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Free Tablature for Alto, Treble, and Chromatic Kalimbas – and learn about the Secondary Dominant I never really understood the big deal about “The Wizard of Oz” when I was growing up. We had a black and white TV, and I remember in high school, a friend asked me “Hey, you know how when Dorothy lands in Oz, everything is suddenly in color?” I answered “No…” and suddenly realized part of why I had never gotten the movie! The music from this movie did not become a favorite part of my life as it did for so many. But when you are a performing musician, it is not always about

Click, Save, Print, and Fill in Your Own Notes Kalimba Tablature is generalizable to any kalimba, and is powerful enough to cover almost any music You may or may not know that I invented kalimba tablature in 2004. My first kalimba student would take in my personal instruction well, but then when he went home, he would forget what I had taught him and would not be able to practice it. When I put marks indicating notes on a paper representation of his 15-Note Alto kalimba, he did not need to remember, and could pick up his kalimba each day and practice.  What marks did I use? The standard symbols for

This is so easy – it takes about 30 seconds The Hugh Tracey Karimba and the SaReGaMa Karimbas have buzzers on the 9 lower tines While the sound of buzzers (or rattles) on a karimba is very distinctive, it is not for everyone. Also, the term “buzzers” (which create an intentional sound effect)  is very different from what we call the “buzz,” which is an unwanted and unpleasant sound that results from an improperly seated tine. We deal with fixing the “buzz” in another article. This article explores the role of karimba rattles in African music, looks at some of the different ways of making the rattles, and shows you

This simple trick will get your deluxe (goatskin) sansula sounding great again   Along with the Sansula’s beautiful sound and mind-blowing special effects – that is, the deep wah-wah tonal modulation you can get by lifting and lowering the resonant frame onto a flat surface – there are some drawbacks among the different types of Sansula. They can be a bit finicky but are definitely worth having and playing. Knowing how to keep them at their best is easy. The Standard Sansula (which Kalimba Magic no longer carries) sounds good but has the considerable flaw that, when the instrument is dropped from a height of 1 meter or more, its

Pickups are now available on nearly all Hokemas The kalimba has always been a cool instrument. Different. Ethnic. New Age. Ancient. And just plain fun. But throw in an electronic pickup, and you can take the kalimba to a whole new level of FUN. It is a cliche, but the Germans do build things very well – smooth, precise, shiny… and now great sounding pickups for Hokema’s beautiful kalimbas. Thank you, Peter Hokema! The B7 Electro Hokema Kalimba Elektro The B7 has the lowest notes Kalimba Magic sells. The sound file below is recorded with a low D (low E is usually the lowest note on it). The wide tines

The Very First Episode of “Schoolhouse Rock!” in 1973 Had an Alto Kalimba in it! From the opening of “Three is a Magic Number” Listening to NPR this week, I learned of the passing of Bob Dorough, the dude who wrote all of the songs in the TV segment Schoolhouse Rock!  OK, dear ones, if you are younger than, oh, 35, you might not have any clue about Schoolhouse Rock! If you are my age, you might thank Schoolhouse Rock! for your ability to count by fives, or to multiply by 11. Or for your eternal knowledge of how conjunctions function in the English language. I was born in 1962, and

A New Book, Reviewed here by Sara Edelman, is now Available at Kalimba Magic Click to Buy the Book “Making Lamellaphones”   How well do you know your kalimba?  Could you create one? Ever feel the yearning to make your own? Bart Hopkin, the guru of creative musical instrument sound, design and construction, has written and published a book dedicated to building kalimbas, both traditional and inventive.  For those not in the know, the term “lamellaphone” refers to any instrument that makes sounds by the vibrating of lamellae (plural of lamella) or plates, and includes kalimbas, mbiras and modern variants – in other words, any instrument that goes “boing” when

The Treble Chromatic is the one kalimba that can do it You can get a Chromatic Treble Kalimba and play “Imagine” yourself! Recently someone told me that playing John Lennon’s song “Imagine” on kalimba was a goal of theirs. When I worked through the song in my head – I realized there is only one kalimba sold by Kalimba Magic that can play “Imagine,” and it’s the Hugh Tracey Chromatic Treble Kalimba. There is an amazing Russian musician, Natalya Obukhova, who has a YouTube channel called LadyChugun. She plays killer electric guitar, accordion, and… chromatic kalimba. And this amazing musician, LadyChugun, has figured out a great arrangement on the chromatic, and makes it look easy

One of the great mbira players Klara Wojtkowska is an accomplished musician and has contributed an array of interesting articles to Kalimba Magic. She has recently been abroad studying mbira and living in Zimbabwe. “Forward Kwenda’s inspiration is deeply spiritual and in a way he sees his role as a musician who channels from a realm beyond our physical grasp. It has been said of Forward, ‘It is almost impossible to believe that one person, playing one time, could make so much music with two thumbs and one finger! Of course, Forward Kwenda, considered by many to be the greatest living mbira player today, says that his spirits play the