Beginner Band & Orchestra Information/Q&A Meeting TONIGHT (Wed May 28) at 7PM!

Non- Pitched Percussion

Non-pitched percussion means that the instrument that you're playing doesn't play specific notes, like A flat or C natural. Instead, you'll read music like the example below, and make sure to play those rhythms correctly on the instrument that you're playing.

When you first start playing non-pitched percussion, you'll start off on a practice pad and then move to a snare drum, which looks like this:

Drum kit

Snare Drum

There are two different main categories of non-pitched percussion: Battery and Auxilliary. Learn more about each group below!

Battery Percussion

The two main instruments in Battery percussion are the snare drum and bass drum.

Andrea Venet plays "Kibo for Solo Snare Drum"

Andrea Venet is a percussionist and composer. She wrote this piece, called "Kibo for Solo Snare Drum." You'll hear her playing the solo snare drum part with 4 instruments behind her: 2 vibraphones and 2 marimbas. Listen as she makes different sounds on the snare drum and uses different parts of the drums to create an interesting sound world.

Bass drum - "Dies Irae" in Verdi's Requiem

Playing the bass drum in Requiem, by Giuseppe Verdi, is one of a percussionists favorite things to do! There's a part of the piece called the "Dies Irae" which calls for a LOUD bass drum. Take a listen!

Drumline in South Korea

A drumline is a group of people that play percussion instruments together. Typically, drumlines use instruments like snare drums, bass drums, cymbals, and quads. Check out this fun drumline that plays in South Korea!

Southern University drumline

Watch this drumline from Southern University in Louisiana. You'll notice that they're doing motions with their sticks at the same time, and that their stick height (how high they hold their sticks off the drum) is all the same!

Auxilliary Percussion

Auxilliary Percussion (sometimes shortened to Aux Percussion) includes things like the triangle, tambourine, shakers, and MANY other percussion instruments that are struck, scraped, or shook. Click each video to learn more about the instrument!

Non- Pitched Percussion