Percussion

The Percussion family is an interesting case, because every member of the percussion section in band must play every instrument in the section. In beginning band, the first instruments learned are the Bells and the Snare Drum.

• The Bells are a percussion instrument. Sound is created by striking pieces of metal with a plastic or wood mallet. The notes are configured like a piano keyboard and usually have the names of the notes printed on each bar.
• The Snare Drum is the smallest drum in the percussion section. This is the most popular drum and is used in nearly all styles of music. For beginners, practice pads are often used to dampen the offensive sound.

Percussion players are responsible for learning an entire family of instruments. Young percussionists frequently assume that they will just play the snare drum and move on to a drum set but all instruments have to be learned at some point. Since each of the percussion instruments are quite different, many band directors start students out on one instrument like the bells for the first few weeks of band and then teach the other instruments later in the year.
(from beginband.com)

Physical Characteristics
Students should be able to demonstrate coordination in gross and fine motor skills.  The students who tend to succeed in the percussion section are those who are the most self disciplined.

Other Considerations
The study of percussion includes bells, xylophone, marimba, triangle, tambourine, maracas, claves, snare drum, bass drum, and timpani, among many other instruments. Private lessons for percussion are highly encouraged due to the nature of the instrument group (every percussionist is a soloist, and therefore needs independent musical skills to be developed).

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