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The Fabric of a simple “Three against Two” pattern is strong enough to be the foundation of a song What does “John Huffington” have to do with the classic African three-against-two multi-rhythm? I don’t know a John Huffington, but here’s his name, embodied in this rhythmic riff when I play it on the Hugh Tracey Alto Kalimba. When I fall into the groove of this pattern, I hear my kalimba saying  the name “John Huffington.” The three against two pattern requires that one thumb play one thing (three notes) in the same space as the other thumb is playing something else (two notes). And repeat. You can play this sort

Buy the Download First I have a few customers who purchase mainly downloads from Kalimba Magic. One wants to get the music because he is interested in using it in his video work. Another just likes to hear what new music is available for the kalimba. But there is a growing group of people who see the downloads as a collection of music that is representative of what a particular kalimba style or tuning has to offer.  As such, the download is a key that opens some of the secrets that the kalimba has to offer.   Several first-time customers purchase one or more instructional downloads first. A few days later,

This exciting presentation takes you on a quick trip through the kalimba’s history from its beginnings to present day. Download the Free PDF on Kalimba History   “The Kalimba, its African History, and Black Pride” is a quick, enjoyable vignette, almost a snapshot, of all the moving parts of the the kalimba’s story. It will engage you and take you on a lively romp that covers ancient and contemporary music, science, and the annals of human history. It is so much fun that you will hardly know how much you’ve just absorbed. It tells, in entertaining graphic novel style, about early human ingenuity and the evolution of musical instruments, the

True confessions of an old musical dog learning new tricks All my life I’ve been a musician. My family sang together, I played and loved piano (even piano lessons), sang in all kinds of groups growing up, and played recorder, pennywhistle, and a bit of guitar. I mostly sing and play pennywhistle these days. Classical and folk, and world music were and are my stomping grounds. Reading music was always the key to the door into the musical world. Never a brilliant music reader, I made my way through it and very happily discovered new melodies. In my adult life reading music has not been a focus for me, rather

Very economical, high quality, Great for Students, plays great music Visit the 10-Note Heart Kalimba Product Page Kalimba Magic is known for selling some of the best kalimbas in the world, but we have been a bit sparse in the student kalimba department. That all changes right now. We have long known that sooner or later, the Chinese would start manufacturing kalimbas, and, eventually, good ones. That day has arrived, and rather than stick its head in the sand, Kalimba Magic is embracing these new Chinese-made kalimbas – in part because they perfectly fill our gap of entry-level instruments in the Kalimba Magic catalog, and in part because these are really nice

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