Classical percussion
Encyclopedia
Orchestral percussion are percussion instrument
s used in orchestras mainly in classical music and related styles. The term can also refer to the department or study of performance on said instruments at a music school
or conservatory. Generally within such a department, students are required to study all aspects of orchestral playing; with marimba
, snare drum
, and timpani
being the three most basic areas of study. Orchestral percussion usually does not include drum set
studies.
in that it can be used in practically every genre
or style of music. In an orchestral setting, percussionists are generally called on to provide different textures in the ensemble
. Some percussion instruments are more commonly used than others. Timpani, for example, has been seen in Western classical music since the 17th century and became a standard orchestral instrument long before many other percussion instruments. Snare drum, [bass drum], and [crash cymbals] were adopted soon thereafter and quickly became associated with the orchestra as well.
One can distinguish the two by ear by following a simple method. A gong sounds like a slightly muffled church bell
, producing a soft but clear note, whereas the tam-tam sounds much more like a large metal object being struck by a hard material.
There are many extremely common and well-known excerpts for most of the mallet instruments. Gershwin
's Porgy and Bess
remains the most requested xylophone
excerpt at auditions, with Copland
's Appalachian Spring
, Kodály
's Háry János Suite
, and Kabalevsky
's Colas Breugnon being other common choices, although the list is practically endless.
The glockenspiel
has become a staple of the orchestra as well, and, as such, has had many important and difficult parts written for it. Dukas
's The Sorcerer's Apprentice as well as Respighi
's Pini di Roma
are both extremely common excerpts on audition lists.
Another keyboard instrument used in the orchestra, as well as jazz
, is the vibraphone
. The most commonly requested excerpt for vibraphone at orchestral auditions is from Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story." The "Little Blue Devil" movement from "Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee" by Gunther Schuller is also frequently requested.
In an orchestral setting, the concert bass drum plays an integral role in the overall feel of a piece of music. In orchestral literature, the bass drum usually deals more with coloring and shading the sounds of the orchestra as opposed to providing a solid, rhythmic foundation like in marching and drumset. The bass drum is usually used to accent strong points in the music and is often combined with a cymbal crash to further accentuate the moment. In fact, the two instruments are used in conjunction so often that many parts simply contain one rhythm and the composer then indicates which instruments are to play at which points.
Though the bass drum is possibly the least frequently requested instrument at auditions, it actually takes a fair amount of skill to play correctly. Given the number of variables that can change when playing the bass drum (beater, beating location, amount/type of muffling, stroke, etc.), a well-versed percussionist is usually required in order to obtain all the possible sounds from the instrument.
Some important excerpts for the bass drum in orchestral literature include Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4, Romeo and Juliet, and 1812 Overture, many of the Mahler symphonies (most notably his third), and Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz.
The snare drum is one of the most easily recognizable instruments in the entire percussion section. Also called the side drum, the snare drum is often used as a means of accenting rhythms from other families of instruments within the orchestra or as a soloistic type instrument, particularly in pieces that may have a "military" type theme or sound to them.
The snare drum works extremely well as an accentuating instrument. Tuned and played correctly, it can produce sounds ranging from quick, short, and snappy to thick, warm, whip-crack like accents. There are numerous examples in music of the snare drum being used in this fashion. One such example would be the fourth movement of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's symphonic suite Scheherazade. In this particular example, the snare drum is used to accentuate the various crescendos and "hits" played by the rest of the orchestra. It is also used to reinforce the rhythms played by the trumpets throughout the movement.
As a soloistic instrument, the snare drum has certainly found its place in classical music. A fantastic example of this use of the snare drum would be the opening of Sergei Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé
suite. After an opening trumpet solo, the snare drum plays a rather short, military-style solo at a pianissimo dynamic marking, designed to create a march-like feel. This particular part presents a number of problems for the orchestral percussionist, but its main difficulty lies in keeping the various rudiments (flams, four stroke ruffs, etc.) consistent at such a soft dynamic level.
Another difficult Snare Drum piece in classical music is:
Bolero (perhaps the most demanding due to the exposed nature, the same two measures repeated for about 15 minutes, driving the entire orchestra to the end).
Traditional rudimental solos that show a snare drummers technique include:
The Connecticut Halftime, The Three Camps, and The Downfall of Paris
There has been a marked deviation from high sticking, traditional drumming to a forced low stick style. Various techniques of the snare drum include the moller method, the gladstone method and other lesser methods.
