The 8-Note kalimba is great for children, beginners of all ages, people with small hands, or people who want to simplify their kalimba experience so that they can really "get it" or really wail on it. It is also one of the most common kalimbas used in music therapy because it is inexpensive, robust, and fairly simple.

• 8-Note Tuning
• Books for the 8-Note Kalimba
• Tips for the 8-Note Kalimba
• Articles on the 8-Note Kalimba
• 8-Note Models Available from Kalimba Magic

Playing the Catania 8-Note Kalimba.

The 8-Note Tuning

The 8-Note ships from Africa tuned to the C scale, but when you purchase an 8-Note kalimba from Kalimba Magic, we will tune your 8-Note to the scale of your choice, at no additional charge. You can also send us your 8-Note and we'll retune it and mail it back to you for $20. Or you can retune your 8-Note yourself (give it a try!). Please note, however, that our instructional books are designed to be played in the standard C ("do-re-mi....") tuning.

Several different tunings are listed in the old 8-Note insert.

Books for the 8-Note Kalimba

The first book below uses our ingenious tablature and the second uses the method of numbering tines to diagram songs.

THE BEST EVER BOOK OF 8-NOTE KALIMBA MUSIC
Using tablature, which is a map of the kalimba that six year olds (and up!) can decipher, we have created a wonderful basic book for the 8-Note kalimba. With 50 exercises and songs, including many well-known nursery rhymes, popular and folk songs, this book progressively instructs in melody, harmony, and chords. While this book is mostly geared towards children, adults will appreciate the Right Brain/Left Brain section, and some grooves based on geometrical patterns, Latin, jazz, rock, classical, TV jingles, and African music. CD included!

This book works with the Catania 8-Note and the Hugh Tracey 8-Note kalimbas, both in the key of C. The Goshen 8-Note kalimba is in the key of D, which will work with the book, but the CD will be in C - you cannot play along, but listen to the CD, stop, then play the Goshen kalimba, and it will be a whole step higher.

SONG BOOK FOR THE 8-NOTE CATANIA KALIMBAS When Steve Catania started making 8-Note kalimbas many years ago, he knew right away that he needed a method for teaching people how easy it is to play. The method he devised numbers the tines on the kalimba (with marker or just conceptually) "1" through "8", from lowest to highest. And that is pretty much all you need to make sense out of this book.

Check out this example of "Mary Had a Little Lamb." The numbers above each syllable indicate which kalimba tine to pluck:

 3  2  1  2  3   3    3    2   2   2     3   5   5
Mar-y had a lit-tle lamb  lit-tle lamb  lit-tle lamb

This is a very simple method of learning songs. Another advantage to this approach is that you can use this book no matter how your 8-note kalimba is laid out. So it works just as well for a one-handed kalimba with the tines ordered from left to right (ergonomically designed for a right handed person) or from right to left (ergonomically designed for a left handed person).

CD FOR THE CATANIA 8-NOTE BOOK. Mark Holdaway has recorded all 31 songs from the Catania numbers-based book, and the CD is offered separately. Each song is played twice through: the first time through is played as written, and the second time through is played with some improvised chords, harmony, and counterpoint to illustrate just what is possible with the simple unassuming 8-note kalimba!

Tips for the 8-Note Kalimba

• There is a nice series of nine tips for the 8-note kalimba.
• One of the bits of music in the Kalimba Magic 8-Note book is the backing riff from El Manisero. A cool riff to play around with for sure!
• There are dozens of ways you can tune the 8-Note kalimba, and a few of them are presented in the Old 8-Note Insert.
• The oldest kalimba tuning on the African continent is the karimba tuning for an 8-note kalimba. You can set up your 8-Note kalimba in that tuning and "vibe with the ancestors." Here are a couple of "2 against 3" riffs for a karimba-tuned 8-Note kalimba.
  And here is a fancy frill riff for a karimba-tuned 8-Note kalimba.
• The Hitzaskiar tuning is a Persian scale that sounds great on the Hitzaskiar-tuned 8-Note kalimba.
• The Ake Bono scale is a Japanese scale which is used on the Hokema Sansula, and here is a tip for the Ake Bono tuned 8-Note kalimba.
• Next steps for 8-Note Players: The 8-Note and the 12-Note
• Next steps for 8-Note Players: The 8-Note and the Alto Kalimba

Articles on the 8-Note Kalimba

Over the years, we have published several short articles on the 8-Note kalimbas or books:

• Introducing the HT8 Kalimba
• Announcing the Best Ever 8-Note Book
• Percussive Arts Society reviews the 8-Note Book
• Sharon Eaton writes for the 8-Note in F tuning
• Sharon writes a LOT for the 8-Note in F tuning

8-Note Models Available from Kalimba Magic

• The Hugh Tracey 8-Note Kalimba, or HT8, has a nice link to traditional African music - made in South Africa, it is shaped like an ancient 8-Note instrument, though it usually comes in the western "Do Re Mi" tuning.
• The Catania 8-Note Board Piano Kalimba is a great value and is a good, reliable instrument. Consider this kalimba if you would like to do an instructional program with several kids. However, I must say that it is a high quality instrument that I routinely perform on as well.
• The Catania 8-Note Gourd Piano Kalimba has a great sound - you can get the wah-wah effect by covering and uncovering the sound holes in the gourd resonator.
• Do you work with people who only use one hand? I do, and I have them use the the one-handed kalimba. I can rearrange either the Catania or the Hugh Tracey 8-Note kalimba to this linear model, and you can do some very nice music on these. Check out the video below that demonstrates a one-handed kalimba.

Playing complex music on the one-handed 8-Note kalimba.

Still Have 8-Note Kalimba Questions?

If you still have questions after reading this, please send me a message to let me know what you need to find out.