Percussion

What's Percussion?

Percussion describes a family of instruments played by striking an object with a mallet, stick or hands. There are over 50 different instruments in the percussion family, including drums, mallet instruments (like xylophones), and "auxiliary" percussion including shakers, cowbells, triangles, and cymbals.

Percussion is commonly used in concert bands, orchestras, chamber music, film music, folk music, and as a solo instrument. Additionally, percussion can be heard in jazz, rock music, pop music, and popular music in the form of drums beats!

History

Anthropologists believe that percussion instruments were among the first devices ever created by humans. The use of hands, feet, sticks, rocks, logs, and eventually handmade barrels or drums have been traced all the way back to before the Ancient Greeks! Percussion instruments were commonly used in conjunction with dance to assist with a rich oral storytelling tradition. Percussion as we know it today had its origins with the Janissaries, an Ottoman army from the 12th Century that used drums to march into battle.

How to play

Instruments are struck, shaken or scraped with drumsticks, mallets, beaters, and various other implements to create unique and interesting sounds. Individual technique varies from instrument to instrument, and you will be well-trained to perform on EVERY instrument!