How to play the cymbals

While the drum provides the melody and the gong provides the base of the Lion Dance music, the cymbals provide the rhythm. It is easy to play the cymbals once we understand their basic beats, which are 1 2 1 2 1 2 etc. In other words, there are two beats of the cymbals in one unit of sound. A good variation is to have three beats in the same unit of sound. In other words, in the same time to beat 1 2, you beat 1 2 3. For convenience we may call this the fast beat. The fast beats of the cymbals provides the excitement in majestic drumming.