Are musical instruments that sound when be struck or scraped by a beater, a hand or struck against other similar musical instrument, is consider one of the oldest musical instruments.
In general the musical function of the percussion instruments is rhythmic.
Classification:
Idiophones
Membranophones
- Concussion idiophones or clappers: played in pairs and beaten against each other, such as zills and clapsticks.
- Percussion idiophones: includes many
percussion instruments played with the hand or by a percussion mallet, such as the hangs, gongs and
the xylophone, but not drums and only
some cymbals.
- Struck drums, includes most types of drum, such as the timpani, snare drum, and
tom-tom.
- Percussion reeds: a class of wind instrument unrelated to percussion in
the more common sense.
There are many instruments that have some claim to being percussion, but are classified otherwise:
· Keyboards like the piano.
· Stringed instruments played with beaters.
·
Unpitched whistles and similar instruments.