There are several overlapping schemes for the

classification Classification is a process related to categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated and understood. Classification is the grouping of related facts into classes. It may also refer to: Business, organizat ...

percussion instrument A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

s. These schemes are based on four types of criteria: * The means by which the sound is produced. The most widely used classification system for

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

Hornbostel–Sachs Hornbostel–Sachs or Sachs–Hornbostel is a system of musical instrument classification devised by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs, and first published in the in 1914. An English translation was published in the '' Galpin Society Jo ...

, takes this approach. * Musical usage, in particular the traditional division into

tuned percussion A pitched percussion instrument (also known as a melodic or tuned percussion instrument) is a percussion instrument used to produce note (music), musical notes of one or more pitch (music), pitches, as opposed to an unpitched percussion instrume ...

and

untuned percussion An unpitched percussion instrument is a percussion instrument played in such a way as to produce sounds of indeterminate pitch, or an instrument normally played in this fashion. Unpitched percussion is typically used to maintain a rhythm or to ...

, and the similar and more modern division into

pitched percussion A pitched percussion instrument (also known as a melodic or tuned percussion instrument) is a percussion instrument used to produce musical notes of one or more pitches, as opposed to an unpitched percussion instrument which is used to produce ...

and

unpitched percussion An unpitched percussion instrument is a percussion instrument played in such a way as to produce sounds of indeterminate pitch, or an instrument normally played in this fashion. Unpitched percussion is typically used to maintain a rhythm or to ...

. * The means of playing the instrument and skills required to play it, for example the grouping together of

mallet percussion A keyboard percussion instrument, also known as a bar or mallet percussion instrument, is a pitched percussion instrument arranged in a similar pattern to a piano keyboard and played with hands or percussion mallets. While most keyboard percussion ...

instruments, or of

hand percussion Hand percussion is a percussion instrument that is held in the hand. They can be made from wood, metal or plastic, bottles stops and are usually shaken, scraped, or tapped with fingers or a stick. It includes all instruments that are not drums o ...

instruments. This underlies the division of the orchestral

percussion section The percussion section is one of the main divisions of the orchestra and the concert band. It includes most percussion instruments and all unpitched instruments. The percussion section is itself divided into three subsections: * Pitched percuss ...

into

auxiliary percussion The percussion section is one of the main divisions of the orchestra and the concert band. It includes most percussion instruments and all unpitched instruments. The percussion section is itself divided into three subsections: * Pitched percus ...

and

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...

, and is the reason percussive

keyboard instrument A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard, a row of levers which are pressed by the fingers. The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various electronic keyboards, including synthesizers and digital piano ...

s such as the

celesta The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ( ...

are excluded from the percussion section. * Origins,

cultural Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...

significance or

tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

, for example grouping instruments as

Latin percussion {{for, the company, Latin Percussion Latin percussion is a family of percussion, membranophone, lamellophone and idiophone instruments used in Latin music. Instruments Afro-Cuban and Puerto Rican styles Folkloric and Santeria * Trap drums * Abakua ...

or as

African drums Sub-Saharan African music is characterised by a "strong rhythmic interest" that exhibits common characteristics in all regions of this vast territory, so that Arthur Morris Jones (1889–1980) has described the many local approaches as consti ...

. This criterion overlaps but is not a subset of the usage criterion; Both ''Latin percussion'' and ''African drums'' also refer to some extent to current usage. Percussion instruments vary enormously in nature and usage, and have possibly the longest history of any group of musical instruments.

The Oxford Companion to Music ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' is a music reference book in the series of Oxford Companions produced by the Oxford University Press. It was originally conceived and written by Percy Scholes and published in 1938. Since then, it has undergon ...

, 10th edition, p775 For these and other reasons their classification proves difficult, and different classification systems are used in different contexts. Oszkár Ökrös Makó

At the highest level of grouping, authorities differ over whether stringed instruments such as the

hammered dulcimer The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion-stringed instrument which consists of strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set before the musician, who in more trad ...

and keyboard instruments such as the

are percussion instruments, let alone the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

which is both stringed and a keyboard and yet sometimes also termed ''percussion''.http://pianoeducation.org/pnopnfaq.html retrieved 22 March 2012 ''The piano is really a "hybrid"--a combination of two types. It's a string instrument because the musical tones originate in the strings; and it's also a percussion instrument, because the strings are set into vibration by being struck with hammers. To be historically correct, it's classified as a "keyed zither" by musicologists.'' Hornbostel–Sachs does not use the term ''percussion'' as a general grouping at all, but instead in a very different sense to the common usage. Instruments such as

castanet Castanets, also known as ''clackers'' or ''palillos'', are a percussion instrument (idiophone), used in Spanish, Kalo, Moorish, Ottoman, Italian, Sephardic, Swiss, and Portuguese music. In ancient Greece and ancient Rome there was a similar ...

s and

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...

s used in pairs are not ''percussion'' in the Hornbostel–Sachs sense, but are percussion instruments in every other sense. Similar problems are encountered at lower levels of classification.

