View source for Xylophone

{{Short description|Wooden keyboard percussion instrument}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox instrument
| name           = Xylophone
| names          = 
| image          = Xylophone (PSF).svg
| background     = percussion
| classification = Percussion<br>[[idiophone]]<br>[[metallophone]]<br>[[lithophone]]
| developed      = Independently in Africa and Asia, documented as of 9th century in Asia
| hornbostel_sachs = 111.212
| hornbostel_sachs_desc = Set of percussion sticks
| range          = [[File:Western concert xylophone range.svg|200px|center]]
| related        = [[balafon]], [[txalaparta]], [[laggutu]], [[marimba]]
| builders       = 
| articles       = 
}}
[[File:Xylophone.jpg|thumb|right|Xylophone with different types of mallets]]
{{listen|pos=right|filename=Xylophone jingle.wav|title=A jingle played on a xylophone (marimba)|description=|format=[[Wav]]|filename2=Bali xylophone.ogg|title2=A gamelan xylophone|description2=|format2=[[Ogg]]}}

The '''xylophone''' ({{etymology|grc|''{{wikt-lang|grc|ξύλον}}'' ({{grc-transl|ξύλον}})|wood||''{{wikt-lang|grc|φωνή}}'' ({{grc-transl|φωνή}})|sound, voice}};<ref>{{Cite book|editor1=Henry George Liddell|editor2= Robert Scott
| title= A Greek-English Lexicon
| chapter= ξύλον|chapter-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=cu/lon1|access-date=2023-02-24
| others= Henry Stuart Jones, Roderick McKenzie
| location= Oxford| publisher= Clarendon Press
| year= 1940
|via=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|editor1=Henry George Liddell|editor2= Robert Scott
| title= A Greek-English Lexicon
| chapter= φων-ή|chapter-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=fwnh/|access-date=2023-02-24
| others= Henry Stuart Jones, Roderick McKenzie
| location= Oxford| publisher= Clarendon Press
| year= 1940
|via=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> {{literal translation|sound of wood}}) is a [[musical instrument]] in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by [[Percussion mallet|mallet]]s. Each bar is an [[idiophone]] tuned to a pitch of a [[musical scale]], whether [[pentatonic scale|pentatonic]] or [[heptatonic scale|heptatonic]] in the case of many African and Asian instruments, [[diatonic scale|diatonic]] in many western children's instruments, or [[chromatic scale|chromatic]] for orchestral use.

The term ''xylophone'' may be used generally, to include all such instruments such as the [[marimba]], [[balafon]] and even the [[semantron]]. However, in the [[orchestra]], the term ''xylophone'' refers specifically to a chromatic instrument of somewhat higher pitch range and drier [[timbre]] than the [[marimba]], and these two instruments should not be confused. A person who plays the xylophone is known as a ''xylophonist'' or simply a ''xylophone player''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Xylophonist {{!}} Definition of Xylophonist by Oxford Dictionary on Lexico.com also meaning of Xylophonist|url=https://www.lexico.com/definition/xylophonist|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207215715/https://www.lexico.com/definition/xylophonist|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 December 2020|access-date=2020-09-19|website=Lexico Dictionaries {{!}} English|language=en}}</ref>

The term is also popularly used to refer to similar instruments of the [[lithophone]] and [[metallophone]] types. For example, the [[Pixiphone]] and many similar toys described by the makers as xylophones have bars of metal rather than of wood, and so are in [[organology]] regarded as [[glockenspiel]]s rather than as xylophones.

==Construction of xylophones==
[[File:Xylophone-pjt1.jpg|thumb|left|[[Cameroon]], ~1914]]
The modern western xylophone has bars of [[rosewood]], [[padauk]], [[cocobolo]], or various synthetic materials such as [[fiberglass]] or [[Fibre-reinforced plastic|fiberglass-reinforced plastic]] which allows a louder sound.<ref name=made>{{cite web|url=http://www.madehow.com/Volume-6/Xylophone.html |title=How xylophone is made |publisher=Madehow.com |date=26 June 2000 |access-date=2011-11-01}}</ref> Some can be as small a range as {{frac|2|1|2}} octaves but concert xylophones are typically {{frac|3|1|2}} or 4 octaves. Like the glockenspiel, the xylophone is a [[transposing instrument]]: its parts are written one octave below the sounding notes.<ref>{{cite book| last= Cook| first= Gary D. |year= 1997| title= Teaching Percussion| edition= Second| location= Belmont, California| publisher= Schirmer Books, Wadsworth/Thomson Learning}}</ref>

