June 27, 2006
Doubles, Anyone?

This exercise works best if you have a partner. If you have two kalimbas, you can each use one; if you only have one kalimba, use your right hand and have your partner use their left hand, together holding the kalimba in your two hands.

At first, the universe of a 15 or 17 note kalimba seems quite small, but really it is huge. Limit yourself to two different notes, and have your partner pick two different notes as well. Play your two notes, have your partner play their two notes, and repeat until you have a smooth chain of notes. If you don't like the way the notes sound together, try changing one of the notes and let the chain evolve until you are happy with it.

Once the chain of notes is flowing, you can no longer tell which one is the starting note. At this point, try playing around with the chain by picking one particular note to emphasize every time it comes around, effectively making that one the start of the phrase. After a while, let your partner pick a note to emphasize and listen to how your perception of the pattern changes.

Listen to how your notes fit with your partners' notes. Remember that in music it is just as important to hear the other musicians' notes as it is to be heard. Try to get lost in the notes so you can't tell which notes are yours and which notes are your partners.

If you and your partner were playing notes at the same time, we would have to take some care to make sure they blended nicely. However, since you are playing your notes and then your partner plays their notes, it is highly likely that the notes will sound pretty good together. Using a single 15 note kalimba, there are literally thousands of combinations you can make in this exercise. Try to find three different combinations that you really like, and remember them.