People of all ages, have enjoyed, at one time or another ‘tinkering’ on a xylophone. It’s hard to walk past a xylophone without picking up the stick or mallet and striking the bars. Even children in their crawling stage can get a child’s version of a xylophone, and they love to play it! The xylophone, meaning ‘the sound of wood’, is made with wooden bars that have different lengths to make different sounds that are played over top of tubes. Ancient xylophones have been made with wooden bars on top of a wooden box with gourds underneath them that were put inside the box. There are several types of xylophones. Even though the name ‘xylophone’ is most often used by people, there are other names depending on the materials used to make the bars. Some xylophones can be made with stone or slate bars, called a litho-phone. There are some made with metal bars called a metal-phone, which is the most popular in orchestras and bands today. The child’s version of a xylophone is made with metal bars, or metal-phone, and is more high pitched, but still fun to play.

There are different sizes to consider when purchasing a xylophone. There is a large version, more for orchestras that has three octaves, and then there is the smaller version, more for a marching band with two octaves.

A very different type of xylophone is the ‘air xylophone’. The air xylophone can be made by using very long, plastic, (PVC type pipe), or wooden tubes, cut at different lengths, which are then struck at one end with a foam paddle instead of a mallet. The air that is forced into the tube by the paddle makes a hollow sound, but is still the same concept of a xylophone. With smaller and shorter tubes, or pipes, you can use the palm of your hand to strike the end with a similar hollow sound.

Shirlan