bell tree
A bell tree, also known as tree bells or Chinese bell tree (often confused with the mark tree), is a percussion instrument, consisting of vertically nested inverted metal bowls. The bowls, placed on a vertical rod, are arranged roughly in order of pitch. The number of bowls can vary between approximately 14 and 28.
Also recorded as Chinese bell tree · Pakistan tree bells
bell tree
- Field
- idiophone · sets of suspended bells struck from the outside
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A bell tree, also known as tree bells or Chinese bell tree (often confused with the mark tree), is a percussion instrument, consisting of vertically nested inverted metal bowls. The bowls, placed on a vertical rod, are arranged roughly in order of pitch. The number of bowls can vary between approximately 14 and 28.
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wikidata · Q12273079 · wikipedia · Bell tree
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Overview
An effective glissando is produced by sliding a triangle beater, a glockenspiel mallet, or a xylophone mallet down the length of the tree. The bells are usually pitched to microtonal intervals and do not represent any formal scale. When a glissando is played, the inexactness of the order of the bowls' pitch is unnoticeable, merely creating a fuller sound. The bell tree is often used to accentuate the start or end of passages of music with a "bright", "shimmer" effect, adding complexity. Chick Corea and his group Return To Forever occasionally used the bell tree (i.e. album Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy), as has the group Santana. Isaac Howie has sometimes used the bell tree in his compositions. The rock band America utilized one in "Bell Tree," a song named for the instrument, found on their 1975 album Hearts. Neil Peart from Rush used this instrument for the song "The Trees" from the album Hemispheres (1978), as can be seen on the official music video of the song, and the live album Exit..
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• Hornbostel Sachs Desc — Sets of hanging bells without internal strikers • Classification — Idiophone • Background — percussion • Hornbostel Sachs — 111.242.221
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- “Bell tree”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
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- Wikidata, structured authority record Q12273079: bell tree
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These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Beck, John. Encyclopedia of Percussion. Taylor and Francis, 1995.
- 2.Bell tree · Grinnell College Musical Instrument Collection.
- 3.Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary. Bell Tree. 2012-10-17.
- 4.Robert M. McCormick. Percussion for Musicians: A Complete, Fundamental Literature and Technique . Alfred Music Publishing. 41. 1985-03-01. 0769233651.
- 5.Kalani. All About Hand Percussion. Alfred Music Publishing. 21. 2008. 978-0739049648.
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1- idiophoneTerminology
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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