PERCUSSION

Percussion is music involving drums and other instruments such as gongs, bells, cymbals, rattles, and tambourines. The instruments themselves are also called percussion. ... They are struck to produce loudness, while the other instruments are strummed or blown into, or have keys that are depressed to produce notes.

How do percussion instruments differ from guitars, horns, and pianos? They are struck to produce loudness, while the other instruments are strummed or blown into, or have keys that are depressed to produce notes. Percussion comes from the Latin word percussionim, which means "a striking, a blow." And those who think percussion evolved with modern jazz and rock and roll will be surprised to learn the word was first used in 1776 to describe musical instruments.

The percussion family is the largest in the orchestra. Percussion instruments include any instrument that makes a sound when it is hit, shaken, or scraped. It's not easy to be a percussionist because it takes a lot of practice to hit an instrument with the right amount of strength, in the right place and at the right time. Some percussion instruments are tuned and can sound different notes, like the xylophone, timpani or piano, and some are untuned with no definite pitch, like the bass drum, cymbals or castanets.