The Continental, or four-row xylophone, has existed since the late 1700s. It became extremely popular in Europe through performances by Josef Gusikow in the 1830s.
The bars are arranged in four rows, from large to small, which produces a trapezoid arrangement. The performer stands at the end of the large bars, the smaller ones being farthest away, striking the bars with spoon-shaped beaters.

This instrument has a chromatic range of 3 1/2 octaves, G to Cis, with two pitches (C-sharp and F-natural) duplicated on either side of the instrument . The instrument has 50 bars (including the duplicated pitches). Detail showing the labeling of the keys using the German “is” for “sharp”.The “B” is the German pitch name for the English Bb, and the “H” is the German name for the English B.