Percussion

Instruments

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Bass
Drum

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 Pitched Percussion
There is almost an endless number of percus-
sion instruments from many cultures. Percus-
sion instruments are struck, shaken or scraped
to produce a sound. Some percussion instru-
ments have specific pitch (A,B,C,D, E, F, G)
and you can play songs on them..

Marimba, xylophone, vibraphone and orches-

tra bells are set up like a piano keyboard and
are played with mallets. The marimba has a
mellow tone, the xylophone a more sharp and
cutting sound. The vibraphone has metal keys
and a motorized part that makes the sound vi-
brate. The orchestra bells play the high tin-
kling melodies.

Chimes are struck with a mallet to produce a bell like tone.

Tympani (aka kettle drums) produce a

specific pitch and can be tuned to differ-
ent notes by pushing the foot pedals.

The celesta looks like a baby piano but has metal keys instead
of strings. It is the instrument you hear in the “Dance of the
Sugar Plum Fairy “ in the Nutcracker Suite.
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 Drums
Drums, other than the tympani,
produce high or low pitches but
not specific notes like A, B, C,
etc. There are hundreds of differ-
ent kinds of drums all over the
world. Here are just a few.

Snare drum

Conga Drums

Concert bass drum

Bongo Drums

Drum Set

3
 Small Percussion Instruments
There are all kinds of small percussion
instruments that produce ring, scrape,
rattle, and click sounds. They come
from all over the world.

There are many kinds of cymbals

including crash cymbals, suspended
cymbals and finger cymbals.

Egg Wood blocks triangles jingle bells, sand blocks

shakers
Wind chimes maracas

quiro

tambourine

Temple blocks