A lingua franca The percussion at Peking opera is very interesting. It is composed of single-skin drums, small and large gongs, cymbals, and tang drums. The percussion sheet music, known as the "Gong and Drum Classic" or "Pieces for Gong and Drum," is written out in characters whose sounds mimic those of the various percussion instruments.
京戲的鑼鼓便很有「聽頭」，這是文武場中的「武場」，由單皮鼓、小鑼、大鑼、鐃鈸、堂鼓組成，所使用的打擊總譜稱為「鑼鼓經」或「鑼鼓點」，以模仿各打擊樂器聲音的代音字（如咚、倉）做記錄。