, castanet
s, and tambourine
. These instruments are often overlooked and treated as trivial or unimportant simply because, to the untrained eye (or ear), they seem easy to play. The truth is, however, that auxiliary percussion often requires the most use of extended techniques and that the parts for these instruments are frequently the most difficult. Other auxiliary percussion instruments include:
Crash cymbals have been used in an orchestral setting since the time of Mozart, when he adopted their sound from traditional Turkish bands to be used in his opera Abduction from the Seraglio. Since then, crash cymbals have become one of the most written for percussion instruments in classical music and they are easily one of the most recognized sounds within the orchestra.
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
s used in orchestras mainly in classical music and related styles. The term can also refer to the department or study of performance on said instruments at a music school
Music school
The term music school refers to an educational institution specialized in the study, training and research of music.Different terms refer to this concept such as school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department or conservatory.Music instruction can be provided...
or conservatory. Generally within such a department, students are required to study all aspects of orchestral playing; with marimba
Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
, snare drum
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
, and timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
being the three most basic areas of study. Orchestral percussion usually does not include drum set
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
studies.
Percussion in classical music
Percussion is arguably the most versatile of any instrument familyFamily (musical instruments)
A family of musical instruments is a grouping of several different but related sizes or types of instruments. Some schemes of musical instrument classification, such as the Hornbostel-Sachs system, are based on a hierarchy of instrument families and families of families.Some commonly recognized...
in that it can be used in practically every genre
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
or style of music. In an orchestral setting, percussionists are generally called on to provide different textures in the ensemble
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
. Some percussion instruments are more commonly used than others. Timpani, for example, has been seen in Western classical music since the 17th century and became a standard orchestral instrument long before many other percussion instruments. Snare drum, [bass drum], and [crash cymbals] were adopted soon thereafter and quickly became associated with the orchestra as well.
Gong and tam-tam
Gongs and tam-tams are easily, and therefore, extremely regularly, confused with one another. A gong, generally, is a large hung cymbal with a "nipple". As such, they are usually known as nipple gongs. This nipple is a small dome in the centre of the cymbal that produces a single note when struck with a soft beater. Conversely, a tam-tam has no nipple, and so has a flat central area. When this cymbal is struck with a beater, (most usually a soft beater) it produces a myriad of sounds with no single overruling note.One can distinguish the two by ear by following a simple method. A gong sounds like a slightly muffled church bell
Church bell
A church bell is a bell which is rung in a church either to signify the hour or the time for worshippers to go to church, perhaps to attend a wedding, funeral, or other service...
, producing a soft but clear note, whereas the tam-tam sounds much more like a large metal object being struck by a hard material.
Mallet instruments
Mallet percussion (also known as keyboard or tuned percussion) is the general name given to the pitched percussion family. The name is a slight misnomer, in that almost every percussion instrument is struck with some type of mallet or stick. With the exception of the marimba, almost every other keyboard instrument has been used widely in an orchestral setting.There are many extremely common and well-known excerpts for most of the mallet instruments. Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
's Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...
remains the most requested xylophone
Xylophone
The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
excerpt at auditions, with Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
's Appalachian Spring
Appalachian Spring
Appalachian Spring is a modern score composed by Aaron Copland that premiered in 1944 and has achieved widespread and enduring popularity as an orchestral suite...
, Kodály
Zoltán Kodály
Zoltán Kodály was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is best known internationally as the creator of the Kodály Method.-Life:Born in Kecskemét, Kodály learned to play the violin as a child....
's Háry János Suite
Háry János
Háry János is a "Hungarian folk opera" in four acts by Zoltán Kodály to a Hungarian libretto by Béla Paulini and Zsolt Harsányi, based on the comic epic The Veteran by János Garay. The first performance was at the Royal Hungarian Opera House, Budapest, 1926...
, and Kabalevsky
Dmitri Kabalevsky
Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky was a Russian composer.He helped to set up the Union of Soviet Composers in Moscow and remained one of its leading figures. He was a prolific composer of piano music and chamber music; many of his piano works have been performed by Vladimir Horowitz. He is probably...
's Colas Breugnon being other common choices, although the list is practically endless.
The glockenspiel
Glockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
has become a staple of the orchestra as well, and, as such, has had many important and difficult parts written for it. Dukas
Paul Dukas
Paul Abraham Dukas was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man, of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, and he abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions...
