In the early stage of its formation, drums were mainly used in activities related to religion, military affairs, communications, folklore, and ceremonies, for their practical functions. Later, with its rich sound and distinct rhythm, people began to regard the drum as an aesthetic object, and used it in daily entertainment or folk entertainment singing and dancing music, and the drum began to have the expressive power of musical art. The artistic expression of Chinese drums is composed of the comprehensive effects of elements such as rhythm, timbre, strength and speed. Although most drums do not have a fixed pitch, the combination of the above-mentioned elements produces profound artistic characteristics.

In terms of timbre, due to the different shapes and structures of drums and different playing techniques, using different strengths on drums with the same rhythm and timbre can also produce a lot of changes. With the control of speed, Chinese drums will Can express more colorful sound art.
In traditional Chinese art, drums play an important role. For example, in folk dances, instrumental ensembles, rap music, opera music, and folk songs, there are many kinds of music with drums as the main role. The following is a brief description.
Throughout history, drums have often been used as accompaniment instruments or props in folk dances. As the main role of dance, drums control the rhythm and stimulate the emotions of the dance with their loud drum beats. The drum is an important musical instrument in various national instrumental music. For example, the percussion ensemble in the wind and percussion ensemble is an ensemble composed of percussion instruments, including gongs and drums in large-scale sets such as Shaanxi drum music and Jiangnan’s Shifan gongs and drums, as well as the accompaniment of gongs and drums at the opening of opera and martial arts scenes, religious rituals The prelude, interlude, accompaniment, and ending of music; as well as gong and drum troupes such as folk festivals and weddings, etc., all have pure percussion performances. Under the sound combination of different drums and other percussion instruments, the rich and complex timbre, rhythm and dynamics change, expressing a warm passion or a light and lively atmosphere.

In rap music, its accompaniment mostly includes drum percussion instruments, and even the drums, drums, fishing drums and other operas are named after drums, which shows the close relationship between drums and rap music. In these rap accompaniments, the drums are used to accompany the rhythm or set off the atmosphere,
Opera music, whether it is singing, reciting, doing, or playing, pays special attention to the precise and clear rhythm, and this rhythm is expressed and controlled by gongs and drums. , In addition to the drum performance alone, as a simulated life sound, such as the sound of running water, it also sings with drums. It is mainly based on the dominant position in coordination with other percussion instruments, as the actor's characterization role, such as expression, emphasis, punctuation, unity and coordination, bridge, rendering, omission and prompting, etc., to clearly show the actor's role. Of course, this ability also depends on the organic coordination of drums and other percussion instruments in terms of timbre, rhythm, and dynamics.