Marimba Wave is a full marimba programme on a computer: 320 CAPS-aligned lessons for Grades R to 7, a playable on-screen marimba, theory, technique, band pieces and class games, and the tools to run marimba as a business. It works offline and on an interactive smartboard.
Marimba Wave goes live on Friday 9 October at 08:00, South African time. Each bar below is a day, from today up to launch. Tap a bar to hear it, or press play to hear the whole week.The week is played. Marimba Wave went live on Friday 9 October at 08:00. Start free: the tuner, the chords, solfa and the games cost nothing, and the paid parts stay visible so you can see what each licence adds.
Marimba Wave launches on Friday 9 October 2026 at 08:00, South African time.
Lessons, band pieces, chords with a beat under them, class games on the board, the school timetable and the paperwork, in half a minute. Press play for the sound.
Five parts of the app, one real screen each: learn, play, teach on the smartboard, run the week and run the business.
Classroom Mode runs the lesson on the board in front of forty children. Practice Mode is one player and the instrument. Professional Mode is for the person teaching marimba at several schools and running it as a business.
Forty lessons a year for every grade, each with an objective, materials and activities. Every tenth lesson opens a rubric; the fortieth ends with a certificate.
Three theory courses, two-mallet technique with three etudes, a drill trainer, a progression builder, band pieces to play along with, and a tracker that listens to the real marimba.
A 21-module professional band curriculum written for South Africa, and the records a contractor needs: clients, contracts, quotes, invoices, compliance, instruments, workshops and holiday programmes.
More games for the class, better tools for your own playing, and short videos that show you how. The coloured tag on each one shows which licence includes it: Free, Player, Classroom or Contractor.
Strike a bar and see which note it is and how far it is out of tune. A moving pattern stands still when the bar is right. It shows you which bars need a builder.
Four games for the little ones: high or low, loud or soft, freeze when the music stops, and copy what you hear.
Choose where a chord sounds on the marimba, and hear it with a different note at the bottom (an inversion). Works in Jazz Chords, the Chord Glossary and Progressions.
If the board’s touch is a little off, tap nine marks and Marimba Wave fixes it. Back and Home buttons at the bottom mean nobody has to reach up.
Build a chord progression, then add a beat: Afro Beats, Afro House, Amapiano or Brazil Funk. Twelve to choose from, and each one keeps time with your chords.
Play an exercise on your real marimba. The app marks each note right or wrong, early or late, and keeps your streaks and best scores.
21 technique cards show how to do each skill and the common mistakes. Five levels are passed by playing, and each one earns a certificate.
Type your timetable in once, or bring it in from Google Calendar. The board shows the class that is in now, the lesson it is on, and who is next.
Teams take turns answering. Most questions are listening questions: hear a sound, then choose. No names and no typing.
Classes earn points when they play. A term table shows how every class is doing, and never shows a last place.
Keep a register of first names for Grades 4 to 7, each with a parent’s or guardian’s consent on file, deleted at the end of the year. Nothing is named for Grades R to 3.
Listens to your class band and shows whether it is speeding up or slowing down compared with the tempo you counted in.
Check every bar on an instrument: its pitch and how long it rings. Then print a report of the bars that need tuning or replacing.
Plan a concert or eisteddfod with a timed setlist, then count back through your rehearsals to the dress rehearsal.
Plan a day of training for a school’s teachers, or run a holiday programme with parent bookings and an invoice for each place. Everyone gets a certificate in plain Word, so you can edit it.
Build a quote the way a working musician does: gear charged as a share of its value, a call-out charge, and labour for each set. It makes a draft to send and never prints what your gear is worth. If your business is VAT registered, one tick adds VAT, and a quote becomes an invoice in one click.
Short videos with music only, each showing one feature. Free comes with four: the Tuner, the Chord Glossary, Jazz Chords and Reading Solfa. Each higher licence unlocks more, up to all 35.
Plug the computer into the interactive whiteboard and everything is touchable. Every screen fits without scrolling, so the whole lesson is always in view from the back of the room.
The on-screen marimba takes many bars pressed together, so a group can play a chord on the board.
No hovering, right-clicking or dragging. Where you’d drag, you tap to pick and tap to place.
True black text on light grey, checked for contrast on every screen. Colour always comes with a word or a mark.
Each screen has one orange key: Start, Listen, Play. The class knows where to look.
