An acrostic poem.
Soundtrack for this piece (open and play to listen while reading):
“Marimba,” queried Xylophone, “may I propose a duet?”
“Agreed,” Marimba smiled, “but shall we not make it a quartet?
Let us get Vibraphone and Glockenspiel participating;
Let their bright tinks and our warm clinks together, imitating –
Ensembled thus – a starry sky, with twinkling Vibe and Bell
To strike a better balance? Plus, they’re easier to spell.”
So did their tapping mallets fill the concert hall quite well.
Meet the Instruments
Videos:
Marimba video
Xylophone video
Vibraphone video
Glockenspiel video
Notes:
- The instruments above are listed in approximate order of increasing pitch and brightness (the ranges technically overlap.)
- Marimba and Xylophone have wooden bars. Vibraphone and Glockenspiel have metal bars.
- Your child’s rainbow-colored preschool “xylophone” is actually a glockenspiel – also known as “bells” or “orchestral bells” once he plays them in 5th grade concert band.
- The “Soundtrack” embedded at the top is actually a quartet with two marimbas and two vibraphones (plus the pianist makes it a quintet.) The only video I could find with an ensemble featuring all four instruments was this video, which isn’t a good backing soundtrack to a poetry reading, but is great for educational purposes, so here ya go: https://youtu.be/Em3jbaQgkYw