The cowbell is a percussion instrument that resembles the shape of a metal bell without a bell clapper . This instrument supposedly originated from the large metal bells hanging around the necks of cattle and other livestock. The cowbell still represents its humble beginnings, though one would be hard pressed to find a cow at a rock concert. In most music settings, the drum set player attaches the cowbell to the high hat stand using a metal percussion clamp. In Latin percussion set ups, the cowbell may be attached to the timbales, a suspended cymbal, or even held in the hand, bell facing out. The instrument is struck loudly with a thick wooden stick near the edge of the bell. The percussion player avoids striking the end nearest the percussion clamp, as that end is slightly muffled. The cowbell has a very distinct music sound that is difficult to disguise in a quieter music setting. This percussion instrument is most appropriately played in a loud rock or Latin music setting or...

PHOTO"wikimedia.org Percussion Instruments 101: How to Play the Concert Triangle There are literally hundreds of concert percussion instruments in use every day throughout the world. Whether you are playing percussion in a drum circle in Ghana , a jazz band in New Orleans , or a symphony orchestra in Sweden, you are playing an instrument that has traveled and mutated throughout the globe. The percussion instrument the triangle , is a metal rod bent into the shape of a two dimensional geometric triangle with one of the bottom corners disconnected to allow sound waves to escape. The concert triangle often has a slight difference, in that it may have a hole in one corner to loop a piece of nylon to hang the concert triangle. If it is an Alan Abel triangle, it will have a slight difference in the open end. That angle will end in a different thickness, supposedly to help the triangle sound to escape better acoustically. The triangle may be struck near one of the closed an...

At first glance, the tambourine may seem like a simple instrument. A single headed drum with jingles around its perimeter, the tambourine is one percussion instrument that can be found throughout the world, from North America to the Middle East . The most basic tambourine technique involves shaking the instrument from side to side, sometimes striking the hand. In a rock or pop band, the tambourine often keeps the same strict pattern throughout each song, either keeping up a steady stream of eighth notes or sixteenth notes , or falling on beats two and four. In some types of music, the tambourine may be struck on each beat or on beats one and three. In all of these more popular cases, the purpose of the tambourine is to keep the beat and encourage the audience to clap in time to the music. PHOTO: svenko.net The tambourine roll can be executed a number of ways. The percussion player may flick their wrist back and forth rapidly creating a stream of thirty-second notes or ...

Nearly every piece that comes a Percussionist 's way will consist of the following: A run-of-the-mill SNARE DRUM part A BASS DRUM part which plays monotonously on beats 1 and 3 A MALLET part (usually bells --ouch--- or xylophone) which mimics the woodwinds And a TIMPANI part which copies the tubas or basses Oh, and let's not forget the CYMBAL part, which consists of enthralling cymbal rolls and exciting CRASHES!!!! Now, not much can be done for those currently de-composers who had to write for this instrumentation. After all, if the reigning monarch or local cathedral had a set of kettle drums, a military drum, and a couple of metal plates, that was what you had to go with. Writing for the army? Ditto. The Church your patron? Just try incorporating hand drums. Heretics, for sure. BUT...this IS the Third Millennium. And PERCUSSION has come to mean pretty much anything, yep ANYTHING, you can hit, beat, scrape, blow, whistle, bow, shake, roll, kick, turn on, p...