Academics

The "P" in Percussion

Hitting things and making sound… doesn’t sound too hard does it? Well that is exactly what I thought and, wow was I wrong!

Last semester I had the opportunity to participate in the college orchestra. My sister and I went to auditions together, and both of us were accepted to play harp in the orchestra. The only problem was that there was only one harp part. However, it was only a small problem seeing as there was a need for more people to play percussion. My sister and I decided that we would switch off who would play the harp and who would play percussion.

The first day of orchestra came, and I was very eager to be able to learn percussion. In the back of my mind I was thinking that percussion could not be that hard--I mean all you really do is hit things with sticks and smash things together! Well at least that is what I thought. I soon realized that not only did it take good technique to get the sound that you want, but that you also have to be really good at counting! That is where the “P” in percussion comes in. The “P” stands for Practice! It is said that a percussionist spends 80% of his time counting and only 20% playing! That is why it is very important to practice counting things. ☺

Throughout the semester I had lots of fun learning to play the timpani, bells, chimes, and xylophone! During the last month of the semester I was able to play in an orchestra pit for the first time! The orchestra played there during the fine arts series The Hiding Place.

If you ever get an opportunity to play in the orchestra here at PCC I would highly recommend it! There are so many great opportunities to experience new things and improve what you know about music.

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The thoughts and opinions expressed in Life in the Nest are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Pensacola Christian College.
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