What are Percussion Instruments & Their Varieties?
Many different families of Musical Instruments are recognised today. Among these, the wide range of Percussion instruments are perhaps the most interesting and awe inspiring of all. They are varied in their looks, sounds and the manner in which they are played. Percussion Instruments have been a part of the growing world of music from time immemorial.
It is believed that Percussion Instruments are the oldest and most widely played family of instruments across a host of music styles and genres of music.
What do you mean by Percussion?
Percussion refers to the act of hitting, striking or scraping to create sound. All percussion instruments are either beaten with a beater, hit, scraped or struck with hand or against each other to produce a combination of different sounds.
Common Percussion Instruments
The family of percussion instruments is one of the most varied and includes some of the largest and smallest instruments known to us. Some of these instruments are extremely simple in their looks while others have a detailed and complicated structure and require a lot of detailing in their construction.
These can be divided into the following wide categories –
1. Drums and Cymbals
2. Tuned and Untuned Idiophones.
List of Percussion Instruments
- Tabla
- Conga & Bongo
- Tambourine
- Scraper
- Marimba
- Jal Tarang
- Gong & Tam Tam
- Mbira
- Rattle & Shakers
- Cymbals
- Dholak
- Dhol
- Timpani
- Djembe
- Tenor Drum
- Frame Drum
- Gamelan
- Friction Drum
- Drum Kit
- String Drum
- Piano – its sound is the result of “the hammer striking the string.”
- Bass Drum
- Celesta
- Bells
- Tubular Bells
- Steel Pans
- Wood Instruments
- Metal Instruments
- Glass Instruments
- Keyboard Percussion
- Slit Drum
Want to add to this list?
Do you play a Percussion Instrument? Share your musical escapades and tips with us!
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