The xylophone’s range in notes and hertz
A concert xylophone of 3½ octaves, written an octave below the sound. Smaller and toy instruments cover less.
Written and sounding pitch
The xylophone is a transposing instrument: it sounds an octave higher than written. So the range on its part is F3–C7, while the notes you hear are F4–C8. The transposing-instrument tuner reads out the written note as you play.
Instruments with a similar range
The instruments whose normal range shares the most notes with the xylophone’s:
- Piano · A0–C8 44 notes shared
- Erhu · D4–A7 41 notes shared
- Violin · G3–E7 36 notes shared
- Piccolo · D5–C8 35 notes shared
- Viola · C3–D7 34 notes shared
- Mandolin · G3–D7 34 notes shared
Tune it, play it
- Play a xylophone online — the same range, playable in your browser.
Songs that fit the xylophone
36 songs from our public-domain library fit inside the xylophone’s range, each written out in the notation xylophone players read:
- Hot Cross Buns
- Lightly Row
- Going Home (New World Largo)
- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
- Happy Birthday
- Ode to Joy
- Mary Had a Little Lamb
- Row, Row, Row Your Boat
- Jingle Bells
- We Wish You a Merry Christmas
- Yankee Doodle
- Silent Night
Frequently asked questions
What is the range of a xylophone?
The xylophone’s normal range runs from F4 to C8 — 349.23 to 4186.0 Hz, about 3.6 octaves. Its part is written F3–C7, because it sounds an octave higher than written.
What is the lowest note on a xylophone?
F4 (349.23 Hz).
What is the highest note on a xylophone?
C8 (4186.0 Hz).
Sources
- The chart behind our playable xylophone, itself checked note by note against published charts.