By means of sound production

Ancient Chinese and Indian systems of classification were based on the materials of which the instruments were constructed, and the acoustic properties of the instruments, respectively. In the 14th century

Jean de Muris Johannes de Muris ( – 1344), or John of Murs, was a French mathematician, astronomer, and music theorist best known for treatises on the '' ars nova'' musical style, titled '' Ars nove musice''. Life and career For a medieval person primarily kn ...

produced a classification system which divided all musical instruments into three classes: Percussion, String and Wind. Hornbostel–Sachs further develops this scheme, but abandons the ''percussion'' high-level grouping, replacing it by the groups ''idiophones'' and ''membranophones''.

Hornbostel–Sachs

classifies musical instruments by means of a numerically labelled inverted

tree structure A tree structure, tree diagram, or tree model is a way of representing the hierarchical nature of a structure in a graphical form. It is named a "tree structure" because the classic representation resembles a tree, although the chart is gener ...

, originally with four groups at the highest level, two of which are percussion instruments (as the term ''percussion'' is normally understood), and the others strings and wind. The system does use the term ''percussion'' but at a much lower level in the tree and in an

esoteric Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas a ...

sense quite unlike its common usage, see below. Some of the important percussion groupings are: * 1 Idiophones ** 11 Struck idiophones *** 111 Directly struck idiophones **** 111.1 Concussion idiophones or clappers – Two or more complementary sonorous parts are struck against each other ***** 111.11 Concussion sticks or stick clappers ***** 111.14 Concussion vessels or vessel clappers ****** 111.141

Castanets Castanets, also known as ''clackers'' or ''palillos'', are a percussion instrument (idiophone), used in Spanish, Kalo, Moorish, Ottoman, Italian, Sephardic, Swiss, and Portuguese music. In ancient Greece and ancient Rome there was a similar ...

– Natural and hollowed-out vessel clappers ****** 111.142

Cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...

s – Vessel clappers with manufactured rim ****111.2 Percussion idiophones – The instrument is struck either with a non-sonorous object (hand, stick, striker) or against a non-sonorous object (human body, the ground) ***** 111.21 Percussion sticks ****** 111.212 Sets of percussion sticks in a range of different pitches combined into one instrument, such as a

xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in the ...

provided its sounding components are not in two different planes ***** 111.22 Percussion plaques ****** 111.222 Sets of percussion plaques, such as the

lithophone A lithophone is a musical instrument consisting of a rock or pieces of rock which are struck to produce musical notes. Notes may be sounded in combination (producing harmony) or in succession (melody). It is an idiophone comparable to instrumen ...

***** 111.23 Percussion tubes ****** 111.232 Sets of percussion tubes, such as

tubular bells Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillon, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within a ...

***** 111.24 Percussion vessels, such as the

suspended cymbal Classical suspended cymbal A suspended cymbal is any single cymbal played with a stick or beater rather than struck against another cymbal. Common abbreviations used are "sus. cym.," or "sus. cymb." (with or without the period). Most drum kit ...

****** 111.241

Gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

s – The vibration is strongest near the vertex ******* 111.241.1 Individual gongs ******* 111.241.2 Sets of gongs ****** 111.242 Bells – The vibration is weakest near the vertex ******* 111.242.1 Individual bells ******* 111.242.2 Sets of bells or chimes **** 112 Indirectly struck idiophones – the player himself does not go through the movement of striking; percussion results indirectly through some other movement by the player. ***** 112.1 Shaken Idiophones or rattles – The player makes a shaking motion. ****** 112.13 Vessel rattles – Rattling objects enclosed in a vessel strike against each other or against the walls of the vessel, or usually against both, such as

maraca A maraca (), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas (from Guaraní ), also known as tamaracas, were r ...

s ***** 112.2 Scraped Idiophones – The player causes a scraping movement directly or indirectly; a non-sonorous object moves along the notched surface of a sonorous object, to be alternately lifted off the teeth and flicked against them; or an elastic sonorous object moves along the surface of a notched non-sonorous object to cause a series of impacts (this group must not be confused with that of friction idiophone ** 12 Plucked idiophones such as the jew's harp ** 13 Friction idiophones such as Rub rods * 2 Membranophones ** 21 Struck Membranophones – Sound is produced by hitting the drumskin with a hand or object *** 211 Directly Struck Membranophones – Instruments in which the membrane is struck directly ***** 211.1 Instruments in which the body of the drum is dish- or bowl-shaped, such as the

kettle drum Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...

