Is a drum a musical instrument?

bandteacher1 · 12-03-2009, 01:56 PM

I do think that this is my area of expertise.

A drum, any kind for that matter, is in fact a musical instrument. You're co-worker is DEAD WRONG on his three points. Percussion is a class of instruments, just like woodwinds or brass. You can tune drums. And they do go out of tune. Take quads for example. When my marching band takes them out in the cold of Mass, the drums have to be tuned down some, so that the risk of breaking the head is drastically reduced. Marching snares, are tuned aprx. to an A. And percussionists are musicians. It takes a tremdous amount of skill in order to play percussion. For one, percussionists keep the beat. They have to right on the beat, every single time, or the other members of the ensemble take the percussionist(s) tempi.

View Poll Results: Is a drum a musical instrument?
Yes	59	93.65%
No	4	6.35%
Voters: 63. You may not vote on this poll

12-03-2009, 01:56 PM	#11 (permalink)
bandteacher1 Le professeur de musique Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Mass. Posts: 66	I do think that this is my area of expertise. A drum, any kind for that matter, is in fact a musical instrument. You're co-worker is DEAD WRONG on his three points. Percussion is a class of instruments, just like woodwinds or brass. You can tune drums. And they do go out of tune. Take quads for example. When my marching band takes them out in the cold of Mass, the drums have to be tuned down some, so that the risk of breaking the head is drastically reduced. Marching snares, are tuned aprx. to an A. And percussionists are musicians. It takes a tremdous amount of skill in order to play percussion. For one, percussionists keep the beat. They have to right on the beat, every single time, or the other members of the ensemble take the percussionist(s) tempi.