Blog

This will help you learn this challenging karimba solo CLick to Download 8-page PDF of Freygish Tablature Do you know SaReGaMa’s story? He received a Hugh Tracey Karimba as a gift, but it was out of tune, so he started inventing his own tunings. Every few weeks, he would change the notes on the karimba, until it played the kind of music he wanted to play just then. He would play the karimba in its new tuning for a few days and become comfortable with it. Then, he would record and videotape an improvisation on that new karimba tuning. That is how we got SaReGaMa Lotus, Air, and Freygish tunings.

OK, I’m an advanced kalimba player, and yes, I do love playing the 17-Note Kalimba because it offers so many musical possibilities and can play hundreds of thousands of songs. (People also ask me about the 21 note. I do have a 21-Note kalimba, but I have not bonded with it. Partly because it has SO many notes, and partly because I don’t like the “sound and feel” of the lowest notes.) But I also love the freedom and simplicity that is available from the 10-Note Kalimba. The tines are smoother. The tines are wider. There is more space between each tine. And with only 10 tines, the music is

This book is the capstone to my career as the Kalimba Magician, and as the title says, its for ANY kalimba. If you pre-ordered this product and have not received my email yet, please contact me and I’ll hook you up! Even more, it is a great resource for most musicians. These are the notes of my own journey through music, and I imagine most of this would be helpful to musicians, beginners, intermediate, and advanced. These are the tips that are going to help you become a real musician. About two years ago, I found out that about a dozen of my books had been pirated. It wasn’t an

Here are our first customer reviews of my newest book, “Just the Tips”. First, written by K.P.: “While I’ve only just kind of skimmed the book, I love it.  As I may have said, up till now I’ve mostly improvised.  More interested in relaxation, meditation, communing with the sounds, so this book will be wonderful. These days I’m really drawn to the instruments with two levels of tines, and all these tips will be helpful (including using super glue to fix the small hangnail). BTW, it took a bit of time to figure this out, but the ‘Books’ app on an iPhone is a place one can store PDFs and find

The B15 Kalimba is a two-tiered kalimba with 15 tines mounted on a solid body, with 7 tines on a lower row made of wider (5mm) tines and 8 tines on an upper row made of narrower (4mm) tines. The B15 Kalimba by Hokema is a great vehicle for all kinds of wonderful kalimba play. The standard tuning is in the key of G – the same two octave range of notes on the Hugh Tracey Alto Kalimba… though the two rows of tines adds a new wrinkle to the playing… but it is roughly similar to the Alto Kalimba in what it can do. But I have one customer

Here is the long story: Hokema made lovely Sansulas with out-of-this-world level wah-wah special effects… but they only had 9 notes. Atmospheric, but not able to play a lot of real music. Then came the B17 – a larger sold-body kalimba with extra space between the tines, and sweet sound and sweet hardware. This plays the same body of songs as the common 17-Note Kalimba in C… but with better high notes and more space between the tines. The downside? To get that extra space between the tines, the B17 was really big, and not so easy to hold. After this came the B15 kalimba – a significantly smaller solid

For 18 years, I have made my living from my business, Kalimba Magic. The basic premise of my business is that the Kalimba is a real musical instrument, capable of much musical magic. And so, I created a great many kalimba instructional guides showing people now to understand their kalimba and how to get good music out of it. I also worked with the community of kalimba players and together, we have made a great many exotic kalimba tunings available to the world, many with specialized instructional materials. But now, I am ready for a change. So, I am looking to the community of kalimba players and kalimba experts. How

About 10 years ago, I made a YouTube video of a song that I wrote, called “The Big Vibration”. “The Big Vibration”, on Alto Kalimba. Customer D. Smith requested the tablature to this song, but the link in the YouTube description went to a webpage that doesn’t exist anymore. So, I told them that I would redo the tablature. And here is page one of the tablature – if you click on the below tablature image, you will be able to download a PDF of the tablature for Alto Kalimba, 17-Note Kalimba in C, and for 10-Note Kalimba in C. BTW, the 10-Note Kalimba has way fewer notes than the

How? By slightly retuning one tine, and by getting our new ebook If you have an 8-Note or a 10-Note kalimba, you may have learned “Joy to the World,” “Ba Ba Black Sheep,” and “Doe, a Deer” or various other simple songs. But what do you do next? Typically, when someone masters a kalimba, they search for another kalimba challenge – usually a bigger or more exotic kalimba. However, I offer you another path, and it’s right in front of you! A very simple modification of your 8-Note or 10-Note kalimba will transform it into a new tuning, with a new repertoire – essentially providing you with the challenge of