Percussion

Percussion takes in every struck instrument outside the fixed drum kit: the percussion section of the symphony orchestra with its timpani, bass drum, cymbals and mallet instruments; hand drums from Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia; small percussion such as shakers, claves, tambourine and cowbell; and whole instrumental cultures such as the Indonesian gamelan or the steel bands of Trinidad. Struck instruments are among the very oldest musical instruments and are found in every musical culture. Learning percussion develops an unusually secure sense of rhythm, trains the ear for timbre and opens the door to musical cultures from all over the world. This article puts that variety in order, introduces the most important instruments and traditions, and shows how to begin playing.

1Classification

The Hornbostel-Sachs system (1914) classifies struck instruments by the vibrating material and the way it is set in motion:

Group	Principle	Examples
Struck idiophones (111.2)	the body is struck with a beater or the hand	xylophone, marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, gong, tam-tam, triangle, cowbell, woodblock, steelpan
Concussion idiophones (111.1)	two similar parts are struck against each other	cymbals, claves, castanets
Shaken idiophones (112.1)	the body or its contents are shaken	shaker, maracas, caxixi, rattles, jingle ring
Scraped idiophones (112.2)	a stick is drawn across notches	güiro, reco-reco, ratchet
Plucked idiophones (12)	tongues are plucked	mbira, kalimba (lamellophones)
Struck membranophones (211)	a head is struck	timpani, congas, bongos, djembe, tabla, taiko, frame drums
Friction membranophones (23)	the head is set in motion by friction	cuíca (Brazil), Rummelpott

Strictly speaking the cajón is an idiophone, because it is the wooden playing surface that vibrates rather than a head; in practice it is played like a hand drum. A second important distinction: instruments of indefinite pitch supply rhythm and colour, while instruments of definite pitch – mallet instruments, timpani, tubular bells, steelpan – play melodies and harmonies.

2Orchestral percussion

The percussion section of the symphony orchestra grew out of the timpani and trumpets of court and military music and expanded above all in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The “Turkish music” of the Ottoman janissary bands (bass drum, cymbals, triangle) inspired Mozart (Die Entführung aus dem Serail, 1782) and Haydn (the “Military” Symphony, 1794) in the eighteenth century; Beethoven used it in the finale of the Ninth Symphony.

Instrument	Characteristics	Well-known uses
Bass drum	a low drum with two heads, often in a swivelling frame	Verdi, Requiem (“Dies irae”); Mahler
Snare drum	the orchestral snare with a fine set of snares	Ravel, Boléro (a continuous ostinato); Nielsen, Symphony no. 5 (an improvising snare drum)
Cymbals (crash pair)	struck against each other; a suspended cymbal played with beaters	Tchaikovsky, Symphony no. 4
Tam-tam, gong	the tam-tam has no definite pitch (a wash of sound), the gong has a boss and a definite pitch	Tchaikovsky, Symphony no. 6; Puccini, Turandot
Triangle	a bent steel rod	Liszt, Piano Concerto no. 1 (the “Triangle Concerto”)
Tambourine, castanets	a jingle ring with a head; wooden shells	Bizet, Carmen; Rimsky-Korsakov, Capriccio espagnol
Tubular bells	tuned metal tubes	Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique; Tchaikovsky, the 1812 Overture
Effect instruments	whip, ratchet, wind machine, thunder sheet, anvil, hammer	Strauss, An Alpine Symphony; Wagner, Das Rheingold (18 anvils); Mahler, Symphony no. 6 (hammer)

3Timpani

Timpani are kettledrums of definite pitch. Their forerunners, the small naqqara, came to Europe from the Arab world with the Crusades; the large timpani carried on horseback by Ottoman and Hungarian cavalry reached European courts in the fifteenth century. Timpanists and trumpeters were organised in a privileged guild. In the Baroque, two drums were usually tuned to the tonic and the fifth (Bach, Handel); Beethoven widened the intervals (octaves in the Eighth and Ninth Symphonies). In the nineteenth century, machine and pedal timpani replaced hand-screw drums; the “Dresden timpani” with pedal mechanism (Carl Pittrich, 1881) became the model.