Concert xylophones have tube [[resonators]] below the bars to enhance the tone and sustain. Frames are made of wood or cheap steel tubing: more expensive xylophones feature height adjustment and more stability in the stand. In other music cultures some versions have [[gourd]]s<ref name=made/> that act as [[Helmholtz resonator]]s. Others are "trough" xylophones with a single hollow body that acts as a resonator for all the bars.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vsl.co.at/en/70/3196/3204/3205/5729.vsl |title=Percussion > Mallets > Xylophone > History |website=Vsl.co.at |publisher=Vienna Symphonic Library |access-date=2011-11-01 |archive-date=8 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120808061925/http://www.vsl.co.at/en/70/3196/3204/3205/5729.vsl |url-status=dead }}</ref> Old methods consisted of arranging the bars on tied bundles of straw, and, is still practiced today, placing the bars adjacent to each other in a ladder-like layout. Ancient mallets were made of willow wood with spoon-like bowls on the beaten ends.<ref name=made/>

== Mallets ==
Xylophones should be played with very hard rubber, polyball, or acrylic mallets. Sometimes medium to hard rubber mallets, very hard core, or yarn mallets are used for softer effects. Lighter tones can be created on xylophones by using wooden-headed mallets made from rosewood, ebony, birch, or other hard woods.

==History==
[[File:Kulintang a Kayo 01.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Kulintang a Kayo]]'', a [[Philippines|Philippine]] xylophone]]
The instrument has obscure ancient origins. Nettl proposed that it originated in southeast Asia and came to Africa c. AD 500 when a group of Austronesian speaking peoples migrated to Africa, and compared East African xylophone orchestras and Javanese and Balinese gamelan orchestras.<ref name="Nettl MPC">{{cite book| last= Nettl| first= Bruno| title= Music in Primitive Culture| publisher= [[Harvard University Press]]| location= Cambridge, Massachusetts| year= 1956| isbn= 9780674590007| url= https://theoryofmusic.wordpress.com/page/176/}}</ref>{{rp|18–19, 100}} This hypothesis was challenged by ethnomusicologist and linguist Roger Blench, who posits an independent origin of the xylophone in Africa, citing, among the evidence for local invention, distinct features of African xylophones and the greater variety of xylophone types and proto-xylophone-like instruments in Africa.<ref>{{cite journal| last= Blench| first=  Roger| date= 1 November 2012| title= Using diverse sources of evidence for reconstructing the prehistory of musical exchanges in the Indian Ocean and their broader significance for cultural prehistory| publisher= special issue | journal= African Archaeological Review | pages= 7–11| doi=10.1007/s10437-014-9178-z| s2cid= 162200224}}</ref>

===Asian xylophone===
The earliest evidence of a true xylophone is from the 9th century in [[southeast Asia]], while a similar hanging wood instrument, a type of [[Panharmonicon|harmonicon]], is said by the Vienna Symphonic Library to have existed in 2000 BC in what is now part of China. The xylophone-like [[Ranat (musical instrument)|ranat]] was used in [[Hindu]] regions (kashta tharang). In [[Indonesia]], few regions have their own type of xylophones. In [[North Sumatra]], The [[Toba Batak people]] use wooden xylophones known as the [[Garantung]] (spelled: "garattung"). [[Java]] and [[Bali]] use xylophones (called [[Gambang (instrument)|gambang]], [[Rindik]] and [[Tingklik]]) in [[gamelan]] ensembles. They still have traditional significance in [[Malaysia]], [[Melanesia]], Indonesia, [[Thailand]], [[Myanmar]], and regions of the Americas. In Myanmar, the xylophone is known as [[Pattala]] and is typically made of bamboo.

