Tuned Percussion

Tuned Percussion

Tuned percussion is percussion that you can play a tune on. You can play a range of pitches using them. There are lots of kinds of tuned percussion, but we only have a few at school. Here are some you need to know about! Click on the links to hear what they sound like.

Glockenspiel 

Glockenspiel is a German word made from the words Glocken: Bells and speil:set. So it means a set of bells. It's bars are made of metal. You play it with two mallets (beaters).

Chime bars

Chime bars (also known as resonator bells) is like a glockenspiel except that each bar is separate mounted onto it's own base. They can be taken out separately or played together.

Xylophone

It's super easy to get the xylophone and glockenspiel mixed up. However, it's name comes from the Greek words, xylo meaning would and phone meaning sound. So it means wooden sound. So now you know, xylophones are made of wood!

Marimba

A marimba can also be called a xylophone, although xylophone normally means small high instruments. Marimba's are usually large with pipes underneath them. That's why I would say what we have in the music room is a xylophone. It does not have pipes and it is small. 

As you can see in the picture above, it has wooden keys just like a xylophone, but it is much larger with pipes.

Bronze Goal: I can hold the mallets (beaters) correctly

How to hold the beats correctly This video is great to show you exactly what to do.

It sounds easy but I see a lot of students holding them with their index pointer extended:

Here the finger is extended.
This is incorrect.

This is better.

Remember do not hold your mallets too hard. You will know when you do, because the sound is muffled. You need to hold them in a relaxed grip (but not so loose that you drop them!)