Drum (standard set)	Diameter (approx.)	Range (approx.)
Largest drum	32″ (81 cm)	D2–A2
Second drum	29″ (74 cm)	F2–C3
Third drum	26″ (66 cm)	B♭2–F3
Small drum	23″ (58 cm)	D3–A3
Piccolo timpano	20″ (51 cm)	up to C4

Timpanists retune by ear while playing – a demanding skill. The kettles are made of copper or fibreglass, the heads of calfskin or plastic. A distinction is made between the German system (largest drum on the right) and the American one (largest drum on the left). Great timpani parts are found in Beethoven, Berlioz (the Requiem, with 16 drums), Brahms, Mahler, Strauss, Bartók (Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, with timpani glissandi) and Stravinsky (The Rite of Spring). Solo works include Elliott Carter’s Eight Pieces for Four Timpani and Philip Glass’s Concerto Fantasy for two timpanists.

4Mallet instruments

Instrument	Bars	Sounding range (typical)	Sound
Marimba	rosewood or synthetic, with resonator tubes	A2–C7 (4⅓ octaves) or C2–C7 (5 octaves)	warm, soft, carrying
Xylophone	rosewood or synthetic	F4–C8; notated an octave lower	bright, dry, short
Vibraphone	aluminium, resonators with motor-driven fans, damper pedal	F3–F6 (3 octaves)	long-ringing, shimmering
Glockenspiel	steel	G5–C8; notated two octaves lower	bell-like, penetrating
Crotales	small bronze discs	C6–C8; notated two octaves lower	crystal-clear, long
Tubular bells	metal tubes	C4–F5	the sound of church bells

The marimba has African roots (gourd xylophones such as the balafon) and became a national instrument in Central America, especially in Guatemala and Chiapas (Mexico); the marimba music of the Colombian and Ecuadorian Pacific coast is UNESCO intangible cultural heritage. The wide-range concert marimba was developed by firms in the United States and Japan during the twentieth century; Clair Omar Musser and the Japanese player Keiko Abe made it a solo instrument. The vibraphone was created in 1921 at the Leedy company (Hermann Winterhoff) in the United States; Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson and Gary Burton made it a jazz instrument.

Mallet instruments are played with two, four or six beaters. For the four-mallet grip, three techniques have become established: Stevens (after Leigh Howard Stevens, with independent mallets), Burton (crossed, used on the jazz vibraphone) and the traditional or cross grip. The hardness of the mallet determines the colour: hard heads (plastic, rubber) give a bright attack, soft yarn or wool heads a round tone. On the vibraphone, pedal and hand dampening are part of the technique.

5Hand drums of the world

Latin America and the Caribbean

Instrument	Origin	Characteristics
Cajón	Peru (Afro-Peruvian, 18th/19th century)	a box drum that the player sits on; Peruvian cultural heritage since 2001; brought into flamenco by Paco de Lucía in the late 1970s, today used worldwide in pop and unplugged settings; modern models have snare wires
Congas (tumbadoras)	Cuba	tall barrel drums: quinto (high), conga, tumba (low); the basic pattern is the tumbao
Bongos	Cuba (son)	a pair of drums, macho and hembra, held between the knees; the basic pattern is the martillo; the player switches to the campana (bell)
Timbales	Cuba	metal-shelled drums with cowbells; the cáscara pattern is played on the shell (Tito Puente)
Batá	Cuba (Yoruba tradition)	three hourglass-shaped drums with heads at both ends, used in the Santería liturgy
Pandeiro	Brazil	a frame drum with jingles; samba, choro, capoeira
Surdo, caixa, repinique, tamborim, agogô, cuíca	Brazil	the instruments of the samba batucada
Berimbau	Brazil (capoeira)	a musical bow with a gourd resonator
Steelpan	Trinidad and Tobago (1930s/40s)	a tuned metal drum made from oil barrels; steel bands use tenor, double second, cello and bass pans; the national instrument

