June 21, 2006
Chords for the Alto and Treble Kalimbas

Have you ever tried playing guitar? If so, you know there are hundreds of chords you can make on the guitar. The guitar plays in every key available to western music, and you can play very complicated chords. The kalimba is much easier, because the tuning you are playing with sets the key for you. The Hugh Tracey Alto and Treble kalimbas are set up to play in the key of G, but you can tune them to other keys, or other non-western tunings. The way the Hugh Tracey Kalimbas are set up, the easiest chords, the I-III-V (ie, one-three-five) triads are played with three adjacent notes.

Here are the chords in our easy-to-read tablature. Start at the bottom and go up. Each space represents a different tine, so the tablature is a map of your kalimba. Dig it? At first, you will have to look back and forth at the tablature and the kalimba to make sure you are getting it right, but it gets easier. Human beings are amazing creatures and can learn just about anything. Next week, we'll learn some of the things we can do with these chords.

Tab for Chords: TREBLE on left and ALTO on right

Listen to chords