The Percussion Family

Percussion is the most loosely defined section in the orchestra - essentially anything played by striking, shaking, or scraping rather than bowing, blowing, or plucking a string. That covers an enormous range of instruments, and the section changes from piece to piece depending on what the composer asks for.

Pitched and unpitched

The simplest way to sort percussion is by whether an instrument plays definite notes.

Pitched percussion can play melodies or specific notes:

• Timpani - large copper kettledrums, each tuned to a specific note, usually with a foot pedal that lets the player retune mid-piece.
• Xylophone and marimba - wooden bars struck with mallets; the xylophone is bright and dry, the marimba deeper and warmer.
• Glockenspiel - small metal bars with a bright, bell-like ring.
• Tubular bells - long metal tubes that sound like church bells.
• Celesta - a small keyboard instrument whose hammers strike metal plates, producing a sparkling, music-box sound.

Unpitched percussion adds rhythm and color without a fixed note: the snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, tambourine, and the deep, shimmering tam-tam (a large gong).

How percussion is used

Unlike the string, woodwind, and brass sections, percussion is rarely playing continuously - composers typically use it sparingly, for rhythmic emphasis, dramatic punctuation, or specific color effects, which means a single well-placed cymbal crash or timpani roll can carry enormous weight precisely because the section isn't heard constantly.

The timpanist usually plays only the timpani, while the other percussion players move between instruments as the music demands - sometimes several in a single piece. Our orchestra seating chart shows where they sit, at the very back.

How the section grew

The section has expanded considerably since the Classical era, when timpani - usually paired with trumpets - were often the only percussion instrument in regular use. In the late 18th century, Viennese audiences fell in love with the sound of Turkish military bands, and composers borrowed their bass drum, cymbals, and triangle for "Turkish" effects: Haydn's "Military" Symphony, Mozart's opera The Abduction from the Seraglio, and the march in the finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

The Romantic and 20th-century orchestras added an increasingly wide battery of instruments, including many borrowed from outside the Western classical tradition entirely - and some surprising ones: Verdi's "Anvil Chorus" calls for real anvils, and Richard Strauss's An Alpine Symphony includes a wind machine. In 1931, Edgard Varèse's Ionisation became one of the first major concert works for percussion ensemble alone.

Famous percussion moments

• Timpani - the hammering octave strokes in the scherzo of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
• Snare drum - the unbroken rhythm that runs through all of Ravel's Boléro.
• Celesta - the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" in Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, one of the instrument's first famous appearances.
• Cymbals and bass drum - the battle scene of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture (alongside the cannons).

Where to start listening: the timpani outbursts in the scherzo of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and the sudden orchestral crash in Haydn's "Surprise" Symphony both show how much impact a single percussion moment can have. For the whole section on display, Ravel's Boléro builds from one quiet snare drum to the full orchestra.