Meaning & use
mellaphone
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountablemusic
A percussion instrument made of metal bars that are struck with small hammers to produce bell-like notes.
Grammar: Countable: one instrument is a mellaphone, several are mellaphones.
Patterns
- play the mellaphone
- a mellaphone player
The school band bought a mellaphone for the winter concert.
She tapped the metal bars of the mellaphone and a bright, ringing note filled the hall.
In the score the melody is given to the mellaphone rather than the flute.
Word forms
| plural | mellaphones |
|---|
Common combinations
- play the mellaphone
- He learned to play the mellaphone when he joined the marching band.
- mellaphone solo
- The piece ends with a short mellaphone solo.
- strike a mellaphone bar
- Strike a mellaphone bar gently or the sound becomes harsh.
- tuned percussion
- The mellaphone belongs to the family of tuned percussion.
Synonyms and how they differ
- glockenspiel
- A much more common instrument with a similar bell-like sound, though its bars are usually smaller and higher.
- bells
- An informal general word for any instrument of this kind; it does not name the mellaphone specifically.
Word family
- mellaphonist noun
- A rare word for someone who plays the mellaphone.
Commonly confused: mellaphone or megaphone?
mellaphone vs megaphone
A megaphone makes your voice louder; a mellaphone is a musical instrument. The spellings look similar but the meanings are unrelated.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'mellaphone' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A mellaphone is a struck metal-bar instrument, so you hit its bars with hammers. Option 1 describes a megaphone, option 3 a telephone, and option 4 a keyboard or computer.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “mellaphone”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.