Apercussion instrument is amusical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by abeater including attached or enclosed beaters orrattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excludingzoomusicological instruments and thehuman voice, the percussion family is believed to include the oldest musical instruments.[1] In spite of being a very common term to designate instruments, and to relate them to their players, the percussionists, percussion is not a systematic classificatory category of instruments, as described by the scientific field oforganology. It is shown below that percussion instruments may belong to the organological classes ofidiophone,membranophone,aerophone andchordophone.
Percussion is commonly referred to as "the backbone" or "the heartbeat" of amusical ensemble, often working in close collaboration with bass instruments, when present. In jazz and other popular music ensembles, the pianist, bassist, drummer and sometimes the guitarist are referred to as therhythm section. Most classical pieces written for full orchestra since the time ofHaydn andMozart are orchestrated to place emphasis on thestrings,woodwinds, andbrass. However, often at least one pair oftimpani is included, though they rarely play continuously. Rather, they serve to provide additional accents when needed. In the 18th and 19th centuries, other percussion instruments (like thetriangle orcymbals) have been used, again generally sparingly. The use of percussion instruments became more frequent in the 20th century classical music.
In almost every style of music, percussion plays a pivotal role.[2] In militarymarching bands andpipes and drums, it is the beat of the bass drum that keeps the soldiers in step and at a regular speed, and it is the snare that provides that crisp, decisive air to the tune of a regiment. In classic jazz, one almost immediately thinks of the distinctive rhythm of thehi-hats or the ride cymbal when the word-swing is spoken. In more recent popular-music culture, it is almost impossible to name three or four rock, hip-hop, rap, funk or even soul charts or songs that do not have some sort of percussive beat keeping the tune in time.
Because of the diversity of percussive instruments, it is not uncommon to find large musical ensembles composed entirely of percussion. Rhythm, melody, and harmony are all represented in these ensembles.
Music for pitched percussion instruments can benotated on astaff with the sametreble andbassclefs used by many non-percussive instruments. Music for percussive instruments without a definite pitch can be notated with a specialist rhythm orpercussion-clef. The guitar also has a special "tab" staff. More often a bass clef is substituted for rhythm clef.
Percussion instruments are classified by various criteria sometimes depending on their construction, ethnic origin, function within musical theory and orchestration, or their relative prevalence in common knowledge.
The word percussion derives from the Latin verbpercussio to beat, strike in the musical sense, and the nounpercussus, a beating. As a noun in contemporary English, Wiktionary describes it as the collision of two bodies to produce a sound. The term is not unique to music, but has application in medicine and weaponry, as inpercussion cap. However, all known uses ofpercussion appear to share a similar lineage beginning with the original Latin percussus. In a musical context then, thepercussion instruments may have been originally coined to describe a family of musical instruments including drums, rattles, metal plates, or blocks that musicians beat or struck to produce sound.
TheHornbostel–Sachs system has no high-level section forpercussion. Most percussion instruments as the term is normally understood are classified asidiophones andmembranophones. However the termpercussion is instead used at lower-levels of the Hornbostel–Sachs hierarchy, including to identify instruments struck with either a non sonorous object hand, stick, striker or against a non-sonorous objecthuman body, the ground. This is opposed toconcussion, which refers to instruments with two or more complementary sonorous parts that strike against each other and other meanings. For example:
Percussion instruments are sometimes classified aspitched or unpitched. While valid, this classification is widely seen as inadequate. Rather, it may be more informative to describe percussion instruments in regards to one or more of the following four paradigms:
Many texts, includingTeaching Percussion by Gary Cook of the University of Arizona, begin by studying the physical characteristics of instruments and the methods by which they can produce sound. This is perhaps the most scientifically pleasing assignment of nomenclature whereas the other paradigms are more dependent on historical or social circumstances. Based on observation and experimentation, one can determine how an instrument produces sound and then assign the instrument to one of the following four categories:
Most objects commonly known asdrums are membranophones. Membranophones produce sound when the membrane or head is struck with a hand, mallet, stick, beater, or improvised tool.[3]
Most instruments known as chordophones are defined asstring instruments, wherein their sound is derived from the vibration of a string, but some such as these examplesalso fall under percussion instruments.
Most instruments known as aerophones are defined aswind instruments whereby sound is produced by a stream of air being blown through the object. However,plosive aerophones, such as theudu, are percussion instruments and may also overlap with the idiophone family. In certain situations, such as in anorchestra orwind ensemble, wind instruments, such as theAcme siren or variouswhistles, are played by percussionists, owing to their unconventional and simple nature.
When classifying instruments by function it is useful to note if a percussion instrument makes adefinite pitch orindefinite pitch.
For example, some percussion instruments such as themarimba andtimpani produce an obvious fundamental pitch and can therefore playmelody and serveharmonic functions in music. Other instruments such ascrash cymbals andsnare drums produce sounds with such complex overtones and a wide range of prominent frequencies that no pitch is discernible.
Instruments in this group are sometimes referred to as non-pitched, unpitched, or untuned. Traditionally these instruments are thought of as making a sound that contains such complex frequencies that no discernible pitch can be heard.
In fact many traditionally unpitched instruments, such as triangles and even cymbals, have also been produced as tuned sets.[4]
Examples of percussion instruments with indefinite pitch:
It is difficult to define what is common knowledge but there are instruments percussionists and composers use in contemporary music that most people would not considermusical instruments. It is worthwhile totry to distinguish between instruments based on their acceptance or consideration by a general audience.
For example, most people would not consider ananvil, abrake drum (on a vehicle withdrum brakes, the circular hub the brake shoes press against), or a fifty-five gallonoil barrel musical instruments yet composers and percussionists use these objects.
Percussion instruments generally fall into the following categories:
One pre-20th century example of found percussion is the use ofcannon usually loaded with blank charges inTchaikovsky's1812 Overture.John Cage,Harry Partch,Edgard Varèse, andPeter Schickele, all noted composers, created entire pieces of music using unconventional instruments. Beginning in the early 20th century perhaps withIonisation byEdgard Varèse which used air-raid sirens among other things, composers began to require that percussionists invent or find objects to produce desired sounds and textures. Another example the use of a hammer and saw inPenderecki'sDe Natura Sonoris No. 2. By the late 20th century, such instruments were common in modern percussion ensemble music and popular productions, such as the off-Broadway show,Stomp. Rock bandAerosmith used a number of unconventional instruments in their songSweet Emotion, includingshotguns, brooms, and a sugar bag. The metal bandSlipknot is well known for playing unusual percussion items, having two percussionists in the band. Along with deep sounding drums, their sound includes hitting baseball bats and other objects on beer kegs to create a distinctive sound.
It is not uncommon to discuss percussion instruments in relation to their cultural origin. This led to a division between instruments considered common or modern, and folk instruments with significant history or purpose within a geographic region or culture.
Some percussion instrumentsAncient Chinese musical bronze bells from theEastern Zhou dynasty,c. 6th century BC.A traditional Indonesiangamelan orchestra, composed almost entirely of percussion instruments
Within rock music, the term "percussionist" is often used to refer to someone who plays percussion instruments but is not primarily a drummer. The term is especially found in bands where one person plays drums and another plays other hit instruments.
^ Note however that percussion instruments such as the xylophone, which share the layout of the piano keyboard but themselves have no keyboard, are termed keyboard percussion and are universally regarded as being within the percussion family.
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