February 20, 2021

As each kalimba is tuned to a lower pitch, the low tines are closer to the sound hole. The standard tuning for the Hugh Tracey Alto Kalimba is G major (the far left kalimba above). This is G below Middle C. For reference sake: the new crop of 17-Note kalimbas in C (not shown above) have a low note of Middle C. My old Hugh Tracey Alto Kalimba (I bought it around 1988) came in standard G. Around 2010 I tuned it down to F, and in 2019 I further tuned it down to E. I accomplished this retuning by pulling the tines further out and making the vibrating length

We are looking for a spirit that transcends paper and ink. These kalimba practice tips are from my old 2006 book “Kalimba Fundamentals for the Alto Kalimba.” I recently upgraded it to also be available as a PDF download. I play a dozen different musical instruments, and playing the kalimba is quite different from any other. The kalimba stretches your mind in two directions at once! These tips will help you get the most out of your kalimba practice, no matter what kalimba you play. * Try walking while playing. If you do, always try to walk in time with the beat of the music. Let your walk be a

People ordering our books internationally have run into problems with expensive postal fees. The answer? Don’t buy a kalimba book, but purchase an instructional download. It costs less, you don’t pay for shipping, and you can click to get the sound recording to hear how the song goes. The Alto Fundamentals eBook is a good introductory PDF eBook for the Hugh Tracey Alto Kalimba – 34 pages with tablature, photos and live links to MP3 files. When I learned how to play kalimba 35 years ago, there were no books.  16 years ago, this was the very first kalimba book I wrote that uses kalimba tablature. You can learn more

Each new kalimba tuning is a different universe of possibilities. Some of those alternative musical universes are very similar to one another. But some tunings present totally different music unlike what the other tunings can play. A few times, I have imagined a tuning, and then gone and fiddled with my kalimba until it played what I imagined. But most great tunings are discovered rather than invented. By this, I mean that maybe you came up with that tuning by accident, and then you discover what that tuning can do! The B11 Kalimba is a great platform for new alternative tunings. This video focuses on the lessons taught by four