May 1, 2016

Do you really need some totally different tuning? We can probably invent it Go to product page for “Kalimba Doctor Tuning” Many people are not looking for anything in specific – they will go for a particular kalimba or tuning because it makes cool music that resonates with them.   I think chances are good that these people will find something that tickles them among the tunings I have presented. Some people have very specific needs.  They might require a sansula in a particular key so that it will work with other instruments playing a song in that key, or to accompany singing a particular song in that key.  Inventing a

Following Kalimba Magic’s lead in the Sansula Tuning Movement, other tuning innovation is happening Peter Hokema, Sansula Inventor The people at Hokema have also been bringing forth sansula tuning alternatives. They have an app for the iphone that will help you experiment with your own sansula tunings, permitting you to retune, within realistic limits – that is, any tuning you create on the iphone will be possible to create on your sansula. App for Inventing Sansula Tunings Peter Hokema (in photo) has also invented sansula tunings. You can find those tunings at the Hokema site. Hokema’s Sansula Tuning Page

Go to product page for “Kalimba Doctor Tuning” The C minor tuning is a straight minor pentatonic scale.  It has a little more force and a little less mystery than the standard A minor Ake Bono tuning. I don’t have any music written out for the C minor Sansula tuning, but thought I would let you know about the tuning in case it is exactly what you need.  Eventually it will be exactly what someone needs.  Enjoy the video.

From the C Major Sansula Download C Major Sansula Download The C Major Sansula Tuning is one of my favorites.  It is happy and uplifting and powerful. The tablature here is from the C Major Download, which has a lot to offer.   To me, it is absolutely stunning that such simple right and left thumb patterns combine and make music.  This is the sort of music you can space out on for minutes on end.                  

This funky-bluesy tuning has a free instructional download Click to download Bluesy E Sansula instructional PDF I was playing kalimba at an independent living facility here in Tucson, and the family of one of the residents was there enjoying the music.  After about five or six songs that were happy, light and beautiful, one of the visitors said “Play something ugly!”  Well, I could not. I suspect that what he was asking for was something less of a sweet delight and more gritty, bluesy, down and dirty. The Bluesy E sansula tuning was created with that idea in mind.  The image here is a page from the free “Bluesy E

This is an enchanting middle-eastern style tuning Even though the  Morocco E sansula tuning is one that I haven’t explored very much,  I actually have two instruments set up in this tuning!  I play around with this tuning because it is fun.  Morocco E tuning sounds quite serious, which is why I love it so much. Again, even if you have no interest in ever getting a sansula, look at the patterns in the tablature here and learn, as this stuff is applicable to any kalimba. Lesson 1: Lopsided phrase.   Measures 1-3 (on the left) are all cut from the same cloth, but measure 4 is totally different.  Measures 1-3

From the Heavenly A Sansula Song Book The Heavenly A Sansula Song Book The Heavenly A Sansula tuning is Rick Tarquinio’s answer to my Beautiful E Tuning.  True to its name, the Heavenly A Sansula is quite lovely.  Not only is this a good tuning in which to improvise, but this tuning actually supports a great many songs. The song in this lesson is “Sadza Madya Here”, a traditional African piece for the karimba, but it sounds great on the sansula as well. Even if you never move an inch toward learning this song, learn this song’s techniques.  You can hear it on the media player below. The first lesson:

From the Beautiful E Sansula Music Book Beautiful E Sansula Book While the standard-tuned sansula is lovely, many of the things it plays sound similar.  The Beautiful E Tuning for the Sansula not only has a totally different palette of colors and emotions, it can also play a much wider swathe of music than the standard tuning can. This tip shares the tablature and sound recording of one of the songs from the Beautiful E Sansula book to give you an idea of what the Beautiful E can do. The tablature here is from page 32 of the Beautiful E Sansula Music Book.  While this book does have several songs

Just retuning one of the A tines down to G increases the reach of the Sansula’s standard tuning Go to product page for “Kalimba Doctor Tuning” Modifying one note won’t totally transform the sansula, but it will alter, and in this case, extend the musical palette available to the instrument. And if you are going to take the plunge and experiment with alternative tunings for the first time, you should start with something easy. This tuning only requires retuning one tine by a whole step.  It is also easy to get back to the original tuning, though I don’t think you’d want to – I myself prefer to have that G than