===African xylophone===
[[File:Ogbongelenge.jpg|thumb|African Xylophone also known as Ogbongelenge by the Igbo tribe. [https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Audiovisuals_of_Igbo_Dances_(AID)_Project AID Project]]]
The term ''marimba'' is also applied to various traditional folk instruments such as the West Africa  ''[[balafon]]''. Early forms were constructed of bars atop a [[gourd]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Annotated Checklist of Musical Instruments From Sub-Saharan Africa on Display in the NMM's Beede Gallery|url=http://orgs.usd.edu/nmm/Africa/SubSaharanAfrica.html|publisher=National Music Museum|access-date=5 June 2015}}</ref> The wood is first roasted around a fire before shaping the key to achieve the desired tone. The resonator is tuned to the key through careful choice of size of resonator, adjustment of the diameter of the mouth of the resonator using wasp wax and adjustment of the height of the key above the resonator. A skilled maker can produce startling amplification. The mallets used to play ''dibinda'' and ''mbila'' have heads made from natural rubber taken from a wild creeping plant.<ref name= answers1>{{cite web|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/music-of-mozambique |title=Music of Mozambique: Information from |publisher=Answers.com |date=25 November 2010 |access-date=2011-11-01}}</ref> "Interlocking" or alternating rhythm features in Eastern African xylophone music such as that of the Makonde ''dimbila'', the Yao ''mangolongondo'' or the Shirima ''mangwilo'' in which the ''opachera'', the initial [[Call and response (music)|caller]], is responded to by another player, the ''wakulela''.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| encyclopedia= Encyclopædia Britannica| title= African music – musical structure| url= https://www.britannica.com/art/African-music/Musical-structure#ref519774| first1= Gerhard |last1= Kubik| first2= Donald Keith| last2= Robotham| date= 27 January 2012}}</ref> This usually doubles an already rapid [[pulse (music)|rhythmic pulse]] that may also co-exist with a [[cross-beat|counter-rhythm]].

====Mbila====
[[File:Timbela (musical instrument).jpg|thumb|right|Timbila]]
The mbila (plural "timbila") is associated with the [[Chopi people]] of the [[Inhambane Province]], in southern Mozambique.<ref name= answers1 /> It is not to be confused with the [[mbira]]. The [[musical genre|style]] of music played on it is believed to be the most sophisticated method of composition yet found among preliterate peoples.<ref>{{cite web|last=Mitchell |first=Barry |url=https://theoryofmusic.wordpress.com/page/176/ |title=Theory of Music |publisher=Theoryofmusic.wordpress.com |date=14 January 2008 |access-date=2011-11-01}}</ref> The gourd-resonated, equal-ratio [[heptatonic]]-tuned mbila of [[Mozambique]] is typically played in large ensembles in a choreographed dance, perhaps depicting a historical drama. Ensembles consist of around ten xylophones of three or four sizes. A full orchestra would have two bass instruments called {{Transliteration|cce|gulu}} with three or four wooden keys played standing up using heavy mallets with solid rubber heads, three tenor {{Transliteration|cce|dibinda}}, with ten keys and played seated, and the mbila itself, which has up to nineteen keys of which up to eight may be played simultaneously. The {{Transliteration|cce|gulu}} uses gourds and the {{Transliteration|cce|mbila}} and {{Transliteration|cce|dibinda}} Masala apple shells as resonators. They accompany the dance with long compositions called {{Transliteration|cce|ngomi}} or {{Transliteration|cce|mgodo}} and consist of about 10 pieces of music grouped into 4 separate movements, with an overture, in different [[tempo]]s and styles. The ensemble leader serves as poet, composer, conductor and [[performer]], creating a text, improvising a [[melody]] partially based on the features of the Chopi [[tone language]] and composing a second [[counterpoint|contrapuntal]] line. The musicians of the ensemble partially [[improvisation|improvise]] their parts. The composer then consults with the choreographer of the ceremony and adjustments are made.<ref name="Nettl MPC" /> The longest and most important of these is the "Mzeno" which will include a song telling of an issue of local importance or even making fun of a prominent figure in the community!<ref name= answers1 /> Performers include Eduardo Durão and Venancio Mbande.<ref name= answers1 /><ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.pointofdeparture.org/archives/PoD-9/PoD9AfricanHeartbeats.html |title=African Heartbeats |website= pointofdeparture.org |access-date=2011-11-01}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Romney|first=Jonathan|date=5 March 1991|title=Timbila album review|journal=Q Magazine|volume=55|pages=68}}</ref>

====Gyil====
{{Main|Balafon}}
The '''''gyil''''' ({{IPAc-en|lang|pron|ˈ|dʒ|ɪ|l|ə|,_|dʒ|iː|l}}) is a [[pentatonic]] instrument common to the [[Gur languages|Gur]]-speaking populations in [[Ghana]], [[Burkina Faso]], [[Mali]] and [[Ivory Coast]] in [[West Africa]]. The Gyil is the primary traditional instrument of the [[Dagara people]] of northern Ghana and Burkina Faso, and of the [[Lobi people|Lobi]] of Ghana, southern Burkina Faso, and [[Ivory Coast]]. The gyil is usually played in pairs, accompanied by a calabash gourd drum called a ''kuor''. It can also be played by one person with the drum and the stick part as accompaniment, or by a soloist. Gyil duets are the traditional music of [[Dagara people|Dagara]] funerals. The instrument is generally played by men, who learn to play while young, however, there is no restriction on gender.

