If you are interested in learning how to play a musical instrument, it is ideal to know what kind of instrument to start with. You may wonder what are some percussion instruments that a beginner can get started with.

There are plenty of options. We will walk you through the different percussion instruments and help you decide which best fits your personality and interests.

What Is a Percussion Instrument?

Before you begin your foray into learning musical instruments, let us first define what a percussion instrument is. Percussion instruments are a type of musical instruments that are played by beating, plucking or scraping.

It is known to be one of the oldest musical instruments. Nevertheless, despite its long history, percussion instruments have been a crowd favorite for music enthusiasts and veterans.

These instruments are made from different materials such as wood, metal or plastic. Aside from that, they also come in various shapes and sizes.

There is a lot of fun when it comes to discovering and knowing more about this musical instrument.

What Are Some Percussion Instruments Aside from Drums?

We all know how popular the drums can be. When an individual knows and plays drums, their status gets quickly elevated to cool!

Truth to be told, a drum set is just one of the iconic kind of percussion instruments, but there are still much more that is equally cool and challenging to play too.

Many prefer the drums because it produces lovely beats and complements music very well; however, there are still some other instruments that can do the same thing.

First up is the guiro. This instrument originated in Latin America and is often made of wood. It is often shaped like a fish because it is long and elongated.

Wood Guiro

To make some music with this instrument, you need to use a stick and scrape it along the ridges. It produces a distinct sound that can often be heard in Latin pop music.

The good thing about this instrument is that you can control the tempo according to your preference. If you want a neat percussion instrument that is different from the rest, then you can start learning how to play the guiro.

If you want something simple, then you might want to try your hand at playing the cowbell. True to its name, the cowbell looks like the bell that is sported by cows. It does not have a ringer inside, but instead, you need a stick to hit it.

Primero Cowbell

In turn, this will produce a distinct sound. Cowbells are not used throughout a song, but it is often played at specific parts to make the tone stand out.

In having such an incredibly distinct sound, music producers will often ask for more cowbell. You can usually hear the cowbell in funky music songs during the end or at certain climactic parts.

Another underrated percussion instrument is the Xylophone. The Xylophone is often made of different wood bars, each corresponding to a specific pitch and tone when hit.

Wooden Xylophone

The key to playing this instrument is knowing how to use the mallet and hitting the correct bars. This instrument makes use of two mallets, but it is possible for advanced musicians to use more than two mallets in each hand.

It all comes down to their level of experience and how they can manage to hit the right bars even with multiple mallets on hand.

Meanwhile, the maracas are quite a popular percussion instrument. It is such a quirky and fun instrument to play with. Usually, you can hear the defined sounds of maracas in salsa music. This instrument is classified as a Latin instrument.

Maracas

It is often made in pairs where the inside has beans or beads. When shaken together, the beans or beads will hit the wall producing its distinct and quirky sound.

The above mentioned are just some examples of underdog percussion instruments. If you are wondering what are some percussion instruments that are on the popular side, then you are in luck.

We also rounded up some of the commonly seen and played percussion instruments today.

Drums

Let us start off with the drums. This favorite percussion instrument has evolved. Now, we even have electronic drums instead of the bulky and original ones we are used to.

A drum set is composed of various kinds of different kinds of percussion instruments such as the cymbals, snare, bass, hi-hat, and toms.

Pearl Roadshow Drum Set

Learning how to play the drums can be challenging but fulfilling. You need to allot ample time for practice and be able to carry a beat

Most of the time, people find having a drum set bulky because it can occupy a lot of space. If that is the case, then you can start by purchasing an electronic drum set.

The electronic counterpart can give you an idea how to play the conventional drum set. The differences are that the electronic one is portable and can be easily stored away.

Cajon

Another favorite percussion instrument is the Cajon, which originated in Peru. You can often see this in acoustic performances. It is shaped like a box and is played by hitting or tapping the sides with your hands or fingers.

Cajon Box Drum

Aside from acoustic music, the Cajon is also popular as a beatbox. It is also used in Latin America and Afro-Peruvian music. Sometimes, you can also find it used in flamenco and jazz music.

These are just some of the percussion instruments that you will encounter. Believe it or not, there are many more different examples of percussion instruments. There are also different classifications such as the idiophones and membranophones.

The percussion has a rich history and culture. It is a widely used type of musical instrument. There are records of it being present and played during the Middle Ages. Even today, the percussion is still very popular among the music enthusiasts.

In the end, playing a musical instrument is always fun and challenging. Aside from producing great sounds, there are also great tales behind every musical instrument that is waiting to be unraveled.

We certainly hope you benefit from the information we provide in this article! Just so you know, we may receive compensation if you use the links on this page. If you do, thank you so much!

What Are The Different Types Of Percussion Instruments?

Percussion instruments refer to musical instruments sounded by striking, scraping, or shaking against another similar instrument.

The materials used to make percussion instruments include metal, wood, or plastic, and they come in different sizes and shapes. There are two common classifications of percussion instruments:

Pitched percussion instruments, and unpitched percussion instruments. The later produce sounds and notes with an unidentifiable pitch, whereas the former produce notes with an identifiable pitch.

When it comes to percussion instruments, most people tend to think of the drum. However, there are different types of percussion instruments from different parts of the world. Examples of percussion instruments include sticks, shakers, tambourines, maracas, xylophones, blocks, and bells.

