A musical instrument of the metallophone family, in which tuned metal bars are arranged like a keyboard and played with mallets. It can be distinguished from the vibraphone, another popular metallophone, by its lack of a motor or any pedals, and the similar-looking xylophone by its metal bars (the tone bars of a xylophone are wooden). Glockenspiels are sometimes played in marching bands, since they lack the vibraphone's weight and reliance on electric power.