The Gyil's design is similar to the ''Balaba'' or [[Balafon]] used by the [[Mande languages|Mande]]-speaking [[Bambara people|Bambara]], [[Dyula people|Dyula]] and [[Sosso]] peoples further west in southern [[Mali]] and western [[Burkina Faso]], a region that shares many musical traditions with those of northern Ivory Coast and Ghana. It is made with 14 wooden keys of an African hardwood called liga attached to a wooden frame, below which hang [[calabash]] gourds.<ref name= Colter2008>{{cite journal | url= http://contexts.org/articles/winter-2008/harper/ | last = Harper | first = Colter | title = Life, Death, and Music in West Africa | journal = Contexts Magazine | year = 2008 | volume = Winter | pages = 44–51 | doi = 10.1525/ctx.2008.7.1.44 | s2cid = 59623412 | url-access = subscription }}</ref> Spider web silk covers small holes in the gourds to produce a buzzing sound and antelope sinew and leather are used for the fastenings.<ref name= Colter2008 /> The instrument is played with rubber-headed wooden mallets.

====Silimba====
[[File:Silimba-Zambia.jpg|thumb|right|A ''silimba'' in a Zambian market]]
The '''silimba''' is a xylophone common among the Nkoya and Lozi people of [[Barotseland]], western [[Zambia]].<ref name="ATracey History">{{cite web| last1= Tracey| first1= Andrew| title= Marimbas History| url= http://www.kalimba.co.za/old/marimbahistory.html| website= kalimba.co.za| publisher= Andrew Tracey and Christian Carver| date= 26 May 2004| access-date= 30 September 2013| archive-date= 30 June 2017| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170630191209/http://www.kalimba.co.za/old/marimbahistory.html| url-status= dead}}</ref> The tuned keys are tied atop resonating [[gourds]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.zambiatourism.com/travel/hisgeopeop/people.htm |title=~Zambia~ |newspaper=Zambia Tourism |publisher=Zambiatourism.com |date=21 December 2006 |access-date=2011-11-01}}</ref> Known as shinjimba among the Nkoya, it is used at the Kazanga, a traditional royal ceremony of the Nkoya. The silimba is an essential part of the folk music traditions of the [[Lozi people]] and can be heard at their annual [[Kuomboka]] ceremony. The shilimba is now used in most parts of Zambia.

====Akadinda, amadinda and mbaire====
The '''akadinda''' and the '''amadinda''' are xylophone-like instruments originating in [[Buganda]], in modern-day [[Uganda]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/11339/akadinda|title=akadinda (musical instrument)|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=27 April 2009}}</ref> The amadinda is made of twelve logs which are tuned in a pentatonic scale. It mainly is played by three players. Two players sit opposite of each other and play the same logs in an interlocking technique in a fast tempo. It has no gourd resonators or buzzing tone, two characteristics of many other African xylophones.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| url= http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/650990/xylophone#ref=ref289735|title=xylophone (musical instrument) |encyclopedia= Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=25 April 2009}}</ref>

The amadinda was an important instrument at the royal court in Buganda, a Ugandan kingdom. A special type of [[musical notation|notation]] is now used for this xylophone, consisting of numbers for and periods.<ref name="britannica1">{{cite encyclopedia |url= http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/719112/African-music/57086/Interlocking#ref=ref519777|title=African music :: Interlocking|encyclopedia= Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=25 April 2009}}</ref> as is also the case with the '''embaire''', a type of xylophone originating in southern [[Uganda]].<ref name="britannica1"/>

====Balo====
{{Main|Balafon}}
The '''''balo''''' ('''''balenjeh''''', '''''behlanjeh''''') is used among the [[Mandinka people]] of West Africa. Its keys are mounted on gourds, and struck with mallets with rubber tips. The players typically wear iron cylinders and rings attached to their hands so that they jingle as they play.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/1240|date=5 November 2004|title=The Behlanjeh, the national musical instrument of the Mandingos|publisher=Royal Commonwealth Society Library. Cambridge University Library. University of Cambridge|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070627205236/http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/1240|archive-date=27 June 2007}}</ref>

