Xylophone: Play Online, Learn and Play Along
Tap the wooden bars or use the letters on your keyboard, follow the lit-up bar on a real xylophone, and work through the beginner lessons. Then play along with a tune at your own speed.
No microphone is used. Sounds are made on this device. Nothing you play is recorded or sent.
Play along with a tune
Pick a starter tune or find one of over 2,000 free, out-of-copyright pieces. The notes scroll past and the bar to play lights up. Slow it down, or use wait mode so the music waits for you.
Beginner lessons
Five short lessons: first notes, then simple tunes. Every step says how it is assessed – the page marks what you tap on the screen, and you, a teacher or a parent judge your playing on a real xylophone. Progress is kept in this browser only.
Find C, D and E, hear high and low, and learn to make a ringing sound.
Assessed: Marked by Classfern · Self-assessed
Your first tune uses just three notes: E, D and C.
Assessed: Marked by Classfern · Self-assessed · Teacher or parent judgement
Add G – it is two letters up from E (E, F, G).
Assessed: Marked by Classfern · Self-assessed · Teacher or parent judgement
Five notes next to each other: C D E F G. The tune moves step by step.
Assessed: Marked by Classfern · Self-assessed · Evidence kept at home (listed only)
Use all eight bars from C to the high C, then play Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.
Assessed: Marked by Classfern · Teacher or parent judgement · Self-assessed
About the xylophone
A xylophone has tuned wooden (or synthetic) bars, so its sound is short and dry compared with a glockenspiel. Use rubber or yarn beaters and strike the middle of each bar. In a school music room you will often find the classroom (Orff-style) family: the soprano xylophone sounds an octave higher than written, the alto sounds as written and the bass an octave lower. The orchestral chromatic xylophone sounds an octave higher than written.
Classroom xylophones come with extra F♯ and B♭ bars to swap in. Taking the F and B bars out leaves a pentatonic scale (C D E G A), where any notes sound good together – a favourite trick for improvising in class.
How it works
Choose your set under Your instrument, then tap or click the bars. On a computer the letters A–G play them (hold Shift for the higher one), or Tab to a bar and press Enter. Kids’ mode makes everything bigger and turns the colour notes on; the setting is shared with the other music pages. In the play-along the bar to play next lights up, and the box beside the scrolling notes says which bar it is and where to find it.
Colour notes
Every note name is printed on its bar, so colour is never the only clue. The colours are:
C red · D orange · E yellow · F green · G teal · A blue · B purple
Sharps and flats are dark grey with their names on them.
| Set | Notes (as written) | Sounds |
|---|---|---|
| Alto xylophone (classroom, C to A, with F♯ and B♭) | C4 – A5 (16 bars, with F♯ and B♭) | as written |
| Soprano xylophone (classroom, C to A, with F♯ and B♭) | C4 – A5 (16 bars, with F♯ and B♭) | an octave higher |
| Bass xylophone (classroom, C to A, with F♯ and B♭) | C3 – A4 (16 bars, with F♯ and B♭) | as written |
| Chromatic xylophone (F to C, 3½ octaves) | F3 – C7 (44 bars, every semitone) | an octave higher |
Ideas for the classroom and home
- One note each: give every child one bar and put the play-along on the board – they play when their bar lights up.
- Pentatonic jam: use only C, D, E, G and A. Any notes sound good together, so children can make up their own tunes.
- Copy me: play three notes on the screen, and the class copies them on their instruments.
- Wait mode at home: the music waits for each note, so a beginner can go at their own speed.
Good to know
The sounds are electronic, not recordings of a real instrument, so they are close but not exact. Library pieces were converted by computer and only the melody line is used. The lessons’ tunes are traditional (public domain); the simple versions are Classfern’s own. Where the music comes from.
Frequently asked questions
Does it use the microphone?
No. The bars on screen, the computer keyboard and wait mode work without a microphone. Nothing you play is recorded, saved on a server or sent anywhere.
Why does it sound higher than the notes?
Many tuned percussion instruments are written lower than they sound so that the music fits on the stave: most glockenspiels sound two octaves higher, and the soprano xylophone, alto glockenspiel and handbells one octave higher. The page shows the written notes – the ones in your music – and plays the sound you would hear.
My bars are different colours. Does that matter?
No. Makers use different colours, so go by the letter on each bar. Classfern uses the same note colours on every music page: C red, D orange, E yellow, F green, G teal, A blue and B purple. You can switch the colours off.
Why are some tunes missing, or need a note I do not have?
The search only lists tunes that fit the range of the set you chose. Sets without sharps and flats cannot play every tune: if a note is missing, the page says so – use Change key, or choose a set with sharps and flats.
How are the lessons marked?
Each step says how it is assessed. Finding bars and playing tunes on the screen, and the listening questions, are marked by Classfern. Playing your real instrument is self-assessed or judged by a teacher or parent, because the page cannot hear you. A recording you keep at home is only listed. Your progress stays in this browser.
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