The professional curriculum teaches quoting, contracts and school work. The business tools keep the records for it, on your own computer, with a backup on every save. They keep track of who has paid; they don’t do bookkeeping.
Who decides, who signs, who pays. Sessions contracted against delivered.
A quote becomes an invoice without retyping.
Hours, travel and wear in; your number out.
What lapses in the next 90 days, and who needs a clearance.
Whose each set is, where it is, and its maintenance log.
16 letters, agreements, flyers and posts, as Word or PDF.
A day from any curriculum, with an attendance sheet.
Parent bookings with consent, and who still owes.
Every licence is a once-off payment. What you buy keeps working for good, with a year of new versions included. Start free: nothing runs out, and the paid parts stay visible so you can see what each licence adds. To order, press Buy: you fill in a short form and sign the licence agreement, then Jason sends you the payment details and your licence file.
For anyone, on any computer, for good.
For one player or teacher, on whichever computers they use.
For one school site: every computer on the campus.
For a person running a marimba business, at any schools they work at.
| Feature | Free | Player | Classroom | Contractor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free for everyone | ||||
| The on-screen marimba | ||||
| Metronome and timer | ||||
| High or Low? (Grade R–3) | ||||
| Loud or Soft, Fast or Slow (Grade R–3) | ||||
| Freeze! (Grade R–3) | ||||
| Copy Me (Grade R–3) | ||||
| The Tuner | ||||
| Skills Library, level 1 cards | ||||
| Glossary of Chords | ||||
| Jazz Chords | ||||
| Reading Solfa | ||||
| Looking After the Instrument | ||||
| The games | ||||
| Added in Player | ||||
| The three theory courses | ||||
| Two-Mallet Technique and the etudes | ||||
| The drill trainer | ||||
| Progressions & beats | ||||
| Band Repertoire | ||||
| The full Skills & Mechanics Library | ||||
| Milestones Pathway and its certificates | ||||
| Practice Tracker: marked notes, streaks and personal bests | ||||
| Lock In | ||||
| Added in Classroom | ||||
| The graded programme, Grades R to 7 | ||||
| Music Quiz Battle | ||||
| Band Tempo Mirror | ||||
| Class Scheduler: the timetable (typed in, or from Google Calendar) and Now / Next | ||||
| Class vs Class: the term league of classes and bands | ||||
| Bar health check: pitch, overtone and ring for every bar | ||||
| Events, setlists and the Path to Practice | ||||
| Named learners, with a parent's consent, and the star board | ||||
| Rubrics and certificates | ||||
| The printable Word documents | ||||
| Added in Contractor | ||||
| Teacher Workshops: a day of sessions from any curriculum, with attendance | ||||
| Holiday Programmes: places, consent and who has paid | ||||
| The Professional Band Curriculum | ||||
| A timetable for more than one school | ||||
| The business module | ||||
Anything else, ask Jason on WhatsApp. A school demo is easy to arrange.
A Windows 10 or 11 computer (64-bit). Nothing to install: download the zip, extract it, and open the file called “1 - Open Marimba Wave”. It is a folder of about 220 MB, and it works offline. A mouse, keyboard, touch screen or interactive smartboard all work.
No. Free never runs out. It has the on-screen marimba, the metronome, the Tuner, both chord books, Reading Solfa, instrument care, eight of the nine games and four listening games for Grades R to 3.
Yes. Everything on screen is touchable, including the marimba, which takes several bars at once. Every screen fits the board without scrolling, and the class games are built for touch.
Yes. Set it to chromatic, diatonic, or diatonic with the added F♯ and B♭ bars, and it uses only the bars your instrument has.
Yes, every machine on one school site. Player and Contractor licences are for one named person, on whichever computers they use.
Only if the school chooses to, and only with a parent’s or guardian’s consent on file, as POPIA requires. First names or nicknames only, Grades 4 to 7 only, and all of them are deleted at the end of the year. Nothing is sent over the internet. A consent form comes with the Word documents.
Nothing stops. Everything you bought keeps working. The year only decides which new versions you get free.
No. It keeps clients, contracts, quotes, invoices, compliance checks, instruments, workshops and holiday bookings. It doesn’t do bookkeeping, VAT returns or payroll. Export All gives your accountant everything in one go.
For a licence, the download or a school demo. WhatsApp is quickest.