How to Play Vibraphone

A vibraphone is a cousin of the xylophone, but vibraphone or vibes bars are made of a metal alloy. Vibraphone bars can resonate for a very long time if desired. Vibe comes with a pedal. Try to keep a little weight on the pedal while you’re playing the instrument so that you don’t slap the pedal causing an unwanted noise to occur. If you have your foot constantly in contact with the pedal, you can work the mechanism very subtly. The alternately opening and closing of the resonant tube creates the vibrato effect. The motor that controls the fans is usually one of variable speed which gives the percussionist the option of a slow or fast vibrato effect. 

Dampening involves playing a note with one mallet and dampening the note with your other mallet. If you play a note with the mallet in your left hand, you can dampen that note with the mallet in your right hand and vice versa. To dampen the bar with the mallet you have to slide the mallet firmly on the ringing bar. Place your mallet on the bar near the node and slide the mallet toward the center of the bar while pressing firmly down onto the bar. It’s a little tricky at first, but once you work out the coordination you’ll be able to play a nice legato passage. Here is a video of vibraphone lesson to give  you more clarity.