Which instrument family includes the marimba?

The marimba belongs to the percussion family.

Players strike the marimba’s tuned wooden bars with mallets. Each bar produces a definite musical pitch, and resonator tubes beneath the bars amplify the sound. This makes the marimba a pitched percussion instrument rather than an unpitched rhythm instrument such as a snare drum.

The instrument has deep roots in African musical traditions, while its modern concert form developed especially in Central America. The name and design are strongly associated with Guatemala and other regions of Central America, where marimba ensembles became important cultural institutions.

Marimbas are related to xylophones, but they generally have larger bars and longer resonators, allowing them to reach a lower range. Their warm, rounded tone has made them common in solo repertoire, chamber music, orchestras and educational ensembles. Classification is based on how the sound is produced: the player strikes the sounding material rather than blowing air or drawing a bow across strings.