The History of the Marimba

Marimba is a kind of percussion instrument very similar to a xylophone that produces sound with the help of wooden bars struck with knobs and with pipes suspended underneath the bars to amplify the generated sound. Learn more musical instrument history when you attend drum lessons for kids locally.

The ancestor of the marimba is the xylophone, an instrument widely used in Africa, especially in the west and in the central parts of the continent – so much so that the name marimba is Bantu for xylophone. It was discovered that in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, similar instruments were used in Canada and in Central America as well.

The first modern marimba was created by Mexican musician called Manuel Bolan Cruz in 1850. He lengthened the legs to allow players to stand while playing, he enlarged the keyboard and added the wooden resonators. Another Mexican musician, Corazon de Jesus Borras Moreno further modified the instrument and added a chromatic scale with the help of a row of sound bars.

The instrument became popular in the US as well and it was used to play not only Latin American music, but modern music as well. It was further developed by adding metal resonators and other attachments until it became the marimba as we know it today.

First Seen on: The History of the Marimba