemies. The timpani was first adopted into the orchestra by composers such as Lully and later Bach.
Since the late 19th Century, the variety of percussion instruments used in orchestras has really taken off. Instruments from all over the world have been adapted and used, which has opened up new possibilities for composers as well as making the percussion section a dynamic and innovative part of the orchestra.
In today’s music, you will see percussionists playing anything they can get their hands on. And not always something that you strike (percussion instruments are generally ones that are struck). Not only bass drums and snare drums — but other percussion instruments like finger cymbals, bells, whistles, rattles and sirens — you name it and they’ll be playing it! New instruments keep enriching the percussion section, and new ways of working the drum kit are redesigning the ways that the good old snare drum and bass drum can sound like.
Types of percussion instruments
Pitched
Pitched percussion instruments (also known as tuned percussion instruments) are percussion instruments with a definite pitch. They may produce only one pitch or they can produce many different pitches, or different notes. Pitched percussion instruments include the xylophone, glockenspiel, marimba and timpani. There is more than one pitch on tuned percussion instruments, meaning you can play both melody and harmony on them.
Interesting fact! By definition, the piano is also a percussion instrument as the sound is produced when hammers strike the strings. On the other hand, most of the sound resonance does come from vibration of the strings.
Unpitched
Unpitched percussion instruments (also known as untuned percussion instruments) are percussion instruments that have an indefinite pitch (e.g. varying between different notes and different pitches). On the one hand, they may produce a pitch, but on the other hand, it will be unpredictable and could change.
Unpitched percussion instruments include the snare drum, bass drum, cymbals (incl. finger cymbals), tambourine and triangle.
How percussion instruments are played
Percussion instruments can be (but are not limited to) struck, scraped, rattled, shaken and blown.
You can play pitched and unpitched percussion instruments with a variety of sticks, metal beaters, mallets, foot pedal, and of course your hands, to produce different sounds. Generally you would use mallets on pitched percussion and sticks on unpitched percussion.
Here is some more information on how to play percussion from one of our other articles.
Innovative ways of producing more sounds from the same instruments are constantly thought of. Double bass bows can be used on vibraphones which produce mellow sound washes, and a bow on a cymbal can create piercing sounds which make you shiver. There are also powerballs which you can drag across resonant surfaces to create a roaring sound. Other percussion instruments abound. New software allows for a regular snare drum to be electronically programmed to sound a specific way in real time…
