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The Kalimba is a great tool for the world to address racism. The Kalimba has a rich, colorful 3000 year history in Africa, leading to diverse and lovely instruments and music. The Kalimba, its African History, and Black Pride – Your “Rough” Guide My point: anyone who falls in love with the kalimba – anyone who sees the brilliance, beauty, intelligence, and humanity of the kalimba – will inevitably confer this respectful admiration to the African people who created these instruments. People can only justify slavery if they do not see the culture and humanity of the enslaved. Or consider the positive inverse of that statement: Once you see the

The PDF eBook “33  Intermediate Songs for 17-Note Kalimba in C” has a bunch of African music. Now also available as a hard copy book. Here is a video of one of the songs, Bustu MTandari: These are mostly songs from the tradition of the Karimba, or mbira nyunga nyunga. The notes of the Karimba are a subset of the notes on the 17-Note Kalimba, so anything you can play on the Karimba can also be played on the 17-Note in C. And by the way, “kalimba” and “karimba” are two different instruments. Read here if you don’t know this: Is it Kalimba, Karimba, or Mbira? It turns out the

I am selling these kalimbas. If you want one, contact me! They are not in the shop, but have been set aside for… you? Coupon codes do not apply to these “grab bag” kalimbas.   @kalimbamagic Hugh Tracey Celeste Kalimba in Middle Eastern Tuning. #kalimbamusic #hughtraceykalimba #kalimbatunings #kalimbamagic ♬ original sound – kalimbamagic Top – $50: This was originally a Hugh Tracey Celeste Pentatonic, but is currently tuned to a Middle Eastern Tuning. Here is it in action     @kalimbamagic Sansula Renaissance #kalimbamusic #sansula ♬ original sound – kalimbamagic Right – $100: This is a Sansula Renaissance. It is not new, but it has also not been used. There

I have finished a 54-page PDF instructional download for the Mufrika Edward style Karimba. This includes traditional Karimba songs from the historic repertoire,  songs from Mufrika, and my own insights into making music on this instrument. The download comes for free when you purchase one of the Mufrika Edward style Karimbas. I am now re-making these karimbas on both Hugh Tracey Celeste Boards (left) and the Hugh Tracey Alto Boxes (right). @kalimbamagic##mufricaedward ##karimba ##mbiranyunganyunga♬ original sound – kalimbamagic I am enjoying the Mufrika Edward Karimba as much as I enjoy my Hugh Tracey African-tuned Karimba. It produces different music, so both instruments have a place in my life. Reminder: I

Kalimba Magic is a leader in transforming one type of kalimba to another. For example, in the image above I show you a 17-Note Hugh Tracey Treble Kalimba, which can be transformed into a box karimba. We take the instrument apart, bend half of the tines, reassemble, and tune it up. Why Do Some Kalimbas have Upward-bent tines? To see the steps we take to accomplish this transformation, I made a YouTube video a few years ago. This specific transformation is from the Celeste Treble (in this context, “celeste” means a board-mounted Hugh Tracey kalimba) into a Celtic D karimba: The big thing to consider: the Hugh Tracey kalimba bridge

These songs are derived from the “66 Songs” download collection that was translated from Treble Kalimba… to C-Alto… to 17-Note Kalimba in C.. and yet other kalimbas. The key aspect of these songs that makes them accessible to a mere 8-Note kalimba is that they go down to the 5th of the scale. (Think “A-mazing Grace”, which starts on the low 5 note and goes up the the 1 note.) If only the 8-Note started on the 5 note, instead of the 1 note! Oh – actually if you retune your B tine to Bb, then your 8-Note kalimba is in the key of F, and the low C becomes

These Hard Copy Kalimba Magic Books are now available at Amazon. Hi, I’m Mark Holdaway. I founded Kalimba Magic in 2005 and I immediately started writing Kalimba Books based on my Kalimba Tablature. I am particularly skilled at creating these Kalimba Books. Writing them has been a great joy in my life over the last 16 years, and it is an important component of my livelihood. Kalimba Magic has the best information for playing kalimba. Many of my competitors agree – they have pirated my materials. Now, they are selling books on Amazon that use my copyrighted materials. Even though I have submitted the intellectual property forms with Amazon, they

Of course, Kalimba Magic ships to virtually every country. But do you live in USA, Canada, Spain, England, France, Italy, Germany, Australia, or Japan? If so, when you buy one of the Kalimba Magic books from Amazon, it will be printed in your country, and shipped within your country. When you buy directly from Kalimba Magic, you will find international shipping is rather more expensive. But to a great many people, buying my books on Amazon will be an economically friendly option.   As I transfer more of the Kalimba Magic library to Amazon, I’ll keep you posted! It just means more options will be available to you. And please:

The Intermediate Songs have been available as a digital download since 2019. Now, this collection of classical, African, American, Spirituals, and more is available as a hard copy book… from Amazon! You can purchase the “33 Intermediate Songs” book from Amazon for $12. The advantage of the digital download? The 80-page PDF contains live links to the sound files and other resources for your 17-Note Kalimba in C. But some people just want to have a physical book in front of them. The book comes with a QR code and a URL that will take you to a support page for this book… which includes the sound recordings for each