September 26, 2006
Walking on the Off Beats

There are many ways of moving while you play, and we have touched on some of them. This is one of the coolest.

A friend of mine had a blonde girlfriend who loved to sing gospel music. I never saw her sing in the almost-all-black gospel choir, but my friend said, "Yeah, she's the only blonde in the group, and she's also the only person clapping on the down beat!"

So, even if this story is about you, there is hope: walk while you play kalimba, and let your feet come down, not on the 1 and 3 of the kalimba music, but on the 2 and the 4. It is a bit harder, but you can do it.

Here's the general plan:

Feel free to make up your own music that fits this pattern. If you don't feel like making it up, here's something you can do on the Treble or Alto kalimba:

 

Remember to really feel your feet pounding down on the 2 and 4, where the arrows point to the notes in the tablature.

To get the KTabS Reader, go to KTabS.