Marimba

As Printed on a Score

Labels the marimba on a grand staff, or a single treble staff, at sounding pitch. Long notes are rolled and written with tremolo slashes, and the number of mallets may be specified in the part.

How Composers Use It

Wooden bars with tuned resonators give a deeper, warmer tone than the xylophone across four to five octaves on concert instruments. The low register is soft and round, so balance it carefully against an orchestra; its strengths are rolled chords, flowing four-mallet textures and soft doublings of a bass line. It became a concert and orchestral instrument in the twentieth century, with Milhaud’s concerto for marimba and vibraphone among the early works.

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