Africa

Instrument	Origin	Characteristics
Djembe	West Africa (Malinké: Mali, Guinea, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire)	a goblet drum carved from a single piece of hardwood, with a goatskin head and rope tuning; the sounds are bass, tone and slap; played in an ensemble with the bass drums kenkeni, sangban, dundunba; spread worldwide by Mamady Keïta and Famoudou Konaté
Talking drum (dùndún)	Nigeria, Ghana (Yoruba)	an hourglass drum whose pitch is changed by squeezing the tension cords; it can imitate the tonal language Yoruba
Sabar	Senegal	played with a stick and the hand; mbalax
Ngoma	East and Central Africa	a general term for drums and drum music
Balafon	West Africa	a gourd xylophone; UNESCO cultural heritage (the Sosso-Bala)
Mbira, kalimba	Zimbabwe, south-east Africa	lamellophones; the mbira dzavadzimu of the Shona
Udu	Nigeria (Igbo)	a clay vessel with a side hole; deep, bubbling notes

The Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia

Instrument	Characteristics
Darbuka (tabla, darabukka)	a goblet drum of ceramic or metal; the strokes are dum (centre, low) and tek (rim, bright); rhythms (iqa’at) such as maqsum, baladi, saidi, ayoub and the 9/8 karsilama
Riq	a small frame drum with pairs of jingles; used in the classical takht ensemble
Daf, bendir, tar	large frame drums; Sufi music and folk music; the bendir has snare strings
Tombak (zarb)	a Persian goblet drum played with virtuoso finger technique
Davul	a large double-headed drum, played outdoors with the zurna

South Asia

Instrument	Characteristics
Tabla	a North Indian pair of drums: the dayan (right, tuned) and the bayan (left, a bass drum of variable pitch); the black tuning patch is the syahi; rhythmic cycles (tala) such as teental (16 beats); a language of syllables (bols); masters include Ustad Alla Rakha and Zakir Hussain
Mridangam	the South Indian double-headed barrel drum of Carnatic music; masters include Palghat Mani Iyer and Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman
Kanjira, ghatam	a frame drum with lizard skin and a clay pot respectively; Carnatic music
Konnakol	the South Indian language of rhythmic syllables (solkattu), used worldwide to teach rhythm
Dhol	a large double-headed drum; bhangra (Punjab)

East and South-East Asia

Instrument / tradition	Characteristics
Taiko (Japan)	large barrel drums; the ensemble style kumi-daiko was developed from 1951 by Daihachi Oguchi; groups such as Ondekoza and Kodo made it known worldwide
Samul nori (Korea)	four instruments: kkwaenggwari (small gong), jing (large gong), janggu (hourglass drum) and buk (barrel drum); established as a stage form in 1978
Chinese percussion	the gongs, cymbals and drums of Peking opera and the lion dance
Gamelan (Indonesia)	an ensemble of tuned gongs, metallophones (saron, gender), kettle gongs (bonang) and drums (kendang) in the slendro and pelog tuning systems; Javanese and Balinese traditions; UNESCO cultural heritage (2021); an influence on Debussy, Messiaen, Britten and minimal music

More recent instruments

The Hang, developed in 2000 by PANArt (Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer) in Bern, is a metal sound sculpture made of two half-shells with tuned note fields, played with the hands. Instruments built along the same lines are called handpans. The steel tongue drum, the waterphone and electronic percussion pads (Roland Octapad, SPD-SX) widen the palette further.

