The Treble is the original kalimba that was sent around the world by Hugh Tracey in the 1960s. Slightly smaller than the Alto but with two more tines, the Treble is favored by people with smaller hands or superior manual dexterity. The Chinese 17-Notes in C are copies of the Treble.
Do you want a real challenge? Do you want a kalimba that will allow you to play essentially any sort of melody or harmony? Then the Chromatic Kalimba is your instrument. The Chromatic has the “white notes” on the front and the “black notes” on the back.
Wild and great fun, the pentatonic scale lets you cut loose and jam with an air of authenticity: the pentatonic scale is used by many indigenous peoples across the globe, and about 40% of the traditional African kalimbas Hugh Tracey studied used the pentatonic scale.
This page deals with a few resources for some of the orphans that don’t have pages of their own: Hugh Tracey Bb Treble, D Treble, and Hotshot-11, as well as the Hokema 5-Note Kalimba Choirs.
As I started with your Freygish Karimba book: it is very helpful, step by step and is a great joy for me! Thank you! And I´m sure, the B11 and Sansula will be just as good! I´m already in love with further books from you for next year ;-))
Hugh Tracey was an English ethnomusicologist who traveled widely in rural Africa in the first half of the 20th century. This man’s life’s work turned out to be the reason that kalimbas are known and loved by so many in the world today.
The kalimba has a rich and varied history in Africa that stretches back as much as 3000 years, but the metal tined kalimba is only about 1300 years old. The modern kalimba player can learn a lot from the strands of traditional African kalimba music.
Young Hugh Tracey is brought to Africa; he falls in love with its traditional music; his life’s work eventuates in the kalimba’s entering western consciousness. He was one of the first Europeans to fall in love with the African kalimba.
At a time when traditional African music was quickly disappearing and the African scales were being replaced by the Western scale, Hugh Tracey founded ILAM, an institution to preserve African music and to promote research into African music.
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