what is percussion

Percussion is a term used to describe a family of musical instruments that are sounded by being struck, shaken, or scraped. Percussion instruments include any instrument that makes a sound when it is hit, shaken, or scraped, and they are believed to include the oldest musical instruments. The percussion family is the largest in the orchestra and includes instruments such as the timpani, snare drum, bass drum, tambourine, cymbals, triangle, xylophone, maracas, gongs, chimes, celesta, and piano. Percussion instruments can be classified into different organological classes, including idiophones, membranophones, aerophones, and cordophones. Unlike most other players in the orchestra, a percussionist will usually play many different instruments in one piece of music.