6Small percussion

Instrument	How it is played	Typical function
Shaker, maracas, caxixi	shaken	a continuous subdivision in quavers or semiquavers
Tambourine (jingle ring)	shaken, struck	reinforcing the backbeat in pop, soul and gospel
Claves	two sticks struck together	the clave rhythm as the timekeeper
Cowbell, campana, agogô	played with a stick	crotchets or patterns in salsa, samba and funk
Güiro, reco-reco	a stick drawn across notches	rustling rhythms in cumbia, son and merengue
Triangle	with a metal beater, open or damped	accents; forró (Brazil); the orchestra
Woodblock, temple blocks	with a stick or beater	dry impulses, effects
Chimes (mark tree), ocean drum, rainmaker	swept, tilted	washes of sound, transitions
Castanets	finger technique (flamenco) or mounted on a paddle	Spanish music, the orchestra

Small percussion looks easy but demands the greatest precision: a shaker that is fractionally early or late changes the feel of a whole band. Studio percussionists such as Paulinho da Costa, Luis Conte and Lenny Castro have built entire careers on that sensitivity.

7Rhythmic foundations

Clave

Many Afro-Cuban styles are organised around the clave, a two-bar pattern of five strokes. In the 3-2 son clave, three strokes fall in the first bar (on 1, the “and” of 2, and 4) and two in the second (on 2 and 3). The rumba clave moves the third stroke back by a quaver (to the “and” of 4). An arrangement is either “in 3-2” or “in 2-3”, and congas, piano, bass and horns must all follow it. Playing “against the clave” sounds plainly wrong to Cuban musicians.

Timeline and polyrhythm

West African and Afro-diasporic music works with a guiding pattern, the timeline, usually played on a bell. The best-known example is the standard bell pattern in 12/8 (seven strokes across twelve pulses), found in Ghana, Nigeria, Cuba (bembé) and Brazil. At the same time, other instruments play figures grouped in twos and threes – polyrhythm such as three against two or four against three. The result is a many-layered fabric in which every single part is simple but the whole is complex.

Rhythmic languages

Many traditions teach rhythm through syllables: the Indian bols (tabla: “dha, dhin, na, tin”) and South Indian konnakol (“ta ka di mi”), the Arabic dum and tek, the Kodály and Gordon syllables of music education (“ta ti-ti”), and African mnemonic systems. Speaking before playing is one of the most effective ways to learn.

8Technique

• Hand drums: relaxed shoulders, movement from the arm and wrist, and a controlled rebound of the hand. Timbre comes from where the head is struck (centre or rim), what strikes it (fingers, the heel of the hand, the whole hand) and how long the contact lasts (open or damped). The basic strokes on congas are open tone, slap, bass, muffled and heel-tip; on the djembe, bass, tone and slap.
• Mallet instruments: the striking point (the centre or the end of the bar, never over the nodal line), the choice of mallet, two- and four-mallet technique, rolls to sustain long notes on the marimba, and dampening on the vibraphone.
• Timpani: the German grip (back of the hand up) or the French grip (thumb up), a striking point about a quarter of the diameter in from the rim, rolls, damping with the fingers, tuning by ear, and glissandi with the pedal.
• Orchestral percussion: snare drum with rudiments and the closed roll, crash cymbal technique, triangle and tambourine rolls, and quick changes between many instruments (“multi-percussion”).
• Small percussion: the smallest possible movements with the greatest possible precision; shaker accents come from changes of direction.

In an ensemble, the central task of percussion is to complement: instruments take on different subdivisions and registers instead of all playing the same thing. Good percussion arrangements are often sparing.

9Elementary music education and rhythmics

The Orff Schulwerk (Carl Orff and Gunild Keetman, from the 1930s and especially the 1950s) made mallet instruments (glockenspiel, metallophone and xylophone with removable bars), small drums and body percussion the foundation of early musical education, and it is used worldwide today. Body percussion (clapping, stamping, clicking, chest slaps) is both a way of practising and a stage art in its own right (Keith Terry, Barbatuques from Brazil, Stomp). Drum circles, samba bands and rhythm projects are used in schools, music schools and social work because they let people make music together with no prior knowledge.

