Playing Kalimba on the Spectrum

I just watched a YouTube video on Autism and Monotropism that blew my mind open. Monotropism is a theory of autism that posits that most ASD behaviors stem from the autistic mind’s preference to focus on just a few things at a time, rather than the many things that neurotypical people tend to focus on simultaneously.

I think I understand how learning and playing kalimba is such a fulfilling activity… especially for people on the autistic spectrum! I have not been diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), but it runs in my family. I’m a nerd, I’m a teckie. I’m good at focus; I’ve dedicated 19 years of my life to a single instrument, the kalimba; and I have a difficult time changing tasks… all of which will ring a bell to anyone diagnosed with ASD.

And let me start with the punch line: if you, or someone close to you, is on the autism spectrum, I suggest you consider getting a kalimba.

As I will detail below, people on the spectrum are really good with their monotropic focus, which helps them learn to play a kalimba song, and helps them play it well. I have found the kalimbas to be wonderful life-long companions, something I can do every day, something that brings me multifaceted joy as I feel myself getting better day by day. The kalimba could add greatly to the quality of life to someone on the spectrum who is open to it.

(On the other hand, I also know people on the spectrum who have solidified their personalities to include the concept of “I’m not any good at music or art”, and they may well be closed to the possibility of working out with a kalimba.)

((And on the third hand, people who are not on the spectrum can learn the lessons of focus that come more easily to ASD people.))

Here is the video that brought the “great ah ha!” moment for me.

Monotropism – Singular Interest or Focus

To Meg x, the author of the video, “Monotropism” explains a lot about how the autistic mind works. Monotropism is the tendency to focus on just a few interests at a time. A neurotypical person will be better at focusing on many things at once, while an autistic person tends to have a more monotropic field of interests.

So, the autistic person may tend to miss the big picture, which can only be seen if you are looking at a lot of things at once. But the monotropic mind can zoom in on just a few relevant details, get in really deep, and really understand them. Like a kalimba player!

To the monotropic mind, the thing that is focused on tends to consume most of one’s available attention. Often this is the type of attention that is required to understand how something works in detail – including kalimba music.

It is difficult to pull away from that focus. And things that draw less interest to the monotropic mind – often things like social interactions – are often neglected.  The autistic mind was brought up focusing on what was of interest, and social interaction skills were not developed. However, ASD people can learn to compensate, and can learn to pay attention to the social cues they would otherwise miss. Some call it “faking it”. I don’t think that is right – but if you learn a skill later in your developmental path, it will not be as natural as if you had learned it when you were learning language early in life.

Monotropism and Kalimba Tablature

Meg x describes the sensation of being able to focus on just one thing in a crowded room, as if all the lights are illuminating this one thing, and all else is in darkness. She describes everything else and everyone else becoming invisible. Yes, these are magical moments. This focus is the superpower granted to those of us who are on the ASD spectrum.

And I can totally relate! Consider a bit of kalimba tablature: you need to first focus on just a few measures at a time… but then you zoom in even smaller, and focus on one “time” in the tablature – one or just a few tines that need to be played NOW… and of course, our focus also needs to be on the next instant on the tablature, as we see how the two thumbs must dance on the tines to accomplish a bit of music.

Or another example: have you ever tried to WRITE kalimba tablature? Either by hand with pen on blank tablature, or using the KTabS Kalimba Tablature Software? At first, it can be quite challenging. It is one thing for your thumbs to be playing a little bit of music… it is another thing for your mind to understand that bit of music, and break it down into individual notes that are played on the different tines… and then to notate that. Once you get used to it, it is pretty fun, and you can get to be very fast with creating the music. But when you are starting out? It can be awkward and painful, like typing with your toes with peanut butter on them! If you are there, your job is to learn how to clear out the distractions and focus on these few notes/tines, on these few time instances.

Stimming – Repetitive Motions That Sooth

Stimming is self stimulating repetitive motions which most ASD people engage in. That could be rocking. It could be hand flapping. It could be banging your head against a wall, but that it not recommended as it kills brain cells. It could be playing with your hair, picking, swaying, or repeating some catch phrase.

OR, in my mind, it could be playing kalimba. But playing kalimba is a stimming activity that can be heard by others, and can either irritate them, or bring them joy.

Some people play open ended, wandering music on the kalimba. At the opposite extreme, there is cyclic music that is repeated over and over.  And then there is everything in between. Traditional African kalimba music tends toward the repeating cycle. You repeat it over and over again, and then you introduce a variation, which you repeat many times. By repeating the same thing, you are spinning up the gyroscope, which gives you stability. By controlling the variations, you can sort of steer that gyroscope through space on some slow path. Drawing a pattern of slightly different stims through music space.

The repeated cycles tend to be about 5 or 10 seconds long, and can have as few as 4 or 5 notes, and as many as 12 or 16 or 24 notes or more. In rough terms, the cycle is about as long as a sentence in spoken language.

Here is an example of my cyclic kalimba music – though as you can hear, my cycles shift around a bit:

I myself find that this sort of repetitive kalimba improvisation reduces anxiety and comforts me.

One of the reasons why ASD people do stimming is that it is something they are totally in control of, and it is something that is totally predictable. The repeated action comes around, again, and again, and again. And it makes them feel good! And if you get good at playing kalimba, it can make others feel good.

