Pitched percussion instrument

• Membranophones are tuned by altering the surface tension of the face that is struck.
• Mallet percussion instruments gain their pitch through physical characteristics such as composition, density, or physical dimensions of each respective note.
• Alternatively, other percussion instruments can gain pitch through variation of air volume displaced.

• Many untuned percussion instruments, such as the snare drum, are tuned by the player, but this tuning does not relate to a particular pitch.
• Untuned percussion instruments can and frequently do make sounds that could be used as pitched notes in an appropriate context.

• Some percussion instruments, such as the timpani and glockenspiel, are almost always used as pitched percussion.
• Some percussion instruments, and particularly many types of bell and closely related instruments, are sometimes used as pitched percussion, and at other times as unpitched percussion.
• Some percussion instruments, such as the snare drum, are almost always used as unpitched percussion.

• Mallet percussion, instruments such as the glockenspiel and chime bars, played in a particular way.
• Keyboard percussion, instruments such as the glockenspiel and tubular bells arranged in a particular way.
• Melodic percussion, instruments used to produce several different pitches.