's The Sorcerer's Apprentice as well as Respighi
Ottorino Respighi
Ottorino Respighi was an Italian composer, musicologist and conductor. He is best known for his orchestral "Roman trilogy": Fountains of Rome ; Pines of Rome ; and Roman Festivals...
's Pini di Roma
Pini di Roma
Pines of Rome is a symphonic poem written in 1924 by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi and, together with Fontane di Roma and Feste Romane, forms what is sometimes loosely referred to as his "Roman trilogy"...
are both extremely common excerpts on audition lists.
Another keyboard instrument used in the orchestra, as well as jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, is the vibraphone
Vibraphone
The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
. The most commonly requested excerpt for vibraphone at orchestral auditions is from Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story." The "Little Blue Devil" movement from "Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee" by Gunther Schuller is also frequently requested.
Drums
- Bass drumBass drumBass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
In an orchestral setting, the concert bass drum plays an integral role in the overall feel of a piece of music. In orchestral literature, the bass drum usually deals more with coloring and shading the sounds of the orchestra as opposed to providing a solid, rhythmic foundation like in marching and drumset. The bass drum is usually used to accent strong points in the music and is often combined with a cymbal crash to further accentuate the moment. In fact, the two instruments are used in conjunction so often that many parts simply contain one rhythm and the composer then indicates which instruments are to play at which points.
Though the bass drum is possibly the least frequently requested instrument at auditions, it actually takes a fair amount of skill to play correctly. Given the number of variables that can change when playing the bass drum (beater, beating location, amount/type of muffling, stroke, etc.), a well-versed percussionist is usually required in order to obtain all the possible sounds from the instrument.
Some important excerpts for the bass drum in orchestral literature include Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4, Romeo and Juliet, and 1812 Overture, many of the Mahler symphonies (most notably his third), and Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz.
- Snare drumSnare drumThe snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
The snare drum is one of the most easily recognizable instruments in the entire percussion section. Also called the side drum, the snare drum is often used as a means of accenting rhythms from other families of instruments within the orchestra or as a soloistic type instrument, particularly in pieces that may have a "military" type theme or sound to them.
The snare drum works extremely well as an accentuating instrument. Tuned and played correctly, it can produce sounds ranging from quick, short, and snappy to thick, warm, whip-crack like accents. There are numerous examples in music of the snare drum being used in this fashion. One such example would be the fourth movement of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's symphonic suite Scheherazade. In this particular example, the snare drum is used to accentuate the various crescendos and "hits" played by the rest of the orchestra. It is also used to reinforce the rhythms played by the trumpets throughout the movement.
As a soloistic instrument, the snare drum has certainly found its place in classical music. A fantastic example of this use of the snare drum would be the opening of Sergei Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé
Lieutenant Kijé (Prokofiev)
Lieutenant Kijé is the score composed by Sergei Prokofiev for the 1934 Soviet film Lieutenant Kijé directed by Aleksandr Faintsimmer based on the novel of the same title by Yury Tynyanov.-Suite from Lieutenant Kijé:...
suite. After an opening trumpet solo, the snare drum plays a rather short, military-style solo at a pianissimo dynamic marking, designed to create a march-like feel. This particular part presents a number of problems for the orchestral percussionist, but its main difficulty lies in keeping the various rudiments (flams, four stroke ruffs, etc.) consistent at such a soft dynamic level.
Another difficult Snare Drum piece in classical music is:
Bolero (perhaps the most demanding due to the exposed nature, the same two measures repeated for about 15 minutes, driving the entire orchestra to the end).
Traditional rudimental solos that show a snare drummers technique include:
The Connecticut Halftime, The Three Camps, and The Downfall of Paris
There has been a marked deviation from high sticking, traditional drumming to a forced low stick style. Various techniques of the snare drum include the moller method, the gladstone method and other lesser methods.
- Concert toms
Auxiliary percussion
Auxiliary percussion (also known as battery percussion or accessory percussion) include instruments like the triangleTriangle
A triangle is one of the basic shapes of geometry: a polygon with three corners or vertices and three sides or edges which are line segments. A triangle with vertices A, B, and C is denoted ....
