Percussion · Keyboard percussion
Glockenspiel
Steel bars struck with hard mallets. Its bright, bell-like sound cuts through the full orchestra.
- Section
- Percussion
- Family
- Keyboard percussion
- Classification
- Idiophone · struck bars
- Transposition
- Written two octaves lower
- Clefs
- Treble
- Sounding range
- G5 – C8
Parts of the glockenspiel
A small glockenspiel; orchestral instruments are larger but built the same way. Photo: Arent, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Labels added by Musicians Tools.
Range
C1C2C3C4C5C6C7C8
Written G3 to C6, sounding two octaves higher. Some instruments have a slightly larger range. Playback uses a neutral tone, not the instrument's own sound.
Writing for the glockenspiel
- Written in treble clef two octaves below the sounding pitch.
- Notes ring for a long time and most glockenspiels have no damper, so fast chromatic passages blur.
- Brass or hard plastic mallets sound brilliant; softer mallets give a gentler tone.
- Doubling a melody of the flutes or violins adds sparkle without much volume.
History
Small steel-bar glockenspiels took over from sets of bells in the 18th century. Mozart's The Magic Flute (1791) asks for a keyboard glockenspiel for Papageno's magic bells.
Listen
Key works featuring the glockenspiel. Each link opens a YouTube search, so you can pick the recording you like.
- Mozart – The Magic Flute, “Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen”
- Dukas – The Sorcerer's Apprentice
- Wagner – Die Walküre, Magic Fire Music
Useful tools
Keyboard percussion
Also in the family (pages coming):Crotales