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The following are the basic types of percussion instruments:

• Tuned Percussion
• Untuned/Auxiliary Percussion
• Persian Percussion
• Latin/Afro-Caribbean Percussion

Tuned Percussion

Also known as pitched percussion, tuned percussion instruments, such as modern professional drum sets, produce notes when struck. Instruments under tuned percussion are capable of producing a specific pitch and notated with normal music notation. Tuned percussion instruments find application in performing harmonic or melodic sections of a composition.

The most commonly used tuned percussion instruments include the glockenspiel, marimba, xylophone, tubular bells, and vibraphone. The form part of the percussion idiophones. These form part of the orchestral percussion.

Other types of tuned percussion instruments include the timpani (struck membranophone), bell lyre, celeste, chimes, crotales, steel drums (percussion idiophone), and the antique cymbals (concussion idiophone).

Some of the top tuned percussion instruments are:

Xylophone

The only difference between a xylophone instrument and the glockenspiel is that it has wooden keys. Tuned to a specific musical scale like diatonic, pentatonic, and diatonic, you can play it using either two or four-mallets in each hand. They help children understand musical terms, therefore, used mainly in classrooms.

Tubular Bells

Also known as orchestra bells, they are piano-based percussion instruments that often play over two octaves. You strike them using soft-ended mallets and stop the unwanted overtones using a pedal. They are the main instrument in the Futurama theme tune.

Marimba

Made from wooden keys and resonators that amplify the sound when struck by mallets. The aluminum tubes hanging below are the resonators that create a rich tone known for the marimba.

Glockenspiel

Has a similar arrangement to the piano. It has metallic keys/plates. You can find them in orchestral percussions and marching percussion. They also come in different sizes.

Untuned Percussion (Auxiliary Percussion)

Untuned percussion instruments, also known as auxiliary percussion within the orchestra un-pitched percussion, are instruments that are incapable of producing a specific pitch.

They have a normal rhythmic notation, but each instrument is on a separate line. Untuned percussion instruments find application in performing rhythmic foundations of a composition.

These instruments maintain a rhythm and have unrelated sounds to the harmony and melody of the music.

Examples of untuned percussion instruments include the bass drum, snare drum, claves, gong, suspended cymbal, tam-tam, tenor drum, wood block, triangle, tom-toms, agogo bells, flexaton, and tambourines among others.

However, it is quite easy to mistake folk instruments and other world instruments as un-pitched. The failure to recognize the harmonic relationship of such instruments often leads to these instruments sounding bad at the hands of beginners.

Such instruments like the tabla and the dhol’s bass head require tuning to match the pitch of a particular music. Furthermore, there are instruments that find use as both pitched and unpitched percussion in varying music pieces and styles.

These include the different types of bells. The user tunes (not to achieve any perceived pitch) most untuned percussion instruments, for instance, the snare drum.

Latin/Afro-Caribbean and Persian Percussion

In addition to the two major types of percussion instruments, you can classify percussion instruments depending on the region of origin.

Latin/Afro-Caribbean percussion instruments have their origins from Latin and Caribbean nations. Persian percussion instruments have their origin from Persian countries such as Iran.

Percussion instruments from Persia often numerous and popular within the Persian nations. The rhythmic expression of these percussion instruments always laid emphasis on hand clapping, the earliest form of rhythmic accompaniment.

The Persian dulcimer and drum are some of the percussion instruments echoing the musical style of an age that instrumental sounds well capture. Persian percussion instruments include the following among others:

Tombak

Also known by many other different names, this is a Persian goblet drum. You diagonally position this percussion instrument across the torso as you use a finger or more and the palm of your hands to play it.

Daf

This is a large drum from the Middle East used in classical and popular music. It has a hardwood frame with numerous metal ringlets and a goatskin membrane.

It is common in the Middle East, Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. It accompanies other Middle Eastern instruments such as the violin, oud, saz, and tanbur.

HandPan

The handpan can be traced back to the steel pan and drum instruments developed in Trinidad and Tobago in the 1940s.

With an instantly recognizable and distinctive sound reminiscent of the Caribbean Islands, the handpan could easily be considered a cousin to the steel drum.

Dayereh

This is a medium-sized frame drum with jingles. The Dayereh is a popular and classical musical instrument used by the Iranians, Azerbaijan, the Balkans, and other Central Asian countries such as Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

On the other hand, Latin percussion is any musical instrument in the percussion, lamellophone, idiophone, or membranophone family used in Latin music. The musical style used is mainly from the Latin American region, which has its influence from African tribal music.

Some of the Latin/Afro-Caribbean percussion instruments include the bongo drums, cabasa, cowbell, conga, maracas, pandeiro, tamborim, zabumba, repique, djembe, dunun, and surdo among others.

Final Thoughts On Types Of Percussion

The classification of percussion instrument bases itself on the ability of the instrument to produce a pitch. Thus, the two major types of percussion instruments are the tuned (pitched) and untuned (unpitched) percussion instruments.

However, a few instruments fall into both categories. Instruments within the tuned and untuned percussion instruments can get their classification from their region of origin.

Therefore, we have Persian (from Persia/Iran and the Middle East) percussion and Latin/Afro-Caribbean (from Latin American countries with their origin in African tribal music) among other regional instruments.

Percussion instruments have been instrumental (pun intended) in adding color and rhythm to music over the years.