Percussion
Family
Family
Characteristics
• Strike, strum or shake
instrument for sound
• Made from metal, wood, or
stretched membrane
(animal hides)
• Pitched or unpitched
Snare Drum
• Originally called the sidedrum, because the
player would carry it around his waist and
played off to the side.
• Shaped like a cylinder, with skin stretched over its top.
• The "snare“ is a set of wires or strings strung across
the bottom of the drum. This rattling helps to produce
the snare drum's special sound.
• Good at playing "rolls” and other fancy rhythms
• Sometimes the snare is turned off, to make a dull thud
sound. (tom tom)
• Snare drums, like bass drums, do not have a definite
pitch (unpitched)
Bass Drum
• Largest drum in the percussion family
• Play a low sound
• It can sound loud and thundering, and sometimes quiet and
almost invisible.
• used in both orchestras and bands.
• In an orchestra, it is placed on a stand. In a marching band,
it hangs from a harness that the player wears while
marching
• Played with a soft beater
• Unpitched
Cymbals
• Thin metal disks that are clashed together or struck with
sticks to produce a sound.
• They come in many sizes. There are tiny finger cymbals,
and there are the large and deafening orchestral cymbals.
• Can sound soft and delicate, or loud and harsh
• They are used in almost every type of music, from
orchestral music to rock.
• Unpitched
Gong
• Unpitched
Triangle
• The triangle is a simple steel rod bent into the shape of a
triangle
• While the triangle is among the smallest of orchestra
instruments, it has a very clear and shimmering sound that
cuts through even the loudest music.
• The triangle's pitch is not distinct, and its tone varies
according to how hard, you strike it.
• Different sizes
• Big triangles are louder than little ones.
• Unpitched
Timpani
• Sometimes called the kettle drum
• often made of copper
• They have a piece of calfskin or thin plastic stretched over
their opening. This is called a drum head.
• They are usually played in pairs - sometimes in threes or
fours - because each drum is tuned to a different pitch
• Timpanists can change the pitch of each drum by pressing
their foot on a pedal at the base of the drum.
• Pitched
Xylophone
• A xylophone is a set of wooden bars, mounted on a frame.
• The bars, each tuned to a different pitch, are beaten with
sticks.
• Most xylophones have tubes or gourds below each bar to
increase the volume of the sound.
• The biggest xylophones have almost 50 wooden bars. The
wooden bars are arranged like a piano keyboard.
• Gives a bright and sharp sound; soft beaters make the
sound more gentle
• Pitched
Percussion Family Sound
• Percussion instruments sound are produced by
hitting/shaking/striking the instrument with
hands/sticks/mallets which cause the instrument to
vibrate and the sound to resonate in the body.
• The xylophone is one of the few percussion instruments
that can produce different pitches; the wooden bars are
arranged just like a piano’s keys. The smaller bars make
the higher notes. Some drums can be tuned to a specific
pitch, but usually the drums are assigned to keep the
beat and play the rhythm of the music
What have you learned?
Essential Questions
1. How are instruments grouped?
2. What are three characteristics for each
instrument family?
3. How do string instruments produce a sound?
4. How do brass instruments produce a sound?
5. How do woodwind instruments produce around?
6. How do percussion instruments produce a
sound?
7. What other timbres can be heard in music?
Review VOCABULARY
• Timbre (Tone Color)-is the special sound each instrument or voice
makes
• Orchestra-a group of musicians performing on string, brass,
woodwind and percussion instruments (about 100 members)
• String Instruments-produce sound by vibrating strings such as
plucking, bowing, or striking.
• Brass Instruments-tone is produced by vibration of the lips as the
player blows into the cupped mouthpiece.
• Woodwind Instruments-sound is produced by a vibrating reed or a
fixed mouthpiece, and in which the pitch is varied by opening or
closing holes in the body of the instrument or by placing fingers on
or off the holes.
• Percussion Instruments-can be any object which produces a sound
by being struck, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any action which
makes the object vibrate.
Carnegie Hall (New York City)
Fun Instrument Websites
• http://www.playmusic.org/index.html