Percussion is music at it purest form.
There will never be a time where you cannot make music.
I am not a percussionist, I never have and I never will, I am a guitarist, but I have played percussion instruments in a theater. I wasn’t performing, but was in the audience clapping.
Percussion instruments are any “musical instruments played by striking with the hand or with a handheld or pedal-operated stick or beater”. The hammers in a piano are percussive, plucking a guitar string is percussive, vocal chords striking the air in your throat is percussive. Even sound waves themselves, air hitting air, can be a form of percussion. Percussion is the original form of music.
Percussion is a universal form of music. Whether it’s a full drum set, a pair of maracas, or a single djembe, percussion instruments are everywhere. It makes sense, people make percussive sounds all the time in their day-to-day lives. A tree and a rock could be a drum set. Different trees make different sounds when you hit them with a different stick.
Percussion is sounds, there is no standardized notes or scales. Yes, modern, western drums are often tuned to various notes, but thats no why you add drums to a song. Percussion instruments are valued for their unique ability to carry rhythm. It is hard to make a great song without using any percussive techniques. It doesn’t have to be a form of drums, but it has to carry rhythm. In a band setting, a good drummer can carry the other members and make it so much easier for the melody to stay on time, the audience to groove with it, and for the piece to sound better.
Drums come in very different shapes and sizes. Rock music generally uses a drum set, modern hip-hop music uses digital 808’s and drum racks, and traditional African drumming uses many different types of unique drums. Recently, in the guitar world, percussive techniques have gained traction. One can make many different sounds by using the body of an acoustic guitar, striking it in different ways and in different places. Even the strings can be muted and strummed to create new sounds.
Percussion is everywhere, and it gets under appreciated. Percussion is the basis for rhythm and rhythm is the basis for music. Everybody can appreciate percussion.
Honestly, its impressive how with percussion, anything can be music.
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