33 Intermediate Songs: A Download for 17-Note Kalimba in C

Classical – African – Americana – Spirituals – And more!

Learn to play kalimba like a pro, by learning from a pro – that’s me, Mark Holdaway!

If you have been working your way through the “44 Beginner Songs” download, then “33 Intermediate Songs” is the next purchase to continue your progress.

This 82-page single PDF download contains the kalimba tablature for all of the songs, and live links to enable you to download the sound recordings I have made to demonstrate each song.

Says one recent happy customer: “I am very impressed with the quality of the ebook I just purchased. With every encounter I am amazed at the amount of work – and care – you put into every single step. The amount charged is beginning to look like a mere pittance in relation to the time and effort you must have expended. Thank you for everything. You are an extraordinary teacher!”

Please look at the Table of Contents from the download and see the songs that are in this ebook:

One of the special things about this book is that the organization of the Table of Contents is a kind of ethnomusicological look at the music the book contains, thus:

Classical + African + Americana = African American Spirituals and Great Songs.

This collection is on the Intermediate level, and it contains only a few Level 1 and Level 2 songs. Most songs are Level 3 and Level 4. If the repertoire of this book is too advanced for you right now, look into getting the “44 Beginner Songs” collection.

On pages 14, 15, and 16, we present three different versions of Bach’s Minuet, the first with melody only, the second with single-note harmonies at the start of each measure, and the third with fuller harmonies at the start of each measure. The collage below compares the first column of tablature for each version.

This collage represents my vision of your learning trajectory as you work your way through the book (and happens to be the learning path that I myself traveled many years ago) – you will start with simple successes, but will slowly add to your abilities, playing richer and fuller music as you progress. 

By the way, the gray columns in the tablature above represent painted tines. Kalimba Magic paints the tines this way on the 17-Note kalimbas in C; it helps immeasurably in reading tablature and learning to play. Painting (which is done with permanent enamels of various colors) is optional, however, and if you get your kalimba unpainted, you may want to mark those tines with a Sharpie marker – this will last some weeks before it wears off and you need to reapply, or you can remove the Sharpie marks with alcohol wipes. 

And if the “44 Beginner Songs” and “33 Intermediate Songs” isn’t enough for you, stay tuned for “22 Killer Songs,” coming in a few months. No, it’s not a collection of bloodthirsty theme songs from shows like “Dexter” and “Bones”… and in fact I’ll probably just change the title to something more appropriate when the book is finally done… but rest assured that it will be awesome. Ah, maybe it should be called “22 Awesome Songs.”

This tablature also works for the Bb Treble Kalimba, and the inner 15 (of 17) tines of the tablature also works for the G Alto Kalimba. Most songs, such as Bach’s Minuet above, do not utilize the two outer tines, so most songs can be played completely on the Alto kalimba. However, the recordings are in the key of C, so if your kalimba is in a different key, you cannot play along with the sound recordings, but you should listen to the recording while visually following along with the tablature. When the recording ends and you know how the music sounds, pick up your kalimba and play from the tablature.

But if you have a 17-Note kalimba in C, you are all set – click on the sound icon on a page of tablature, follow the dots and play along with the recording.

Below is a recording of “O Danny Boy” that matches the arrangement in the “33 Intermediate Songs” download.