A drummer is a musician who plays the drums, particularly the drum kit, marching percussion, or hand drums. The term percussionist usually refers to a person who plays classical or Latin percussion. A musician is a person who plays or composes music. ... For other kinds of drums, see drum (disambiguation). ... A drum kit (or drum set or trap set - the latter an old-fashioned term) is a collection of drums, cymbals and other percussion instruments arranged for convenient playing by a sole percussionist (drummer), usually for jazz, rock, or other types of contemporary music. ... Percussion instruments are played by being struck, shaken, rubbed or scraped. ... The term Latin percussion refers to any member of a large family of musical percussion instruments used in Latin music, which in turn is a very loosy related group of musical styles, mainly from the Latin American region, and ultimately having roots or influences in African tribal music. ...

Drummers are sometimes regarded as not being "real musicians" and are the butt of countless jokes; see drummer jokes. In reality, good drummers are expert musicians with an acute ear for rhythm and musical form, who act as the rhythmic driving force for an entire ensemble. The drummer is the timekeeper for bands, making them essential to the music in the same way that a good timpanist is so vital in an orchestral setting. Drummers and percussionists are the butt of countless jokes, often impugning their musicianship and/or their intelligence. ... Rhythm (Greek ρυθμός = tempo) is the variation of the duration of sounds or other events over time. ... The term musical form is used in two related ways: a generic type of composition such as the symphony or concerto the structure of a particular piece, how its parts are put together to make the whole; this too can be generic, such as binary form or sonata form Musical... Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. ... Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Orchestra at City Hall (Edmonton). ...

Percussion (along with song) is perhaps the most ancient form of music. In fact, some cultures have drum music, music that is performed by drums alone. The nonvocal sounds and rhythms of life, the most obvious being walking, are a kind of pre-music which elaborate and organize themselves through human intelligence and play into music. A song is a relatively short musical composition for the human voice (possibly accompanied by other musical instruments), which features words (lyrics). ...

Drummers have played a key role in the military in past conflicts, such as the American Revolution, and the American Civil War. Drums provided a steady beat to set the marching pace and kept morale up through music. Before the Revolution: The 13 colonies are in red, the pink area was claimed by Great Britain after the French and Indian War, and the orange region was claimed by Spain. ... The American Civil War was fought in the United States from 1861 until 1865 between the United States – forces coming mostly from the 23 northern states of the Union – and the newly-formed Confederate States of America, which consisted of 11 southern states that had declared their secession. ... Morale measures the degree to which people hold to belief. ... Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Music Look up Music in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikisource, as part of the 1911 Encyclopedia Wikiproject, has original text related to this article: Music Wikicities has a wiki about Music: Music Music City : a collaborative music database All Music Guide...

See Also

• List of drummers
• percussionist
• List of percussionists
• drum beat