Listen as the timpani makes the sound of thunder in Beethoven s Storm movement. Other instruments commonly used are the bass drum and snare drum. Heads of drums can be tight or loose to produce varied musical pitches. The piano has strings, but they are struck by small hammers when the keys are pressed down. For this reason, the piano is related to the percussion family.
Most Western music is written so that one beat out of every few is accented.
The meter usually reads with one number on top, and one on the bottom. The bottom refers to the kind of note that gets a beat. When you count the beat of a song, you can usually feel the first beat accented. Waltzes usually are in three time. Rhythm is a pattern you make in between the beats.