10Repertoire and ensembles

New music

Work	Significance
Edgard Varèse: Ionisation (1931)	one of the first works for percussion ensemble alone (13 players)
John Cage: First Construction (in Metal) (1939); Lou Harrison	percussion ensembles of the American avant-garde
Carlos Chávez: Toccata (1942)	a classic of the percussion ensemble
Béla Bartók: Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion (1937)	chamber music with timpani and xylophone
Karlheinz Stockhausen: Zyklus (1959)	the first major solo work for multi-percussion
Iannis Xenakis: Psappha (1975), Rebonds (1987–89), Pléïades (1978)	solo works and an ensemble work for Les Percussions de Strasbourg
Steve Reich: Drumming (1971), Clapping Music (1972), Music for 18 Musicians (1976)	minimal music and phase shifting; influenced by African music
Morton Feldman: The King of Denmark (1964)	a very quiet solo work played with bare hands
Tan Dun: Water Concerto (1998)	a concerto with water percussion

Marimba and vibraphone

Keiko Abe (Michi, Wind in the Bamboo Grove), Ney Rosauro (Marimba Concerto no. 1, 1986), Emmanuel Séjourné (concertos), Paul Creston (Concertino, 1940), Darius Milhaud (Concerto for Marimba and Vibraphone, 1947), Minoru Miki and Eric Sammut; and arrangements of Bach for marimba. In jazz: Lionel Hampton, Red Norvo, Milt Jackson, Bobby Hutcherson, Gary Burton, Stefon Harris, Joel Ross; and Pascal Schumacher (Luxembourg).

Leading ensembles

Les Percussions de Strasbourg (founded 1962), Nexus (Canada, 1971), Kroumata (Sweden), Amadinda (Hungary), So Percussion (USA), Percussion Art Ensemble; the taiko group Kodo (Japan), Samul Nori (Korea) and steel bands such as the Desperadoes (Trinidad).

11Leading percussionists

Field	Names
Classical and new music	Evelyn Glennie, Martin Grubinger, Keiko Abe, Peter Sadlo, Colin Currie, Christoph Sietzen, Vivi Vassileva, Alexej Gerassimez
Latin	Chano Pozo, Mongo Santamaría, Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Giovanni Hidalgo, Changuito, Poncho Sánchez, Sheila E.
Brazil	Airto Moreira, Naná Vasconcelos, Marcos Suzano (pandeiro), Paulinho da Costa
Africa	Mamady Keïta, Famoudou Konaté, Babatunde Olatunji, Doudou N’Diaye Rose
Asia and the Middle East	Zakir Hussain, Trilok Gurtu, Glen Velez (frame drum), Hossam Ramzy, Misirli Ahmet
Studio, pop and jazz	Luis Conte, Lenny Castro, Bill Summers, Mino Cinelu, Pete Lockett

12Hearing and health

Congas, timbales, timpani, bass drum and cymbals reach very high sound pressure levels, and in the orchestra percussionists also sit in front of the brass. Musicians’ earplugs are therefore important for percussionists too. Hand drummers should look after their hands: warm up, use relaxed technique rather than force, and use tape or hand protection if necessary; blisters and bruising are signs of faulty technique.

13Buying and equipment

Instrument	Guide price (new)	Note
Cajón	about €80–300	with adjustable snares; check the seat height
Set of shakers and small percussion	about €30–100	ideal for groups
Bongos	about €80–300	wood or fibreglass
Congas (pair with stand)	about €400–1,200	natural heads sound warmer, synthetic heads cope better with the weather
Djembe	about €150–500	a one-piece hardwood shell and good rope tuning
Darbuka	about €60–400	aluminium or ceramic body
Tabla (pair)	about €300–1,500	tuning hammer, rings and covers
Marimba (practice model, 4⅓ octaves)	about €2,000–6,000	concert instruments cost upwards of €20,000
Glockenspiel with practice pad	about €100–400	a way into mallet playing
Handpan	about €1,000–3,000	quality and tuning vary greatly

14Care

• Protect natural heads from damp, heat and direct sunlight, and slacken them slightly when the instrument is not in use.
• Retension rope-tuned djembes regularly (diamond knots); have tabla heads tuned only by someone who knows how.
• Cover mallet instruments, never play the bars with drumsticks, choose suitable mallets, and keep the resonators free of dust.
• Do not store wooden instruments next to radiators, and keep metal instruments dry (rust).
• Cover timpani after playing, put no weight on the heads, and either release or secure the tuning before transport.

