Mallet Map Backwerd Rhythm Shop

Free keyboard percussion app

See the note. Find the bar.

Mallet Map helps students move from recognizing a written note to finding it on marimba, xylophone, vibraphone, or bells. Practice pitch location, octave placement, accidentals, and instrument ranges in a focused browser-based trainer.

Open Mallet Map → Read the Guide

Free · No account · No download

The Mallet Map keyboard for a 4.3-octave marimba showing C4 to C6, with one natural bar ringed and marked correct after the student tapped it.
One written note, one bar — the answer checked on the instrument itself.
See the note Treble staff note.
Find the bar
See the note. Find the bar. That single move — from a written pitch to a place your hands can reach — is the whole app, and it runs in both directions on four different instruments.

Why it matters

Know where the notes live

Reading the note is only the beginning. Percussionists also need to know where that pitch sits on the keyboard, which octave to use, and whether the instrument can play it.

Mallet Map connects notation to the physical geography of the instrument so students can build confidence before they play.

Question sets

Choose how to practice

Reading

Connect staff notation and written note names to physical bars.

Range

Practice instrument limits, registers, octaves, and playable notes.

Mixed

Combine reading and range questions for a broader review.

A Mallet Map reading question: a treble-clef note on a staff, the prompt "Find this note on this 4.3-octave marimba", and a green Correct panel explaining that F4 is letter F, no accidental, octave 4.
Reading. The staff asks the question, and the feedback names the letter, the accidental, the octave, and the bar it lives on.
The Mallet Map keyboard set to bells, showing G3 to C6 in gold bars with only the C bars labelled and a ring marking middle C.
Every instrument, its own rangeBells, shown at full range with labels reduced to C anchors and the optional Middle C marker turned on.
A Mallet Map Find It Challenge report reading 10 of 10, 100% accuracy, best streak 10, on a 4.3-octave marimba over C4 to C6 with naturals and all labels on, above the three skills the round measured.
The round reportThe score and the conditions behind it — instrument, range, accidentals, and how much support was on screen.

What students practice

Build keyboard confidence

How it works

Start practicing in three steps

  1. Choose a setupSelect an instrument, note range, and question set.
  2. Adjust the supportsSet bar labels, accidentals, and the optional Middle C marker.
  3. Find the barAnswer questions, review feedback, and reuse the setup with a shared link.

Instruments

Practice on the right instrument

Mallet Map with the Range and octave question set selected, asking which instrument can play a written C3 as written, with Marimba 4.3, Bells, Xylophone and Vibraphone offered as the four choices.

Mallet Map includes:

  • Marimba
  • Xylophone
  • Vibraphone
  • Bells / glockenspiel
  • Adjustable note ranges
  • Graduated labels and position markers

Detailed pitch conventions and instrument-range information belong in the Mallet Map Guide.

Who it is for

Ready for class or individual practice

For teachers

Project the app, demonstrate a setup, or share a configured link with students.

For students

Practice independently on a computer, tablet, or phone without creating an account.

How it fits the app family

Three tools, one learning path

Mallet Board

Teacher display: See the instrument and the path.

Open Mallet Board →

Mallet Map

Student orientation: Get comfortable finding notes on the instrument.

You are here

Scale Trail

Student construction: Build the key and learn the path.

Open Scale Trail →

Mallet Board demonstrates. Mallet Map builds comfort. Scale Trail builds keys.

Privacy

Private by design

Mallet Map requires no account and does not transmit student-performance data. Preferences and personal bests stay in the browser and can be reset on the device.

Find your way around the keyboard

See the note. Understand the instrument. Find the bar.

Open Mallet Map → Read the Guide Explore All Apps