Percussion instrument | Definition, Types, History ...
Oct 8, 2024 · percussion instrument, any musical instrument belonging to either of two groups, idiophones or membranophones. Idiophones are instruments whose own substance vibrates to produce sound (as opposed to the strings of a guitar or the air column of a flute); examples include bells, clappers, and rattles. Membranophones emit sound by the vibration of ...
percussion instrument - Students | Britannica Kids | Homework Help
Since the early 17th century the term percussion instruments has referred to two large groups of instruments. Idiophones, such as rattles and bells, are instruments whose bodies vibrate to produce a sound, and membranophones, such as the many kinds of drums, employ a tautly stretched membrane to produce sound.
percussion instrument summary | Britannica
percussion instrument, A musical instrument that is struck (or sometimes shaken or scraped) to produce sound. This category includes instruments whose own hard substance is made to vibrate (idiophones) and instruments that include a tight membrane that vibrates (membranophones).
Musical instrument | History, Characteristics, Examples,
Oct 30, 2024 · Musical instrument, any device for producing musical sound. The principal types of such instruments, classified by the method of producing sound, are percussion, stringed, keyboard, wind, and electronic. Learn more about the characteristics and classification of musical instruments in this article.
Percussion instrument - Europe, Orchestras, Timpani | Britannica
Oct 8, 2024 · Percussion instrument - Europe, Orchestras, Timpani: Europe received most of its percussion instruments either directly or indirectly from the sophisticated cultures of the ancient Middle East or from Egypt, a country regarded by the Greeks and Romans as forming part of Asia rather than Africa (a practice that will be followed in this article ...
Musical instrument - Classification, Types, Families | Britannica
Oct 30, 2024 · Writers in the Greco-Roman world distinguished three main types of instruments: wind, stringed, and percussion. This classification was retained in the Middle Ages and persisted for several centuries: it is the one preferred by some writers, with the addition of electronic instruments, at the present day.
Percussion instrument - Renaissance, Baroque, Classical | Britannica
Oct 8, 2024 · Percussion instrument - Renaissance, Baroque, Classical: Additional idiophones came into use from the Renaissance on. The xylophone, long widespread throughout Asia and Africa, was illustrated in 1529 by the composer and music theorist Martin Agricola.
percussion instrument - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help
Percussion instruments include the xylophone, the timpani, the gong, the snare drum, and the bass drum. Percussion instruments are musical instruments that generally are used to establish rhythm. Percussion instruments make a sound when …
Is the Piano a Percussion or a Stringed Instrument?
When the strings vibrate, they produce sound. On a piano, however, those vibrations are initiated by hammers hitting the strings rather than by plucking or by moving a bow across them. So, the piano also falls into the realm of percussion instruments.
Percussion instrument - Orchestral, Tuned, Unpitched | Britannica
Oct 8, 2024 · Percussion instrument - Orchestral, Tuned, Unpitched: In general, until the early 19th century, the trend in Western musical culture had been to make diminishing use of nontonal percussion instruments.