, castanet
Castanet
Castanets are a percussion instrument , used in Moorish, Ottoman, ancient Roman, Italian, Spanish, Sephardic Music, and Portuguese music. The instrument consists of a pair of concave shells joined on one edge by a string. They are held in the hand and used to produce clicks for rhythmic accents or...
s, and tambourine
Tambourine
The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
. These instruments are often overlooked and treated as trivial or unimportant simply because, to the untrained eye (or ear), they seem easy to play. The truth is, however, that auxiliary percussion often requires the most use of extended techniques and that the parts for these instruments are frequently the most difficult. Other auxiliary percussion instruments include:
- Wood blockWood blockA woodblock is essentially a small piece of slit drum made from a single piece of wood and used as a percussion instrument. It is struck with a stick, making a characteristically percussive sound....
- Temple blocks
- ShakerShaker (percussion)The word shaker describes a large number of percussive musical instruments used for creating rhythm in music.They are so called because the method of creating sound involves shaking them—moving them back and forth rather than striking them. Most may also be struck for a greater accent on certain...
- Finger cymbals
- ClavesClavesClaves are a percussion instrument , consisting of a pair of short Claves (Anglicized pronunciation: clah-vays, IPA:[ˈklαves]) are a percussion instrument (idiophone), consisting of a pair of short Claves (Anglicized pronunciation: clah-vays, IPA:[ˈklαves]) are a percussion instrument (idiophone),...
- GüiroGüiroThe güiro is a Latin-American percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stick or tines along the notches to produce a ratchet-like sound. The güiro is commonly used in Latin-American music, and plays a key role...
- Maracas
- BongosBongo drumBongo or bongos are a Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of single-headed, open-ended drums attached to each other. The drums are of different size: the larger drum is called in Spanish the hembra and the smaller the macho...
- CongaCongaThe conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
s - DjembeDjembeA djembe also known as jembe, jenbe, djbobimbe, jymbe, yembe, or jimbay, or sanbanyi in Susu; is a skin-covered drum meant played with bare hands....
- China cymbalChina cymbalthumb|right|China type cymbals from three continentsIn western music, china type cymbals are cymbals manufactured to produce a dark, crisp, trashy, and explosive tone...
- Crash cymbalCrash cymbalA crash cymbal is a type of cymbal that produces a loud, sharp "crash" and is used mainly for occasional accents, as opposed to in ostinato. The term "crash" may have been first used by Zildjian in 1928....
- Suspended cymbalSuspended cymbalright|thumb|Classical suspended cymbalA suspended cymbal is any single cymbal played with a stick or beater rather than struck against another cymbal. A common abbreviation used is sus. cym., or sus. cymb. .-History:...
- Ride cymbalRide cymbalThe ride cymbal is a standard cymbal in most drum kits. It maintains a steady rhythmic pattern, sometimes called a ride pattern, rather than the accent of a crash...
- Hi-hatHi-hatA hi-hat, or hihat, is a type of cymbal and stand used as a typical part of a drum kit by percussionists in R&B, hip-hop, disco, jazz, rock and roll, house, reggae and other forms of contemporary popular music.- Operation :...
- Wind chimesWind Chimes"Wind Chimes" is a song composed by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks for the American rock band The Beach Boys. The original version of the song was written and recorded for the aborted 1966 album Smile. The band completely re-recorded the song for inclusion on their next album, Smiley Smile...
- Cowbell
Cymbals and gongs
- Crash cymbalCrash cymbalA crash cymbal is a type of cymbal that produces a loud, sharp "crash" and is used mainly for occasional accents, as opposed to in ostinato. The term "crash" may have been first used by Zildjian in 1928....
s (also known as clash cymbalsClash cymbalsClash cymbals or hand cymbals are cymbals played in identical pairs by holding one cymbal in each hand and striking the two together.-Terminology:The technical term clash cymbal is rarely used...
)
Crash cymbals have been used in an orchestral setting since the time of Mozart, when he adopted their sound from traditional Turkish bands to be used in his opera Abduction from the Seraglio. Since then, crash cymbals have become one of the most written for percussion instruments in classical music and they are easily one of the most recognized sounds within the orchestra.
- Suspended cymbalSuspended cymbalright|thumb|Classical suspended cymbalA suspended cymbal is any single cymbal played with a stick or beater rather than struck against another cymbal. A common abbreviation used is sus. cym., or sus. cymb. .-History:...
- GongGongA gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
/tam tam