Percussion Instruments

	Uncommon Instruments

The Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth, poster 1898.

A poster of Barnum & Bailey's "Troupe of Very Remarkable Trained Pigs"

Listen to:
Lou Chiha performing a medley of "In My Heart, On My Mind All Day Long" and "I Wonder if You Still Care For Me," from 1921

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Credits

Percussion Instruments
As you can see from the picture, the xylophone is played with a padded mallet (which looks like a hammer). In 1898, Barnum and Bailey's circus pigs were trained to play this instrument, among other feats.

But don't be fooled by this humorous depiction. Playing the xylophone well requires great precision to hit just the right bar at the right time, which produces a musical tone. The xylophone is a percussion instrument (one that is played either by striking, shaking or scraping it) that likely originated in Southeast Asia or Oceania. It's one of the central instruments of the music of Africa, possibly being brought to that continent through trade or people migrating from other places. Slaves from Africa brought the xylophone with them when they were taken to Latin America, and from there it eventually made its way to the United States. Today's xylophone has bars arranged in two rows, sort of like the keys of a piano, and rests on a stand. Listen to some xylophone music from 1921.

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CREDIT: "The Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth--Troupe of Very Remarkable Trained Pigs." Strobridge Lith. Co., Cincinnati, 1898. Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
AUDIO CREDIT: Kalmar, Bert and Ruby Harry, music; Chiha, Lou, performer. "Medley of 'In My Heart, On My Mind All Day Long' and 'I Wonder if You Still Care For Me.'" 1921. Inventing Entertainment, the Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings of the Edison Companies, Library of Congress.