Definition
Play the video to hear the sound a xylophone makes.
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The xylophone is a percussion instrument played with mallets. It is a pitched instrument, and is made up of wooden bars of different sizes that are struck to create noise. The orchestral xylophone has tubes underneath the keys which help to sustain the notes played, and also enhance the tone. The noise it makes is a high pitched constant tone, and the length of the note is dependent on how hard the bar is struck, and the quality of the xylophone.
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Role in Music
The xylophone is almost exclusively used in an orchestra, although it is sometimes (very rarely) used as a solo instrument. Although it is a percussion instrument, it often plays the same music as the woodwind section of an orchestra, and is meant to add power to the section.