percussion instruments

percussion instruments
(per-KUH-shun)

[Eng.]

Instruments that are sounded by striking, shaking, plucking, or scraping. All instruments such as drums and bells fall into this category. The formal classifications of most Percussion instruments are either Idiophones (instruments that vibrate when struck, shook, plucked, or scraped) or Membranophones (instruments that have a stretched membrane that vibrates when struck, shook, or rubbed). Informally, Percussion instruments may be further divided into those instruments that produce a definite pitch and those that do not. Some whistles (aerophones) are also included in this category of instruments because they tend to be considered sound effects rather than serious instruments.

TABLE OF COMMON PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS
tuned percussion	untuned percussion	auxiliary percussion	latin percussion	drum kit
antique cymbals bell lyre celeste chimes crotales glockenspiel marimba orchestra bells steel drums timpani vibraphone xylophone	bass drum crash cymbals gong snare drum suspended cymbal tam-tam tenor drum tom-toms	Acme siren (police siren) bird whistle boat whistle finger cymbals flex-a-tone Jew's harp marching machine police whistle ratchet rattle sandpaper blocks slapstick sleigh bells tambourine temple blocks thunder machine train whistle triangle vibra-slap wind machine wood block	agogo bells bongo drums cabaça castanets claves conga cowbell güiro maracas scraper timbales	kick drum hi-hat ride cymbal sizzle cymbal snare drum splash cymbal tom-toms