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Percussion

Vibraphone Photo
Triangle Photo
Temple Block Photo
Snare Drum Photo
Marimba Photo
Maracas Photo
Crash Cymbals Photo
Claves Photo
Chimes Photo
Bass Drum Photo

...this is a small portion of your possibilities!

PERCUSSION is a whole group of instruments that work together in Band to create, accent, clarify, and add detail to the Brass and Woodwinds. You have played Percussion when you used bells and xylophones and even your own hands in elementary school. To play percussion, you need to have great rhythm and be able to control your arms and hands doing multiple actions at the same time.

When you begin percussion, you do not have to purchase a whole set of percussion instruments, as we have them at school. Instead, you use a Percussion Kit like one pictured here:

This lets you practice snare and mallets at home, and with the practice pad you will be able to practice a little softer than if you had a full snare drum at home. As to what percussion instruments you can play in Band after practicing at home on this kit, well...

The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild done by some guys playing a bunch of percussion instruments - they use a bass and a french horn to help out in the middle, but everything else is an instrument you would play as a percussionist in band.

A Day In The Life of a Detroit Symphony Percussionist (compressed into 2 minutes and 49 seconds...)

Percussion is learning piano, mallets, snare drum, timpani, bass drum, triangle, and pretty much anything else in the world you can strike or cause to be struck! We require a year of piano before you can start with us on percussion in band. It does not include the drum set! For Pianists, you get to play all of the percussion instruments right away. 

 If you would like to play in Jazz Band on Drum Set, Guitar, Bass, or Piano, we can direct you to some good teachers at NTHS and in the area so that you can audition for the separate group when you are ready. We suggest picking out another instrument to have fun with in Cadet Band if you play guitar or bass. You can never play too many instruments!

  • To learn more about the overall 5th grade Cadet Band program, visit the Grade 5 Band page
  • To learn about Woodwinds (Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Saxophone), visit the Woodwinds Page
  • To learn about Brass (Trumpet, Horn, Trombone, Baritone), visit the Brass Page
  • To sign up for band, see student testimonials, or look at other choices, visit the Instruments Page