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Working this dialectic can expand your playing amazingly I was speaking last night with my neighbor Geo, when he said:  “Somewhere between the party animal I was in my marriage and the zen meditator I’ve been in my current relationship… is the real Geo.” I could see the axis, drawn in space before our eyes: on one end of the imaginary “number line” was Geo as Beer-Drinking-Good-Timing-Party-Animal… and at the other end was Geo as Peaceful-Meditating-Man. And Geo’s quest right now was to feel along this axis and understand where he belongs. In my opinion, he exists all along that axis, occupying different places at different times, as everyone does. And the very same

The Fastest Way to Learn to Play Kalimba Visit the Instructional Downloads Page in the Kalimba Magic Shop As you know, it’s hard to resist the beauty of, and the urge to make, kalimba music; that’s why you’re here! Over many years I have written dozens of books to help a lot of people who want to learn to play these instruments. It’s an ongoing project, as each different kalimba needs its own books, and new kalimba tunings and layouts are being invented (and not just by me) all the time. It ends up being a big part of my life’s calling, because nobody else in the world is creating

This classic O’Carolan tune sounds so sweet on the Celtic D Download the two page PDF for “Si Bheag Si Mhor” on Celtic D Karimba Everyone has their favorite Celtic song. My favorite is “Si Bheag Si Mhor” – pronounced “she beg, she more,” and means “Little Fairy, Big Fairy.” The song consists of two variations of the melody, and the first one sounds like the “Little Fairy,” while the second one is a bit grander, and sounds like the “Big Fairy.” This song is attributed to the blind Irish harpist and singer Turlough O’Carolan (1670-1738) as his first composition, but the melody is actually older.   Here is tablature

Two simple chords and a trick for using them together Try marking these tines green and red to help you play the two chords While the Celtic D Karimba is made for, and excels at, all sorts of jigs and reels and waltzes, I’m going to show you in this first lesson what it loves to do the most: a very simple two-chord progression. You don’t even need to know what a chord progression is  – you just follow the colors on the tines. I suggest you mark the tines of these two chords with two contrasting colors of Sharpie markers. The marks help make playing the chords very simple and

Save 25%, New Products, New Tunings, and New Services We have a 25% discount coupon code for some of our most popular non-electrified kalimbas. We have a new middle eastern tuning for the Alto kalimba and some great new paired tunings for playing Pentatonic and Alto kalimbas together. We have new kalimba accessories. And for the holiday season, we’re offering gift wrapping service with kalimba purchases.    Now through December 5, 2017 you can save 25% on select Hugh Tracey kalimbas without electrical sound pickup jacks using the coupon code UNPLUG25. Hugh Tracey Alto Kalimba Hugh Tracey Treble Kalimba Hugh Tracey Box Pentatonic Kalimba Hugh Tracey B flat Treble Kalimba

A new sound. Inner peace. Mind-blowing and heartwarming responses. “My other guitar is a Hugh Tracey Kalimba” My name is Jerrid and I am a multi-instrumentalist living in Los Angeles, California. I bought my first kalimba, a Hugh Tracey Alto in standard G tuning, about 2 years ago from Mark Holdaway at Kalimba Magic, and my music has felt like magic ever since. I had been searching for a new instrument to add to my collection that would give my performances a unique sound, and that is exactly what I got and more, right out of the box. I noticed that the craftsmanship was solid as I held the beautifully-grained

These two kalimbas can sound so good together! The Pentatonic and Alto Kalimbas The pentatonic kalimba and the Alto kalimba are a great natural pairing. They can create a gorgeous contrast that works when two players can “jam with deliberate abandon” – meaning players who are technically proficient and can also really move, respond, and dance with each other’s music. The pentatonic’s basic traits contribute to the very attractive alliance it can make with the Alto. The pentatonic kalimba is a bit of a mystery. It seems so simple – a perfect instrument for a beginner. Everything you play on it sounds great – playing it is a bit like finger painting

This exotic scale sounds “WOW” on the Alto Kalimba I remember being 8 years old, getting to stay up late to watch “Lawrence of Arabia” on TV. Even as I drowsed, I found myself listening attentively to its dazzling music. How grand! The music’s sumptuous scales sounded ethnic and different. It was moving and magical. Did the composer actually understand middle-eastern music and scales? Or was he just “making it up”? Probably both. The cool thing about the kalimba is that you can just “make it up.” Here, I have made up the “Hitzaskiar” tuning for the Hugh Tracey Alto Kalimba. The Hitzaskiar is an actual ancient scale from Persia, but

you Can Play This Music on Two Different Kalimbas Many people born in the last couple of decades were first turned on to the sound of the kalimba by the animated TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The kalimba was regularly featured in the sound track.  The kalimba can really pull on your heartstrings in a sweet, simple way… a perfect accompaniment for animation! In this post we feature two different Youtube videos by people who acquired their kalimbas in order to learn how to play some of the kalimba music from Avatar: the Last Airbender:  one on the Hugh Tracey D Treble Kalimba, the other on the Goshen 11-note Kalimba. In