Too many people join community music groups under the assumption that playing drums involves no skill whatsoever. As a trumpet player with about 20 years of “on the job” percussion training, I can tell you there’s much more to percussion than simply whacking a drumhead with a stick, or smashing two pieces of metal together.
Most of us have heard a snare drum or perhaps a xylophone being played at some point, and that can be quite an impressive sound when performed by a musician with years of experience. However, folks who decide to join a community band or orchestra should not assume that other percussion instruments, such as the bass drum, crash cymbals, suspended cymbals, or timpani are automatically easy to play. Sure, you don’t have to put them up to your mouth and blow, but each of these, like any other musical instrument, requires the know-how and nuances that come with education and, ideally, experience.
In a community ensemble, you either sign on as a percussionist, or you may be tapped to play percussion a few times as a “ringer” from another section of the band. If you’re not a music teacher (with training on every instrument), you should know at least the very basics of how to get the best sound from the more popular percussion items.
Basic Percussion Instruments
Consider what you might need to know before diving in.
- To an outsider, the bass drum seems like the quintessential “easy” instrument. While it does not take a lot of brainpower to play the bass drum, a player must still consider what part of the head to hit, how to muffle, what type of beater to use, and maybe even how to roll.
- Crash cymbals are more than just pretending to be a toy monkey. You must know what size is best for the piece you’re playing, how to hold them to allow the most vibration after a crash, the secret of how to crash without creating an air pocket, how hard to crash, and of course, how to choke the cymbals without hurting yourself.
- The suspended cymbal is another deceptively easy-looking instrument. When playing, you should consider the hardness of the mallet or stick, how to hit on the edge, middle, or crown (center) of the cymbal, how to crescendo smoothly, and of course you must find a cymbal height that is comfortable for you.
- The timpani (a.k.a. “kettle drums”) are tunable percussion. This means that you will probably need a pitch pipe, get used to the low pitches these drums produce, and learn how to use the timpani tuning pedals to ensure each drum produces the correct note. You should also know what part of the heads to hit and how to select the appropriate mallet hardness.
For each of these, the printed music will tell you how hard to hit your instrument and/or how long you need to roll. As with all symphonic style performances, read your music and watch the conductor carefully.
If you want to play percussion, but wish to avoid using sticks or mallets, one alternative is to ask if you could play one of the smaller hand-held percussion instruments (listed in another post). These can be loads fun and they help bring out the flavor of various styles of music.
Repetition and Counting
Obviously, the above instruments never play melody (or, in the case of the timpani, are usually relegate to a bass line), since they don’t have the tonal range to perform most symphonic music, like the mallet instruments (e.g. bells, xylophone, vibraphone, and marimba). These non-melodic parts often require percussionists to count like crazy, because the printed music in front of them can be very repetitious, depending on the composer or arranger.
For instance, one arrangement of Leroy Anderson’s “Blue Tango” is quite nice to listen to, but the poor snare drummer plays the same tango rhythm for almost the entire piece. (I once assigned that part to a percussion friend, and he gave me the evil eye the whole time while I was directing. Sorry, dude—someone’s gotta play it!)
This example is extreme, but be ready to focus on counting measures carefully, especially while playing. If you find yourself facing this type of scenario, make it easy on yourself by learning the rhythm quickly, so you can count with very little or no disruption to your personal performance.
Even the “easiest” percussion instruments require knowledge of those instruments, as well as the wherewithal to get through repetitive passages. Community music ensembles may not be professional orchestras, but the members love making music just as much as any other musicians, and part of that includes having a quality percussion section.