===Western xylophone===
[[File:Xylophone-Antonko-AXF09-Marimba-Antonko-AMC12.jpg|thumb|left|Orchestral xylophone (left) and marimba (right)]]
The earliest mention of a xylophone in Europe was in [[Arnolt Schlick]]'s ''Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten'' (1511), where it is called ''hültze glechter'' ("wooden clatter").<ref name = VSL>{{cite web|url=https://vsl.co.at/en/Xylophone/History|title=History{{Snd}} The world of wooden mallet instruments|website=Vsl.co.at|publisher=Vienna Symphonic Library|access-date=2011-11-01|archive-date=30 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180430183151/https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Xylophone/History|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name= Grove>{{Cite Grove |last=Anderson |first=Lois Ann |display-authors=etal |title=Xylophone}}</ref> There follow other descriptions of the instrument, though the term "xylophone" is not used until the 1860s.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| title= xylophone| encyclopedia= [[Oxford English Dictionary]]| edition= Second| year= 1989| publisher= Oxford University Press| quote= 7 April 1866 edition of the ''[[Athenaeum (British magazine)|Athenaeum]]'': 'A prodigy ... who does wonderful things with little drumsticks on a machine of wooden keys, called the 'xylophone'.'}}<br />{{cite journal| year= 1865 |journal= The Ladies' Companion| publisher= Rogerson and Tuxford| page= 152| title= Leaves for the Little Ones| quote= ...and Master Bonnay, on the Xylophone, is always recalled.|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7EYFAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA2-PA152}} Both citations refer to the performance of a child prodigy, Sunbury.</ref> The instrument was associated largely with the folk music of Central Europe, notably Poland and eastern Germany. An early version appeared in [[Slovakia]]<ref name="Nettl MPC" />{{rp|98}} and the earliest reference to a similar instrument came in the 14th century.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Xylophone| url= http://www.concertgoersguide.org/onstage/instruments/thexylophone.php|publisher=Oregon Symphony Players Association| website= Concertgoersguide.org|access-date=5 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070813000208/http://www.concertgoersguide.org/onstage/instruments/thexylophone.php| archive-date= 13 August 2007}}</ref>

The first use of a European orchestral xylophone was in [[Camille Saint-Saëns]]' ''[[Danse Macabre (Saint-Saëns)|Danse Macabre]]'', in 1874.<ref name=made/> By that time, the instrument had already been popularized to some extent by [[Josef Gusikov|Michael Josef Gusikov]],<ref>[http://www.rainlore.demon.co.uk/Guzikow/GuzikowArchs.html Michael Joseph Guzikow Archives] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061230034331/http://www.rainlore.demon.co.uk/Guzikow/GuzikowArchs.html |date=30 December 2006 }}</ref> whose instrument was the five-row xylophone made of 28 crude wooden bars arranged in semitones in the form of a trapezoid and resting on straw supports. There were no resonators and it was played fast with spoon-shaped sticks. According to musicologist [[Curt Sachs]], Gusikov performed in garden concerts, variety shows, and as a novelty act at symphony concerts.

The western xylophone was used by early jazz bands and in [[vaudeville]]. Its bright, lively sound worked well the syncopated dance music of the 1920s and 1930s. [[Red Norvo]], George Cary, [[George Hamilton Green]], [[Teddy Brown]], Harry Breuer and Harry Robbins were among the well-known players. As time passed, the xylophone was exceeded in popularity by the metal-key [[vibraphone]], which was developed in the 1920s. A xylophone with a range extending downwards into the marimba range is called a [[xylorimba]].

In orchestral scores, a xylophone can be indicated by the French ''claquebois'', German ''Holzharmonika'' (literally "wooden harmonica"), or Italian ''silofono''.<ref name= Grove /> [[Dmitri Shostakovich|Shostakovich]] was particularly fond of the instrument; it has prominent roles in much of his work, including most of his [[symphony|symphonies]] and his [[Cello Concerto No. 2 (Shostakovich)|Cello Concerto No. 2]]. Modern xylophone players include [[Bob Becker (composer)|Bob Becker]], [[Evelyn Glennie]] and Ian Finkel.

