Prepare for the Academic Decathlon Music Test! Practice with flashcards and multiple choice questions that include hints and explanations. Enhance your knowledge and boost your exam readiness today!

Multiple Choice

Timpani belongs to which percussion family?

Sound in percussion is classified by what vibrates to produce it. Timpani are drums with a stretched skin (membrane) that is struck by mallets; the membrane vibrates to create the pitch you hear. Because the vibrating element is the membrane, timpani belong to the membranophone family. They are not idiophones, which rely on the whole instrument vibrating, nor chordophones with strings, nor aerophones that produce sound from vibrating air.

Sound in percussion is classified by what vibrates to produce it. Timpani are drums with a stretched skin (membrane) that is struck by mallets; the membrane vibrates to create the pitch you hear. Because the vibrating element is the membrane, timpani belong to the membranophone family. They are not idiophones, which rely on the whole instrument vibrating, nor chordophones with strings, nor aerophones that produce sound from vibrating air.