Percussion Family

Percussion Family

What do you know about the percussion family?

Percussion

• The percussion family is the LARGEST in the orchestra!

• Percussion instruments make sound when they are hit, shaken, or scraped. The instrument itself vibrates to make its sound.

• There are two types of percussion instruments: pitched and unpitched

Pitched Percussion

• Pitched means that the instrument creates a tone with a specific note or pitch when it is struck.

• Musicians playing a pitched percussion instrument read notes on the 5 line staff.

Pitched Percussion: Xylophone

• The Xylophone is a pitched percussion instrument.

• It is set up like a piano keyboard.

• Musicians play the xylophone with mallets.

• Each key on the xylophone has its one note, very much like the keys on the piano.

Pitched Percussion: Timpani

• The timpani is a type of drum.

• Usually, the timpani player of an orchestra plays a set of timpani, three or four.

• Each timpani can be tuned to play a different note. That's why they need more than one in an orchestra, so that they can play more than one note.

• Timpani are tuned with a pedal at the bottom.

Multiple Choice

How do pitched percussion instruments read their notes?

• Out of a picture book

• Off of a 5 lined staff, like piano

• Off of a two lined staff

Multiple Choice

What does a musician use to play the xylophone?

• Mallets

• Hammers

• Their fingers

Unpitched Percussion

• Unpitched percussion are instruments that do not make a specific musical note or pitch when struck.

• Unpitched percussion instruments read their rhythms off of a single line staff, like in the picture.

• There are very many unpitched percussion instruments. Anything that makes a noise when you hit it counts!

Unpitched Percussion:

Snare Drum

• The snare drum makes a sharp staccato sound when it is hit.

• The snare has stiff wires that are held underneath the skin (the flat white part). These wires vibrate against the skin when the drum is struck, giving the snare a unique sound.

Unpitched Percussion: Cymbals

• Cymbals come in many shapes and sizes.

• In the orchestra, cymbals are played in pairs and hit against one another.

• Cymbals can also be found as part of a drum kit where they can be played with a drum stick against a single cymbal.

Multiple Choice

Why don't unpitched percussion instruments read from a 5 lined staff?

• The musicians don't know how

• The instruments don't make a pitch

• The composers don't like 5 lines.

Multiple Choice

The ____ is the top part of the drum that is hit.

• Stick

• Mallet

• Skin