Description
The Afroharp was an early 1970s kalimba inspired by the Hugh Tracey kalimba and its success. The Afroharp was originally mounted on a hollow body, with 13 tines, six of them bent upward. The tuning was a hexatonic scale – it is like a pentatonic scale, but with an extra note. The short upper row of tines is bent upward, and each upper row note is an octave higher than its adjacent lower row note, making a lot of cool things very easy to do.
While the original Afroharp has not been manufactured since the 1970s, we can offer you the same notes and the same note layout, mounted on a Hugh Tracey Alto kalimba. See the additional images associated with this product to understand the tuning. It likes to play in E minor, or by tuning just the low E down a step to D, it plays beautifully in G major as well.
This now comes without an electronic pickup, unless you add the pickup for $12.
We do not yet have a video of the Alto Afroharp, but we have a sound recording available: