Wooden bars, step by step.

Learning goal: Names the parts of the xylophone (wooden bars, frame, mallets, resonator tubes), notices that a longer bar gives a lower sound, and strikes with two mallets.

Time: ~5 min · Topic: Listening, Notes

Prior knowledge: No previous knowledge needed.

How to use it: If you have a real xylophone, show it in class first: the wooden bars rest on cords or rails on the frame, the tubes underneath (resonators) make the sound stronger, and the mallets have hard heads. On screen, touching a bar means striking it with a mallet; striking the middle of the bar gives the fullest sound. In the last step two bars are struck at the same time: two fingers on a touch screen, or two keys (for example A and K) on a computer.

Learning goal: Plays the eight bars in order in both directions and tells that the sound gets higher from left to right and lower from right to left; compares two sounds as low or high.

Time: ~5 min · Topic: Listening

Prior knowledge: Can strike a bar with a mallet. · Do first: Meeting the parts of the xylophone

How to use it: Ask students to look at the length of the bars: a shorter bar means a higher sound. Pitch (high–low) should not be confused with volume (loud–quiet). The ‘Listen slowly’ button plays the example slowly.

Learning goal: Finds the C, D and E bars by name and plays C–D–E in order going up and down.

Time: ~6 min · Topic: Notes

Prior knowledge: Knows that the bars get higher from left to right. · Do first: Exploring the bars and their sounds

How to use it: With coloured bars switched on, C is reddish, D orange and E yellow; switch the colours off with ‘Coloured bars’ and try with names only. Note names can be set to C–D–E or Do–Re–Mi. In the mixed step the order of the notes changes every time.

Learning goal: Finds the F and G bars by name, plays C–D–E–F–G going up and down, and picks the named note out of five.

Time: ~6 min · Topic: Notes, Melody

Prior knowledge: Can find the C, D and E bars. · Do first: Playing C, D and E

How to use it: F is right next to E; on the xylophone (as on the piano’s white keys) there is no gap between them, because this diatonic xylophone only has the ‘white key’ notes. Have students play the five-note staircase slowly first, then at normal speed.

Learning goal: Finds the A, B and high C bars, plays the C to high C row (8 notes) in order, and explains that low C and high C share the same name.

Time: ~7 min · Topic: Notes

Prior knowledge: Can find the five bars from C to G. · Do first: Learning F and G

How to use it: High C is one octave above low C: the same name, a shorter bar, a higher sound. Have students play the two Cs one after the other and listen for what they have in common. These steps complete the row; students can play the whole row once slowly and once at normal speed.

Learning goal: Puts three to five mixed-up notes in order by pitch, from low to high and from high to low, and plays them.

Time: ~7 min · Topic: Listening, Notes

Prior knowledge: Knows where the eight bars are. · Do first: Playing A, B and high C

How to use it: The cards come in a mixed order; students may try each card on the bars to listen, but they have to play them in the right order. A note played in the wrong order is marked with an explanation. A visual clue: low sound = long bar = left side.

Learning goal: Recognises the notes from C4 to C5 on a treble-clef staff and strikes the right xylophone bar; uses name and staff clues together.

Time: ~8 min · Topic: Notes

Prior knowledge: Knows the names of the eight bars. · Do first: Playing A, B and high C

How to use it: C is on a ledger line below the staff, E on the first line, G on the second line, B on the third line, and high C in the third space. When ‘Note names’ is off, the name under the staff is hidden. In ‘No hints’ mode the bars are not marked; a hint appears after two mistakes.

Learning goal: Plays back three-note melodies they hear in the same order, and remembers a chain of sounds that keeps getting longer.

Time: ~8 min · Topic: Listening, Melody

Prior knowledge: Can find the bars from C to G. · Do first: Playing A, B and high C

How to use it: In the first two echoes the bars light up; after that there is only sound. Tell students the first note and ask them to think about whether the next note is higher or lower. Bars struck during the demonstration are not scored (listen first).

Learning goal: Plays rhythms made of quarter notes (ta) and half notes (ta-a) with the metronome, with the right notes and on time.

Time: ~8 min · Topic: Rhythm

Prior knowledge: Can follow a steady beat. · Do first: Playing A, B and high C

How to use it: First say ‘ta ta ta ta’ and ‘ta-a ta-a’ together as a class. The program counts four clicks, then the student plays. Both the note and the timing of every beat are checked (early, late or missed). Because a xylophone sound fades on its own, a half note is struck once and the second beat is counted silently.

Learning goal: Plays short melodies written with the five notes from C to G, using the names and then the staff, and performs one of them in tempo.

Time: ~9 min · Topic: Melody

Prior knowledge: Can find the bars from C to G; knows quarter and half notes. · Do first: Learning F and G, Playing with quarter and half notes

How to use it: The melodies were written especially for this lesson. Play the example with ‘Listen’ first. The third melody is read from the staff; if ‘Note names’ is switched off, the names under the staff are hidden too. With hints on, the next bar lights up. The last step is scored in tempo.

Learning goal: Learns an original song from C4 to C5 in two phrases, plays it as a whole from the staff, performs it in tempo, and finishes by striking with two mallets at the same time.

Time: ~10 min · Topic: Melody, Rhythm

Prior knowledge: Can find the eight bars, read notes on the staff, and knows quarter and half notes. · Do first: Finding the notes I see, Playing five-note melodies

How to use it: ‘Wooden Rain’ is an original 14-note song written for this lesson. Have students play the two phrases separately first, then the whole song from the staff. In the tempo step the timing of every note is checked. For the final chord, C and high C are struck at the same time with two mallets.

Learning goal: Shows the skills of finding notes, reading the staff, telling sounds apart by ear, ordering, playing with two mallets together, repeating a melody and rhythm in a mixed task.

Time: ~12 min · Topic: Notes, Listening, Melody, Rhythm

Prior knowledge: Has completed the xylophone units. · Do first: Putting notes in order from low to high, Playing back three notes I hear, Learning my first xylophone song

How to use it: The result screen shows a skills summary, so you can see which topic needs practice. ‘Practise mistakes’ replays only the steps with mistakes. It is not an official assessment tool.