Xylophon

noun. xy·​lo·​phone ˈzī-lə-ˌfōn. also ˈzi- : a percussion instrument consisting of a series of wooden bars graduated in length to produce the musical scale, supported on belts of straw or felt, and sounded by striking with two small wooden hammers. xylophonist.

The xylophone is a percussion instrument that can play melodies. It consists of a set of wooden bars set across a frame. Each wooden bar produces a single note when struck. The musician uses small mallets to strike the bars.

Xylophones are important to music history because they are an example of how instruments evolve in design and in popularity. The original xylophone was a simple, small set of different-length pieces of wood. Today's xylophone has two rows of tone bars and resonator tubes. Early xylophones were used in ceremonies.

A xylophone is a type of musical instrument. It has bars of different lengths arranged side by side. When a performer strikes the bars with a mallet or a stick, the bars produce sounds. Each bar is tuned to produce a particular note.

“Little Wing” by Jimi Hendrix is the first that comes to mind. Gentle Giant's "Isn't It Quiet and Cold?" contains a xylophone solo. “I Will Follow” by U2 and “Gone Daddy Gone” by the Violent Femmes also feature xylophone.

PercussionPitched percussion instrumentOrchestral percussion Xylophone/Instrument family

Keyboard percussion instruments include marimba, xylophone, vibraphone, glockenspiel, and tubular bells.

The marimba and the narrowly-defined xylophone are part of the xylophone family, while the glockenspiel, the vibraphone, and others are in the metallophone family. The marimba has the widest range of any tone-plate percussion instrument.

The sound of the xylophone is governed by the natural frequencies of the wooden bars when they are struck but is also largely affected by where the bars are strung and the length of the resonator tubes below.

Compared to the marimba, the xylophone has the higher and narrower range and its bars are made of a harder wood, resulting in a brighter and more penetrating timbre. Sometimes there is even mention of the xylophone family, which consists of the xylophone, the marimba and the xylomarimba.

a musical instrument made of two rows of wooden bars of different lengths that you hit with two small sticks compare glockenspielTopics Musicc2. Word Origin. Definitions on the go. Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary app.

/ˈzaɪləfəʊn/ A xylophone is a long musical instrument with wooden bars that is played by hitting it with small hammer-like mallets. The xylo- part of this word comes from the Greek for wood - xylon - and clues us in to what gives this instrument its unique sound: the graduated bars representing tones of the scale.