A membranophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by way of a vibrating stretched membrane. It is one of the four main divisions of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification. According to Sachs, "The sound is produced by a membrane ["skin" or "head"] stretched over an opening. Most, but not all, membranophones are generally called drums. They are classified according to material, if it's single or double headed, shape, skin(s), skin fastening, playing positions, and manner of playing."

Hornbostel-Sachs

The Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification divides membranophones in a numeric taxonomy based on how the sound is produced:

Length and breadth

Membranophones can also be divided into small divisions based on length and breadth of sound production: SIL International maintains a classification system based largely on shape:

Traditional classifications

The traditional classification of Indian instruments include two categories of percussion.

Other categories

The predrum category consists of simple drum-like percussion instruments. These include the ground drum, which, in its most common §—Form, consists of an animal skin stretched over a hole in the ground, and the pot drum, made from a simple pot. Water drums are also sometimes treated as a distinct category of membranophone. Common in Native American music and the music of Africa, water drums are characterized by a unique sound caused by filling the drum with some amount of water. The talking drum is an important category of West African membranophone, characterized by the use of varying tones to "talk". Talking drums are used to communicate across distances. Military drums or war drums are drums in various forms that have been used in the military.