Xylophone

This is a free online xylophone you can play in your browser with a mouse, a touch screen or your computer keyboard. It has 15 colorful bars that run from C to C over two octaves, an optional row of sharps, three sounds to pick from and six kids’ songs to play along with.

How to play the xylophone

The long bars on the left are the low notes and the short bars on the right are the high notes, just like a real xylophone. Each letter has its own color, so C is red in both octaves.

• Mouse or touch: click or tap a bar to strike it. On a touch screen you can hit several bars at once with different fingers to play a chord.
• Glissando: press down and slide your finger or the mouse across the bars. Every bar you pass over is struck once.
• Computer keyboard: Z X C V B N M play the low octave from C to B, and Q W E R T Y U I play the high octave up to the top C. Hold several keys at once for a chord.
• Sharps: press Sharps to add a second row of ten dark bars above the colored ones. S D G H J play the low sharps and 2 3 5 6 7 the high ones.
• Labels: the Labels button cycles through note letters with key letters, key letters only, note letters only, or plain bars.

Xylophone, glockenspiel and marimba sounds

• Xylophone covers C5 to C7. It has a hard, woody click and a short ring, with a bright overtone three times the pitch of the note.
• Glockenspiel covers C6 to C8, one octave higher. Its metal bars ring much longer, with the bell-like overtones of an untuned bar.
• Marimba covers C3 to C5, two octaves below the xylophone. It has a soft mallet and a warm, round tone with an overtone two octaves up.

The sounds are synthesized rather than recorded. Each bar is a mix of a few pure tones at the bar’s own overtone ratios, plus a tiny burst of noise for the mallet hitting the bar. Notes are tuned to standard concert pitch, with A4 at 440 Hz.

Play along with kids’ songs

Open the Play along menu and pick a song: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Ode to Joy, Frere Jacques, Row, Row, Row Your Boat or the chorus of Jingle Bells. All six are public-domain tunes.

• Follow the glow: the next bar to hit lights up with a white glow, and a strip of colored dots above the bars shows the whole tune with your place marked.
• Go at your own speed: the song waits for you and only moves on when you hit the right bar. A wrong bar counts as a wrong note.
• See your result: when you finish, you see how many wrong notes you played and your fewest for that song. Press Try again, Next song or Free play.
• Listen first: the Listen button plays the tune at its normal speed so you can hear how it goes.

Record and play back

Press Record, play anything you like, then press Stop rec. Play back repeats your tune with the same rhythm, chords included. Your last recording is saved in your browser, along with your sound choice, the Sharps setting and your best result for each song.

Tips

• Start with Mary Had a Little Lamb. It only uses four bars, so it is a good first song for young children.
• Try the glockenspiel for lullabies. Its long ring makes slow tunes like Twinkle Twinkle sound like a music box.

FAQ

Is this online xylophone free?

Yes. It is completely free to play, with no download, no account and no sound files to load.

Can I play chords?

Yes. Hold several letter keys at once, or tap several bars at the same time on a touch screen.

Does it work on a phone or tablet?

Yes. All 15 bars fit on a phone screen, and touching them won’t scroll the page. If you hear nothing, check that the phone is not on silent.

What is the difference between a xylophone and a glockenspiel?

A xylophone has wooden bars, while a glockenspiel has metal bars that ring longer and sound higher. Here you can hear both on the same set of bars, plus the deeper marimba.

Like making music in your browser? Play a full keyboard on our Virtual Piano, or test your ear and memory with Simon, which plays a growing pattern of tones for you to repeat.