15Learning percussion

Stage	Content
Starting out	keeping a pulse, body percussion, spoken syllables, basic strokes on the cajón or djembe, simple patterns played in a group
Building up	clave and tumbao, the basic samba rhythms, precision on small percussion, reading music, first mallet exercises
Going deeper	polyrhythm, solos, stylistic study (salsa, samba, West African rhythms, Arabic rhythms), two-mallet technique
Advanced	four-mallet technique, timpani, orchestral percussion, ensemble and band work, arranging

16Percussion at Cuxhaven Music School

Percussion is open to children, young people and adults here – as individual lessons, in groups and in our ensembles. It is an excellent way into music and a fine complement to the drum kit. In our bands, cajón, congas and shakers supply colour and groove.

17Frequently asked questions

Do you need to read music for percussion?

Not at first for hand drums – a great deal is learnt through spoken syllables and imitation. For mallet instruments, timpani and orchestral percussion, reading music is essential.

What is the difference between a drum kit and percussion?

The drum kit is a fixed set-up for one player. Percussion covers the many individual struck instruments, often played by several people together.

Is a cajón a good substitute for a drum kit?

For acoustic line-ups, yes; but it does not replace cymbals, hi-hat and the independence of the feet.

Can children start percussion early?

Yes. Rhythmics and Orff instruments are ideal ways in at pre-school age.

What is the clave?

A two-bar guiding pattern in Afro-Cuban music – and the name of the two wooden sticks it is played on.

What is a handpan?

A tuned metal sound sculpture played with the hands; the original is called the Hang and was developed in Bern in 2000.

18Glossary

Batucada

A Brazilian samba drumming ensemble.

Bol

A rhythmic syllable used for the tabla.

Cáscara

A pattern played on the shell of the timbales.

Clave

The guiding pattern of Afro-Cuban music.

Dum / tek

The low and the bright stroke on the darbuka.

Gamelan

An Indonesian ensemble of gongs and metallophones.

Idiophone

An instrument whose own material vibrates.

Konnakol

The South Indian language of rhythm.

Mallets

Beaters for tuned percussion.

Martillo

The basic pattern of the bongos.

Membranophone

An instrument with a stretched head.

Polyrhythm

Different rhythmic groupings sounding at the same time.

Slap

A sharp hand stroke on congas or djembe.

Tala

The rhythmic cycle of Indian music.

Timeline

The guiding bell pattern in African music.

Tumbao

The basic pattern of the conga.

19Sources and further reading

• James Blades: Percussion Instruments and Their History. Faber, London 1970, new edn 1992.
• Erich M. von Hornbostel, Curt Sachs: “Systematik der Musikinstrumente”. Zeitschrift für Ethnologie 46 (1914).
• Siegfried Fink: methods and studies for percussion instruments. Simrock.
• Rebeca Mauleón: Salsa Guidebook for Piano and Ensemble. Sher Music 1993.
• Ed Uribe: The Essence of Afro-Cuban Percussion and Drum Set. Alfred.
• Simha Arom: African Polyphony and Polyrhythm. Cambridge University Press 1991.
• Godfried Toussaint: The Geometry of Musical Rhythm. CRC Press 2013 (on clave and timelines).
• Articles “Percussion instruments”, “Timpani” and “Marimba” in: Grove Music Online; “Schlaginstrumente” in: MGG.

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Last updated: September 2026 · Musikpedia editorial team, Cuxhaven Music School