Jobs available for percussionists

Unfortunately in a symphony orchestra, there’s only three or perhaps four percussionists in addition to the timpanist, whereas we have 30 violinists. So the numbers alone tell you that there is going to be fewer places for percussionists to play, at least in a symphony orchestra. And so it’s a lot more competitive perhaps as a result. But that doesn’t mean that as a percussionist you can only play in a symphony orchestra. There is so much variety to how many different places you can play a drum, that you can play anywhere, in a little band playing your drum kit. This instrument is thousands of years old, the tambourine, and it comes from Persia, and it used to be used to accompany dancers. And there’s lots of drummers that accompany dance troops, or all different types of folk music, that have dancing and music. A lot of the drumming originated from being an accompaniment to those experiences. So being a drummer means you can almost always join into some musical activity, there is really no limit to what a drummer can do.