The flip side to the repetitive stimming actions (and repetitive kalimba cycles) is that they will eventually become boring. To keep the interest up, as boredom with a cycle becomes apparent, we make a small modification. We might go higher, or more intense, or add a harmony, or change a few notes in the melody. Eventually the small modifications can add up to something significantly different. But with small, controlled variations, we still get the comfort and predictability of stimming.

Hey, here is a tip for you concerning cyclic music:

Most of the lessons in 365 Days to Kalimba Mastery, Vol 1, and Vol 2, are themselves cycles. And we also deal with the evolution of cycles. It is a great place to learn kalimba from.

Finding Order in a Chaotic World

The kalimba is a tiny little world unto itself. You can zoom in, let everything else fall away, and put your consciousness into the form of the kalimba. It has a limited number of notes – 8, 10, 15, 17 notes. Somewhere in that range, there is the perfect number of notes and amount of complexity that you can gain a level of control over that world. And as you advance, you move up to a bigger, more complex kalimba. Through focused advancement, you can get to the place where you are exerting significant control over that little kalimba world, and making something beautiful. You are creating your own order! The chaos of the world drops away when you tune into the perfection you are creating.

Perfectionist Tendencies

It is the ASD drive toward perfection that drives your kalimba progress. You need to be able to accept your actual level of playing, to hear what you are actually doing, and to recognize your mistakes. So of course, you can figure out how to correct the errors, or replace them with something else. The ASD perfectionist tendencies will serve you well on your kalimba journey.

And it is truly a wonderful thing, to feel yourself getting better at something day by day. You can chart your own path, and mark your progress.

Just learning the notes of a piece of music, or a cycle phrase, is just the start. I find that the more I play something, the deeper I get with it – the more it means to me, and the more subtle the playing becomes, echoing and speaking to different parts of the music. And I don’t think this process ever ends. It is driven by whatever it is that makes us perfectionists. While perfectionism can really get in the way of finishing something, when you are learning a piece of music, I don’t ever want to be finished. It is a life long path, and I am on it for the wonder and love of being on that path!

In other words, perfectionism both fuels your kalimba progress, and the kalimba gives your perfectionist tendencies an arena to work out in.

Bridging the Social Deficit Gulf

One of the requirements for getting an ASD diagnosis is a deficit in social interactions. Monotropism theory suggests that is because the autistic mind is so focused on its primary interests that care was not taken to learn to do social interactions very well.

But here is my experience: I found that when I went inside my kalimba to learn something amazing, I could come out of the kalimba and perform that piece for other people, and really connect with them! To start with, just playing the kalimba for other people is a social interaction in its own right. If you play well, you will draw people in, and you will get a boost of self worth and confidence. But these other people might be staring at the kalimba in disbelief! You touch them, and they are amazed. This helps you play better, assuming you can deal with the rush of hormones and chemicals in your body that might happen when you make magic on your kalimba.

So, it is not your typical social interaction, but it is a really positive one. This experience sort of makes me more open to the entire possibility of good social interactions. It sets the stage for more. And more may very well come. People will share with you what they felt when you played for them. They may ask you questions. They may cry with sorrow or joy. You are opening the door to a whole world of emotions, and the social connections that rise along side of them.

So, even though I am arguing that proficiency on kalimba can be a benefit of the ASD / monotropic mind, sharing that kalimba music socially can open you up to improving on your social deficits.

What if you are not on the spectrum?

I am making this up, but I am thinking that monotropism can be cultivated. Just as Zen meditation can tame the mind, perhaps “kalimba meditation” can also tame the mind. OR: just as ASD people can learn to pick up on social cues that they might tend to ignore, non-ASD people should be able to learn to focus in intensely on something, such as playing a kalimba.

Can you zoom in, on just the kalimba in your hands… or perhaps just the kalimba and a little bit of tablature to show you what to play? Can you tune out all of the other distractions in your environment, and see only the kalimba?  Can you zoom in on the finite number of tines before you? Maybe zoom in further, and just focus on the few tines that you will be playing in this measure.

This exercise in focus must surely put you in a place where you will play better, learn better, and eventually understand better.

Of course, I am just guessing here. You are the one who needs to find your own way. And your way may look very different from mine. But that is one of the joys of the kalimba path – it is a joyful journey of self discovery.

OK, I’m Excited Now! More to Come

In the early days of Kalimba Magic, I was really excited, because I could see all the possibilities of what I could do with the kalimba. Over the 19 years since I founded Kalimba Magic, I have accomplished many of those goals I had from the early days. But in recent years, I have become bogged down, and I have lost my inspiration. Some of that is my reaction to external factors… but a lot of it was dealing with the weight of the huge breadth in focus I brought to the kalimba world. I have created instructional material for more than 3 dozen kalimba types and tunings. And I can perform songs on almost all of those… sometimes requiring a half hour to refamiliarize myself with that kalimba. It has been a joy getting here, but it has also become a burden.

But now, I feel that I have a whole new focus in my work as Kalimba Professor Emeritus. It is fueled by self discovery. And what a thrill is all I can say.

Even though I am stepping down as director of Kalimba Magic, I will still be contributing in this forum of kalimba scholarship!