Lesson plan

Crystallophone

, Italy. The rims of wine glasses filled with water are rubbed by the player's fingers to create the notes. A crystallophone is a musical instrument that produces sound from glass. One of the best known crystallophones is the glass harmonica, a set of rotating glass bowls which produce eerie, clear tones when rubbed with a wet finger. Musical glasses, the glass harp, were documented in Persia in the 14th century. The "ethereal" quality of instruments such as the glass harmonica exemplified the and for a while, "the instrument was extraordinarily popular...[but] About 1830 the instrument fell into oblivion." The glasschord (or glasscord) resembles the celesta (a struck plaque idiophone operated by a keyboard) but uses keyboard-driven hammers to strike glass bars instead of metal bars. The glass marimba is similar to the marimba (a stick percussion instrument with a keyboard layout), but has bars of glass instead of wood. The bars, which the performer strikes with padded sticks, are perched on a glass box to provide the necessary resonance. A rare Thai instrument called ( ; literally "glass xylophone") has been used by the Thai music ensemble Fong Naam; it appears on their 1992 CD The Sleeping Angel: Thai Classical Music.

Back to article

Article summary

, Italy. The rims of wine glasses filled with water are rubbed by the player's fingers to create the notes. A crystallophone is a musical instrument that produces sound from glass. One of the best known crystallophones is the glass harmonica, a set of rotating glass bowls which produce eerie, clear tones when rubbed with a wet finger. Musical glasses, the glass harp, were documented in Persia in the 14th century. The "ethereal" quality of instruments such as the glass harmonica exemplified the and for a while, "the instrument was extraordinarily popular...[but] About 1830 the instrument fell into oblivion." The glasschord (or glasscord) resembles the celesta (a struck plaque idiophone operated by a keyboard) but uses keyboard-driven hammers to strike glass bars instead of metal bars. The glass marimba is similar to the marimba (a stick percussion instrument with a keyboard layout), but has bars of glass instead of wood. The bars, which the performer strikes with padded sticks, are perched on a glass box to provide the necessary resonance. A rare Thai instrument called ( ; literally "glass xylophone") has been used by the Thai music ensemble Fong Naam; it appears on their 1992 CD The Sleeping Angel: Thai Classical Music.

Key claims

No claims recorded.

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

No sources recorded.

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.