****** 211.11 Single instruments ****** 211.12 Sets of instruments, such as orchestral

**** 211.2 Tubular Drums – Instruments in which the body is tubular ***** 211.21 Cylindrical Drums – Instruments in which the body has the same diameter at the middle and end ****** 211.211 Instruments with one usable membrane such as the

concert tom A tom drum is a cylindrical drum with no snares, named from the Anglo-Indian and Sinhala language. It was added to the drum kit in the early part of the 20th century. Most toms range in size between in diameter, though floor toms can go as l ...

, gong drum,

octoban Octobans, also known as tube toms, are deep, small diameter, single-head tom-toms. Octobans were originally grouped in melodically-tuned sets of eight, hence the name, in reference to octave and from octo meaning "eight". Part sets of two or f ...

and

timbales Timbales () or pailas are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing. They are shallower than single-headed tom-toms and usually tuned much higher, especially for their size.Orovio, Helio 1981. ''Diccionario de la música cubana: biográfico ...

****** 211.212 Instruments which have two usable membranes such as the

snare drum The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used ...

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. Th ...

and most

tom-tom drum A tom drum is a cylindrical drum with no snares, named from the Anglo-Indian and Sinhala language. It was added to the drum kit in the early part of the 20th century. Most toms range in size between in diameter, though floor toms can go as la ...

s ******* 211.212.1 Single instruments such as the

side drum The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used in ...

For a complete list of idiophone classes see: *

List of idiophones by Hornbostel–Sachs number The Hornbostel–Sachs system of musical instrument classification defines idiophones as all instruments in which sound is produced primarily by way of the instrument itself vibrating without the use of membranes or strings. Idiophones (1) Struc ...

. * List of musical instruments by Hornbostel-Sachs number: 111. Hornbostel–Sachs does not distinguish between pitched and

unpitched An unpitched percussion instrument is a percussion instrument played in such a way as to produce sounds of indeterminate pitch, or an instrument normally played in this fashion. Unpitched percussion is typically used to maintain a rhythm or to ...

instruments at any level.

The term ''percussion'' in Hornbostel–Sachs

It should be particularly noted that this classification does not use the term ''percussion'' in its high level grouping, but instead in an

sense, so that other instruments such as the

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

that are not ''percussion'' in any normal sense are described as ''

percussion reed A single-reed instrument is a woodwind instrument that uses only one reed to produce sound. The very earliest single-reed instruments were documented in ancient Egypt, as well as the Middle East, Greece, and the Roman Empire. The earliest types o ...

s''. Having no explicit category for ''percussion'' as normally understood, Hornbostel–Sachs places nearly all percussion instruments in the high level categories of

membranophone A membranophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by way of a vibrating stretched membrane. It is one of the four main divisions of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification. ...

s (high-level category 2,

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s and similar) and

idiophone An idiophone is any musical instrument that creates sound primarily by the vibration of the instrument itself, without the use of air flow (as with aerophones), strings (chordophones), membranes (membranophones) or electricity ( electrophones) ...

s (high-level category 1,

s, bells, xylophone-like instruments and similar). A few instruments that are sometimes considered percussion are classified as

chordophone String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the st ...

s (high-level category 3, such as the

) and as

aerophone An aerophone () is a musical instrument that produces sound primarily by causing a body of air to vibrate, without the use of strings or membranes (which are respectively chordophones and membranophones), and without the vibration of the instru ...

s (high-level category 4, such as the samba whistle). Conversely, the members of the Hornbostel–Sachs high-level categories 1 and 2 nearly all fall clearly or loosely into the conventional category of ''percussion''. Hornbostel–Sachs does use the term ''percussion'' to divide the third-level category directly struck idiophones (111) into

percussion idiophone Struck idiophones is one of the categories of idiophones (that is, any musical instrument that creates sound primarily by the instrument as a whole vibrating—without the use of strings or membranes) that are found in the Hornbostel-Sachs syste ...

s (111.2), those beaten with a

hand A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "h ...

beater Beater may refer to: Clothes * Beater (weaving), a tool used to force woven yarn into place *A shortening of "wifebeater" (shirt), a colloquialism for particular style of sleeveless shirt Music *Any of various types of percussion mallets ** A r ...

