11/18 - Percussion, day four

My family is coming to see me! I could not be more excited... that I don't have to drive down to Texas again. Haha. I love you guys.

We'll discuss the last group of percussion instruments today. Let me know if you think you know an instrument that doesn't fit in these categories.

The group we haven't discussed is the largest, by far, the idiophones. Idiophones are instruments that vibrate throughout the whole body, not by use of a membrane or a string.

Idiophones can be split up into six nifty categories:

- Concussion instruments: sound is produced when a pair is struck together and both vibrate
ex. Crash cymbals, slapstick, castanets, claves
- Percussion instruments: sound is produced when something vibrates after being struck by something else.
ex. triangle, woodblock, all mallet instruments, cymbals, steel drums, udu, bells, ghatam, brake drum, etc.
- Rattle instruments: they're shaken. Simple.
Flex-a-tone, tambourine (sometimes), maracas, rainstick, shakers, vibraslap.
- Scraper instruments: they're scraped. Also simple.
Guiro, washboard....
- Plucked instruments: a flexible "tongue" that is inside or a part of the instrument is plucked.
Jew's harp, kalimba, music box, mbira, marimbula.
- Friction instruments: anything rubbed to create sound and vibration.
Nail violin, singing bowl, saw, glass harp (singing glasses).

There's one exception that I've heard of, the wobble board, which is directly flexed. It was used in Shakespeare's staged plays to imitate thunder, and today people use them as effects. They aren't sold commercially though, you have to make your own.

I guess I haven't really gone over how to actually play any of them, have I?

I apologize. It's a lot easier to teach with pictures, or in real life.

If you want, you can yell at me to teach you how to play something and I'll spend a day on that. I think I'd enjoy that, actually.

Tomorrow, I have classes, and departmental (hooray.), and then clean and get ready for family and concert! Should be an awesome Friday for me.

I hope it's pretty awesome for you too.

M