How to Use percussion in a Sentence

percussion

noun
  • He plays percussion for the band.
  • The marimba is a percussion instrument.
  • Yeah, as well as all these (hits percussion).
    — Heather Abbott, CBS News, 19 Apr. 2026
  • Nicholas also plays percussion in the band and takes art class.
    — Ashley McBride, ExpressNews.com, 17 Nov. 2019
  • Carey's percussion grew from soft rolling taps to kick drum wallops.
    — Piet Levy, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1 Nov. 2019
  • Sam is the percussion player in the trio; hence the P in his name.
    — Greg Burnett, cleveland, 3 Oct. 2019
  • The soundtrack changes to a percussion piece that evokes a sense of wonder.
    — Jingnan Peng, The Christian Science Monitor, 31 July 2020
  • Mälkki made sure that gong had the gusto of avant-garde percussion.
    — Los Angeles Times, 24 Nov. 2021
  • So that was echoed by the string section, by the horn section, by the percussion.
    — Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 June 2024
  • There are guitars, a drum kit, drum machines and lots of percussion.
    — Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 26 June 2023
  • Kendrick fits right in, caroming off the percussion like a pinball.
    — Stephen Kearse, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2025
  • Their jumps add percussion to the din, boards slapping and grinding against rails and pipes.
    — Amelia Nierenberg, BostonGlobe.com, 2 July 2018
  • The Capitol shook with the force of percussion grenades, and smoke rose above the crowd.
    — Sarah D. Wire, Los Angeles Times, 4 Jan. 2024
  • Soon, the sounds of keyboards, standup bass and percussion echoed from down the long hallway.
    — Garret K. Woodward, Rolling Stone, 7 Mar. 2024
  • While the high-end could have more detail, the percussion still cuts through, and the lead synth has some bite to it.
    — PC Magazine, 9 Apr. 2025
  • No, not grungy, but just bass-heavy and 808, and drums and just mad, hard percussions.
    — Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Apr. 2025
  • Jared Schonig, who wrote the percussion book for Moulin Rouge!
    — Meredith Carey, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 Mar. 2021
  • Eerie chants, tinkling percussion, zany strings, and plucky swelling piano.
    — Grace Byron, Vulture, 15 Sep. 2025
  • There are whistles and toe taps and yowls and warbles and percussion produced by acrylic nails.
    — Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024
  • Then, a lot of rock bands came along and copied us, having background singers, percussion, adding things like that.
    — Brittany Delay, The Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2024
  • And since there’s not a lot of percussion, that element gets so abrasive.
    — Vulture, 27 July 2023
  • In the second chorus verse, she was joined by a handclap percussion.
    — Caroline Linton, CBS News, 14 Mar. 2021
  • Spot-on work from the brass and percussion completed the vivid sound-picture.
    — Tim Smith, baltimoresun.com, 5 May 2017
  • Some days had extra percussion.
    — Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 26 June 2026
  • So many of their masterpieces open with pitter-patter percussion or a kick drum.
    — New York Times, 28 Apr. 2026
  • And another big thing of that was human percussion.
    — Steve Appleford, SPIN, 1 Apr. 2026
  • The percussion pops especially in this one; loud in the mix, those live drums hammer the whole thing home.
    — Chris Payne, Billboard, 9 Nov. 2017
  • But mostly on the stage during the shows, Ralph was singing and playing percussion.
    — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 24 Mar. 2021
  • Lamar and Rihanna’s vocals on the track sound rich, and the percussion sounds nice and crisp.
    — PC Magazine, 6 May 2025
  • But when a ruffed grouse erupts from beneath a mantle of unblemished snow, the percussion all but drops you in your tracks.
    — Tom Davis, Field & Stream, 4 Dec. 2019

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'percussion.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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