Barred Orff Instruments

Barred Orff Instruments are wooden xylophones or metal metallophones and glockenspiels with bars of different lengths that produce different pitches when struck with mallets.  The bars can be removed by a teacher so that children don't play the wrong pitches by accident during the lesson.  They are placed in front of the player with the larger bars to the left and the smaller bars to the right, with the player sitting cross-legged or on their knees.  The mallets are held comfortably, like a toothbrush.  Hand-eye coordination is critical, and children should be encouraged to pull out the sound as opposed to hammering it in to get the best resonance.  A lesson with these instruments could include having the children play a simple drone on two notes, probably the tonic and dominant, and then having them play different rhythms with those pitches.  They can play an ostinato with one hand, them eventually two hands.  A combination of ostinati can create colorful textures that engage children and work on their listening skills by playing in an ensemble.