Percussion instrument

A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by being hit or scraped by a beater, which may include connected or enclosed beaters or rattles that are struck, scraped, or rubbed by hand, or by being struck against another musical instrument of similar design. With the exception of zoomusicological instruments and the human voice, it is thought that the percussion family contains the first musical instruments known to man.

It is most typical for orchestras to include percussion sections that include instruments such as the timpani, the snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, triangular drum, and tambourine, among others. However, non-percussive instruments like as whistles and sirens, as well as a blown conch shell, might be included in this area as well. It is possible to apply percussion methods to the human body itself, as in the case of body percussion. The percussion section does not generally contain keyboard instruments such as the celesta, although keyboard percussion instruments such as the glockenspiel and the xylophone (which do not have piano keyboards) are included in this category.

Unpitched and pitched percussion instruments are the most frequent divisions of percussion instruments. Pitched percussion instruments are those that generate notes with a distinct pitch, whilst unpitched percussion instruments are those that produce notes or noises with an undetermined pitch.