Dictionary of Common Foreign Percussion Terms

English	Italian	French	German	Mnemonic Devices
*Antique Cymbals	Crotali	*Crotales	Antiken Zimbeln
Anvil	Incudine	Enclume	Amboss
*Bass Drum	*Gran Cassa	*Gross Caisse	*Grosse Trommel	Remember that “gross” means “big”
*Chimes (tubular bells)	Campane (Campanelle)	*Cloches	*Glocken	“Cloches” rhymes with “roaches” and we thought of roaches in the tubes of the bells…
*Orchestra Bells	Campanelli	*Jeu de Timbres	*Glockenspiel
Brush (Wire)	Verge Scovolo	Brosse	Stahlburste
*Cowbell	Cencerro	Choche a’ Vache	*Almenglock, Amglock
*Cymbals	*Piatti (means “plates”)	*Cymbales	*Becken	Our professor said if you dropped cymbals you’d say “I becken your pardon.”
*Field Drum	*Tamburo Militare	*Tambour Militare	*Militar Trommel	Field drum, used on the “military” field.
*Guire (Gourd or Scratcher)	Raspe (rasp=scratch)	Rape	Raspel
*Kettledrums	*Timpani	*Timbales	*Pauken	Professor says these large drums take a long time to “pauken up”.
Let Ring	Lesciare Vibrare (L.V.)	Laissez Vibrer	Klingen Lassen
*Marimba	Marima	Marimba	Marimbaphon
*Percussion	*Percussione	*Batterie	*Schlagzeug
*Snare Drum	*Tamburo	*Caisse Claire	*Kleine Trommel	“Kleine” means “little”.
Stick	Bacchetta	Baquette Malloche	Schlage
*Tambourine	Tamburo Basco	*Tambour de Basque	Tamburin Schellentrommel
*Tenor Drum	*Tamburo Rullante	Caisse Roulante	Ruhttrommel
Whip	Frusta	Fouet	Holzklapper
Woodblock	Casa di legno	Bloc de Bois	Holtztrammel
Xylophone	Xylofono	Xylophone	Holzhamonika Strohfidel
*  indicates terms we were required to learn in my university’s percussion class. For a more complete listing see: Lang, Morris and Spivack, Larry. Dictionary of Percussion Terms. New York: Lang Percussion Company.