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How To Play
Mark Holdaway

How to Play the African Karimba

Do you want to play traditional African music?  The African-tuned karimba has a wide and deep repertoire of music from across the vast Zambezi Valley, and is thought to be closely related to the original mbira tuning from 1300 years ago. Get that African feeling!

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How To Play
Mark Holdaway

How to Play the Hokema B11 Kalimba

This kalimba has top notch materials and craftmanship, it plays music as smooth and beautiful as the B9, but with a few more notes, this kalimba becomes much more musically capable. Exotic tunings available.

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How To Play
Mark Holdaway

How to Play the Alto Kalimba

The Alto Kalimba is one of the most versatile kalimbas – there are over a dozen books and downloads available for it, and there are thousands of songs you can play on it, including traditional African music. When you are ready for the real deal, come to the alto kalimba.

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How To Play
Mark Holdaway

How to Play the Treble Kalimba

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.

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How To Play
Mark Holdaway

How to Play the Chromatic Kalimba

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.

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How To Play
Mark Holdaway

How to Play the Pentatonic Kalimba

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.

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How To Play
Mark Holdaway

How to Play Other Kalimbas

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.

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history HughTraceyRecording 200
History
Mark Holdaway

The Short Story

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.

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A Bamboo 200
History
Mark Holdaway

Early Kalimba History

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.

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