Definition of percussion instrument Percussion instrument
per•cus•sion in•stru•ment
We found 3 definitions of percussion instrument from 3 different sources.
Advertising
What does percussion instrument mean?
WordNet
Noun |
||
| percussion instrument - a musical instrument in which the sound is produced by one object striking another | ||
| percussive instrument | ||
| musical instrument, instrument any of various devices or contrivances that can be used to produce musical tones or sounds | ||
| bones, castanets, clappers, finger cymbals a percussion instrument consisting of a pair of hollow pieces of wood or bone (usually held between the thumb and fingers) that are made to click together (as by Spanish dancers) in rhythm with the dance | ||
| chime, gong, bell a percussion instrument consisting of a set of tuned bells that are struck with a hammer; used as an orchestral instrument | ||
| cymbal a percussion instrument consisting of a concave brass disk; makes a loud crashing sound when hit with a drumstick or when two are struck together | ||
| membranophone, tympan, drum small to medium-sized bottom-dwelling food and game fishes of shallow coastal and fresh waters that make a drumming noise | ||
| glockenspiel, orchestral bells a percussion instrument consisting of a set of graduated metal bars mounted on a frame and played with small hammers | ||
| tam-tam, gong a percussion instrument consisting of a metal plate that is struck with a softheaded drumstick | ||
| kettledrum, timpani, tympani, tympanum, kettle a metal pot for stewing or boiling; usually has a lid | ||
| lagerphone an Australian percussion instrument used for playing bush music; a long stick with bottle caps nailed loosely to it; played by hitting it with a stick or banging it on the ground | ||
| mallet, hammer a tool resembling a hammer but with a large head (usually wooden); used to drive wedges or ram down paving stones or for crushing or beating or flattening or smoothing | ||
| maraca a percussion instrument consisting of a hollow gourd containing pebbles or beans; often played in pairs | ||
| marimba, xylophone a percussion instrument with wooden bars tuned to produce a chromatic scale and with resonators; played with small mallets | ||
| forte-piano, pianoforte, piano a keyboard instrument that is played by depressing keys that cause hammers to strike tuned strings and produce sounds | ||
| rain stick a percussion instrument that is made from a dried cactus branch that is hollowed out and filled with small pebbles and capped at both ends; makes the sound of falling rain when tilted; origin was in Chile where tribesmen used it in ceremonies to bring rain | ||
| steel drum a concave percussion instrument made from the metal top of an oil drum; has an array of flattened areas that produce different tones when struck (of Caribbean origin) | ||
| triangle a percussion instrument consisting of a metal bar bent in the shape of an open triangle | ||
= synonym
= antonym
= related word
= antonym
= related word
Wiktionary 
Wikipedia 
-
Percussion instruments are instruments which are played by shaking or hitting. There are many different kinds of percussion instrument. A person who plays a percussion instrument is a percussionist. Percussionists are usually able to play lots of different percussion instruments, because the basic skills are similar.
Some percussion instruments can play tunes. These are called “tuned percussion”. Tuned percussion instruments include: xylophone, glockenspiel, vibraphone, tubular bells and timpani.
Untuned percussion instruments include: bass drum, side drum (snare drum), maracas, castanets, cymbals, tambourine, claves and many more.
In an orchestra there can be more different sorts of percussion instruments than in the other families: string, woodwind and brass instruments. However, older music does not often use lots of percussion. Most orchestral music by composers like Mozart and Beethoven only use timpani. In the 19th century more percussion is added: cymbals, tambourine, triangle etc. In the 20th century some composers may use a large number of percussion instruments.
Whenever any unusual instrument is used that does not fit into the category of string, woodwind, brass or keyboard, it is usually played by a percussionist. Occasionally composers have used things like typewriters, milk bottles or vacuum cleaners in their orchestral pieces.
Drum kits are the basis of most pop music. Drum kits can include bass drum, side drum, tom-toms, cowbells, cymbals (suspended and hi-hat
