vibraphone

noun vi·bra·phone \ ˈvī-brə-ˌfōn \

|Updated on: 7 Aug 2018

Definition of vibraphone

: a percussion instrument resembling the xylophone but having metal bars and motor-driven resonators for sustaining the tone and producing a vibrato

—

vibraphonist

play \ˈvī-brə-ˌfō-nist\ noun

See vibraphone defined for English-language learners

See vibraphone defined for kids

Recent Examples of vibraphone from the Web

President Elizabeth Bohannon requested $5,000 for the purchase of an orchestral gong and a vibraphone, highlighting that some 275 students participate in band and orchestral classes.

— sara cardine, latimes.com, "LCF City Council grants $353k in community group requests in 2018-19 budget," 27 June 2018
With gongs, crystal bowls, Tibetan singing bowls, Native American flute, didgeridoo, Celtic Harp, monochord, vibraphone.

— San Francisco Chronicle, "Classical music and dance listings," 24 May 2018
To many people my age, vibraphone was for high school band practice.

— aaron gilbreath, Longreads, "Finding the Soundtrack to My Desert Life," 25 Apr. 2018
The music tested the technique of even an expert percussionist, containing difficult-to-negotiate vibraphone runs, a lengthy solo for chimes, and stretches whose instrumentation was left to the performer’s imagination.

— david weininger, BostonGlobe.com, "Category-defying music, left-wing stance in composer’s provocative piece," 6 June 2018
Bruce Perry was awarded Outstanding Accompanist for the vibraphone.

— christina hyder, Howard County Times, "Spring means yard sales, proms and more [North Laurel/Savage]," 26 Apr. 2018
Four seconds in, Convertino taps his mallets across the vibraphone, spreading droplets of sound that echo above everything.

— aaron gilbreath, Longreads, "Finding the Soundtrack to My Desert Life," 25 Apr. 2018
The band appears here with Matt Moran on vibraphone, Red Wierenga on accordion, Chris Speed on clarinet and tenor saxophone, and Drew Gress on bass.

— New York Times, "14 Pop, Rock and Jazz Concerts to Check Out in NYC This Weekend," 22 Mar. 2018
Christopher Deviney, vibraphone; Christopher McLaurin, marimba; Michael Stern, conductor.

— patrick neas, kansascity, "KC Symphony’s 2018-19 season has an American flourish," 13 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'vibraphone.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Illustration of vibraphone

Origin and Etymology of vibraphone

Latin vibrare + International Scientific Vocabulary -phone

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1926

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

VIBRAPHONE Defined for English Language Learners

vibraphone

noun

Definition of vibraphone for English Language Learners

: an electronic musical instrument which has metal bars that you hit with small wooden hammers to play notes and which has a motor that makes the notes vibrate