The drum, as we all know, is a percussion instrument. It is also an instrument with a long history among traditional Chinese musical instruments. At first, drums were made of clay, so they were also called "pottery drums". Later, with the development and changes of the times, people's handicraft technology continued to improve, and the production of drums also developed. Today's drums are made of leather, wood and copper, and are various. The use of drums as musical instruments began in the Zhou Dynasty, when the eight tones were determined, namely gold, stone, earth, leather, silk, wood, gourd and bamboo. The drum sound is the first of the eight tones. There are records of "drum, qin and se" in ancient literature, which means that before other instruments start playing, the sound of the drum must be the guide.
The Chinese have special feelings towards drum culture and drum music, because the sound of drums often brings people strength, joy and enthusiasm, and at the same time it can also make people's hearts solemn. Therefore, drums can be used for folk celebrations, for worship in the court, or for palace performances. Not only that, in ancient times, drums were also widely used as a tool to tell time. In the Qing Dynasty, people would use drums to tell time, and also used the density, length and frequency of drum beats as warning sounds to remind people of dangerous things. It can be seen that the Chinese drum culture is not only a musical instrument, but also a life tool closely related to people's lives.
We have a very excellent drum troupe at our South Coast Chinese Cultural Center, which is also a very popular interest course for teenagers. Our drum troupe is often invited to perform outside, which not only displays and promotes Chinese culture, but also cultivates children's stage performance skills. If you are interested in our courses, please visit https://www.sccca.org/programs-cp/south-coast-chinese-drum-team/
鼓，眾所周知，它是一種打擊類樂器。它同時也是中國傳統樂器中具有悠久歷史的一種樂器。起初，鼓是由陶土製成的，所以它也被稱之為 “陶鼓”或“土鼓”；後來隨著時代的發展與變遷，人們的手工藝技術不斷提升，鼓的製作也得到了發展。現在的鼓有皮質的、木製的還有銅鑄的，多種多樣。鼓作為樂器使用是從周代開始的，當時周代確定了八音，即金、石、土、革、絲、木、匏、竹。鼓音是八音之首。古代文獻中有記載“鼓琴瑟”，其意思就是在其他樂器開始演奏之前，必須先由鼓聲作為引導。
中華民族對與鼓文化和鼓音樂有著特殊的情懷，因為鼓聲常帶給人們力量、歡快和熱情，同時它也會讓人心聲肅穆。因此鼓可以用於民間的歡慶慶典，也可以用於朝堂祭祀，抑或是用於宮廷的演奏。不僅如此，在古代，鼓還作為報時的工具被廣泛使用。在清朝，人們會使用鼓聲報時，同時也用鼓點的密度、長度和次數來作為警示的聲音來提醒百姓危險事情的發生。由此可見，中華鼓文化不僅作為樂器，同時也作為與人們生活息息相關的一種生活工具，它已經滲透到了人們的日常生活當中。
在我們南海岸中華文化中心，就有一隻非常優秀的鼓團，這也是青少年非常喜歡的一項興趣課程。我們的鼓團還時常被邀請外出表演，其在展示與宣揚中華文化的同時也培養了孩子們舞台表現能力。如果您對我們的課程感興趣，請訪問https://www.sccca.org/programs-cp/south-coast-chinese-drum-team/