Xylophoning Home Trivia Quiz

Answer: Glockenspiel

Depending on where you come from, a glockenspiel can also be called a carillon or a campanelli. It has metal bars that follow the key pattern of a piano, so it also counts as a type of metallophone (barred instrument with bars made of metal).

Answer: Ukulele

There are actually a bunch of different sizes of ukulele, from the big contrabass up to a tiny sopranino (or pocket) ukulele, with five other sizes in between. Ukuleles are really fun to play, and the name means something close to 'jumping flea', which is kind of funny to me.

Answer: Ocarina

Ocarina-like instruments have been around for more than 10,000 years, and while they are typically made from clay or ceramic, you can find them made from pretty much any hard material (wood, glass, plastic, metal - even bone!). Ocarinas come in many shapes and sizes, but my favourite (and the most common) is definitely the 'sweet potato'!

Answer: Whacking

These hand bells are really neat. They have clappers on the inside that only swing one way (different than church bells), with a spring to go back to its original position after it is rung. Just getting one sound is called 'ringing'. With 'malleting', you hit the bell with a mallet (it sounds a bit different), while you use your thumb and finger on the clapper when 'plucking'. I think you probably can figure out how 'shaking' works. Our teacher mentioned a few other ways to make sounds on the hand bells, but I can't remember them all anymore.

There was a bunch.

Answer: Hum into it

My teacher says there is something inside the kazoo called a 'membrane' that vibrates when you hum into the small end. This vibrating changes the sound your voice makes, giving it a buzzy sound. Lots and lots of fun to play!

Answer: Garklein

'Garklein' translates as 'quite small' from German, or so my teacher tells me. He also said that recorders have been around since Medieval times, and were very popular during the Renaissance. I don't know about all that, but what I do know is that playing the recorder was fun... I just had to make sure to blow very gently, otherwise it would squeak.

Answer: False

Actually, steel pans first appeared in Trinidad & Tobago in the Caribbean. They were made for the first time in the 1930s after African drumming (and stick fighting) was banned after the Canboulay Riots in 1880.

That was a long time ago. All I know about them now is that parts of the steel pan are shaped and bent to play different notes, and you can play all sorts of melodies with just one pan. My teacher says that they are often played in groups called steel bands or orchestras.

Answer: Welsh crwth

The tin whistle developed from earlier fipple flutes, and began being produced in the 1840s in England by a man named Robert Clarke. My teacher says that tin whistles are well-known for Celtic music.

What's a Welsh crwth, you ask? Well, it's not a whistle at all! It is a very old string instrument that you play with a bow (my teacher says).

Answer: Mouth organ

Harmonicas are not only called mouth organs, but they are also called (French) harps. I know... funny, right? It doesn't look anything like a harp! I do know that you can play one or more notes at a time by blowing out and sucking in (which changes the notes!). My teacher says that there are reeds in the little squares. Whatever... it's fun to play.

Answer: Greek

So basically, 'xylophone' means 'wooden sound'. Pretty much says it all, hey?

Xylophones use the same pattern of bars as a piano does with its keys, so that you can play ALL the notes - even the flats and sharps! The wooden bars have a very different sound than metal ones. The wood doesn't let the sound last as long in the air, but I like it better when it's not so ringy.

My teacher says that early examples of xylophones can be found in many cultures from around the world. I think that was a nice instrument to end our class with.