, such as a

, and

concussion idiophone Struck idiophones is one of the categories of idiophones (that is, any musical instrument that creates sound primarily by the instrument as a whole vibrating—without the use of strings or membranes) that are found in the Hornbostel-Sachs system ...

s (111.1), those beaten together in pairs such as

clash cymbal Clash cymbals (also called concert cymbals, orchestral cymbals, or crash cymbals) are cymbals played in matched pairs by holding one cymbal in each hand and striking the two together. To differentiate this type of cymbal from a suspended cymbal, ...

s. The term is also used in a loosely related way to divide

reed aerophone Reed aerophones is one of the categories of musical instruments found in the Hornbostel-Sachs system of musical instrument classification. In order to produce sound with these Aerophones the player's breath is directed against a lamella or pair of ...

s (422) into single reed instruments (422.2) with ''a single 'reed' consisting of a percussion lamella'' (our emphasis) and double reeds (422.1) also called ''concussion'' reeds.

Other systems

Several older systems divide instruments into two high-level classes: * Those in which the principle vibration is that of a solid object, including

s and

stringed instrument String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the st ...

s. * Those in which the principle vibration is that of air or another

fluid In physics, a fluid is a liquid, gas, or other material that continuously deforms (''flows'') under an applied shear stress, or external force. They have zero shear modulus, or, in simpler terms, are substances which cannot resist any shear ...

, including all

s. This system was developed by

André Schaeffner In organology, the study of musical instruments, many methods of classifying instruments exist. Most methods are specific to a particular Culture, cultural group and were developed to serve that culture's musical needs. Culture-based classificati ...

into a comprehensive classification scheme in 1932.Kartomi, page 176, "On Concepts and Classifications of Musical Instruments", by Margaret J. Kartomi, University of Chicago Press, Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology (CSE), 1990

By usage

Pitched and unpitched

Percussion is traditionally divided into

, which produces a sensation of pitch, and

, which does not. Some instruments, such as bells, are commonly used in both roles. The traditional terms ''

'' and ''

'' have fallen from favour, replaced loosely by the terms ''pitched'' and ''unpitched'', see Unpitched percussion instrument#Untuned percussion.

By tradition

By far the most common way of classifying percussion is by the style or tradition with which it is most closely associated.

Western music

Orchestral percussion

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

is traditionally divided into: *

Tuned percussion A pitched percussion instrument (also known as a melodic or tuned percussion instrument) is a percussion instrument used to produce note (music), musical notes of one or more pitch (music), pitches, as opposed to an unpitched percussion instrume ...

, consisting of

pitched percussion instrument A pitched percussion instrument (also known as a melodic or tuned percussion instrument) is a percussion instrument used to produce musical notes of one or more pitches, as opposed to an unpitched percussion instrument which is used to produce ...

s. *

Auxiliary percussion The percussion section is one of the main divisions of the orchestra and the concert band. It includes most percussion instruments and all unpitched instruments. The percussion section is itself divided into three subsections: * Pitched percus ...

, consisting of

unpitched percussion instrument An unpitched percussion instrument is a percussion instrument played in such a way as to produce sounds of indeterminate pitch, or an instrument normally played in this fashion. Unpitched percussion is typically used to maintain a rhythm or to ...

s. *

Timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...

Keyboard instrument A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard, a row of levers which are pressed by the fingers. The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various electronic keyboards, including synthesizers and digital piano ...

s such as the

are not normally part of the percussion section, as the playing skills required are significantly different.

Other criteria

Some percussion instruments may be classified according to the material of which they, or their sounding component, are constructed. In this way some idiophones for example are sometimes grouped together as

metallophone A metallophone is any musical instrument in which the sound-producing body is a piece of metal (other than a metal string), consisting of tuned metal bars, tubes, rods, bowls, or plates. Most frequently the metal body is struck to produce sound, ...

s and others as

s. This scheme does not have any wider acceptance, to the point that some terms that might be used in such schemes have meanings in general usage that are inconsistent with it. For example, the

serpent Serpent or The Serpent may refer to: * Snake, a carnivorous reptile of the suborder Serpentes Mythology and religion * Sea serpent, a monstrous ocean creature * Serpent (symbolism), the snake in religious rites and mythological contexts * Serp ...

is a

brass instrument A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. Brass instruments are also called labrosones or labrophones, from Latin a ...

although composed of wood, while many

gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

s and some

s are composed of

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

but are not ''brass instruments'', and the modern orchestral flute is a

woodwind Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed ...

instrument although composed of

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

and/or other

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

References

{{Percussion

Percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...