In the United States, there are Zimbabwean marimba bands in particularly high concentration in the Pacific Northwest, Colorado, and New Mexico, but bands exist from the East Coast through California and even to Hawaii and Alaska. The main event for this community is ZimFest, the annual Zimbabwean Music Festival. The bands are composed of instruments from high sopranos, through to lower soprano, tenor, baritone, and bass. Resonators are usually made with holes covered by thin cellophane (similar to the [[balafon]]) to achieve the characteristic buzzing sound. The repertoires of U.S. bands tends to have a great overlap, due to the common source of the Zimbabwean musician [[Dumisani Maraire]], who was the key person who first brought Zimbabwean music to the West, coming to the University of Washington in 1968.

==Use in elementary education==
[[File:Tres xilófonos.JPG|thumb|Three Orff-Schulwerk xylophones of different ranges.]]
Many music educators use xylophones as a classroom resource to assist children's musical development. One method noted for its use of xylophones is [[Orff-Schulwerk]], which combines the use of instruments, movement, singing and speech to develop children's musical abilities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aosa.org/ |title=American Orff-Schulwerk Association |publisher=Aosa.org |access-date=2011-11-01}}</ref> Xylophones used in American general music classrooms are smaller, at about {{frac|1|1|2}} octaves, than the {{frac|2|1|2}} or more octave range of performance xylophones. The bass xylophone ranges are written from middle C to A an octave higher but sound one octave lower than written. The alto ranges are written from middle C to A an octave higher and sound as written. The soprano ranges are written from middle C to A an octave higher but sound one octave higher than written.<ref>{{cite book| last1= Keetman| first1= Gunild |last2= Orff| first2= Carl| year= 1958| title= Orff-Schulwerk Music for Children| translator= Margaret Murray| location= London| publisher= Schott & Co. Ltd.}}</ref>

According to Andrew Tracey, marimbas were introduced to Zimbabwe in 1960.<ref name="ATracey History" /> [[Music of Zimbabwe|Zimbabwean]] marimba based upon [[Shona music]] has also become popular in the West, which adopted the original use of these instruments to play transcriptions of [[mbira]] dzavadzimu (as well as ''nyunga nyunga'' and ''matepe'') music.  The first of these transcriptions had originally been used for music education in Zimbabwe.  Zimbabwean instruments are often in a diatonic C major scale, which allows them to be played with a 'western-tuned' mbira (G nyamaropa), sometimes with an added F{{music|#}} key placed inline.

==See also==
* [[Musical Stones of Skiddaw]]
*[[Taroko Tatuk]]

== Citations ==
{{Reflist}}

== General and cited references ==
* {{Cite AV media |last1=Hallis |first1=Ron |last2=Hallis |first2=Ophera |year=1987 |title=Chopi Music of Mozambique |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720224711/http://hallisfilms.com/ |url=http://hallisfilms.com/ |archive-date=20 July 2011 |url-status=usurped |type=16&nbsp;mm video; 28 minutes}}
* {{Cite book |last=Paco |first=Celso |chapter=A Luta Continua |year=2000 |editor-last1=Broughton |editor-first1=Simon |editor-last2=Ellingham |editor-first2=Mark |editor-last3=McConnachie |editor-first3=James |editor-last4=Duane |editor-first4=Orla |title=World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East |pages=579–584 |publisher=Rough Guides Ltd., Penguin Books |isbn=1-85828-636-0}}
* {{Cite book |author-link=Hugh Tracey |last=Tracey |first=Hugh |year=1948 |edition=1970 |title=Chopi Musicians: their Music, Poetry, and Instruments |place=London |publisher=International African Institute and Oxford University Press |isbn=9780197241820 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/chopimusiciansth0000trac}}
* {{Cite AV media |title=Mgodo Wa Mbanguzi |oclc=47815221 |ref=A complete performance of traditional music and dance |place=Chopi village in southern Mozambique |publisher=Gei Zantzinger and Andrew Tracey}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Xylophones}}
* {{Cite EB1911 |last=Schlesinger |first=Kathleen |wstitle=Xylophone |volume=28 |page=889|short=x}}

{{Percussion}}
{{Stick percussion idiophones}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Ghanaian musical instruments]]
[[Category:Keyboard percussion instruments]]
[[Category:Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity]]
[[Category:Music of Mozambique]]
[[Category:Orchestral percussion instruments]]
[[Category:Stick percussion idiophones]]
[[Category:Ugandan musical instruments]]
[[Category:Zambian musical instruments]]
[[Category:Concert band instruments]]