Customer Samuel asks: "What are the most important things for me to know about keeping my kalimba happy?"

I think the most important thing is to not mistreat your kalimba. Don't drop your kalimba on the ground. Don't put things on top of your kalimba. Don't sit on your kalimba. Don't leave your kalimba in a hot car. Don't spill juice or soda on your kalimba, and don't let your kalimba get wet.

But what else do you need to know about keeping your kalimba happy?

I remember the embarrassment shooting across my face like it was yesterday - about 20 years ago, I was playing kalimba on a bus. A certain man was listening intently, and we spoke a bit after I finished playing... and then he told me: "I bet you don't make as much as a single solitary QUARTER playing that silly little instrument!"

I never saw him again, but if I did, I would tell him that for the last 15 years, I have made my entire living from the kalimba. The kalimba is already a sacred instrument - but to me, the fact that it is also my livelihood elevates it even more.

People ask me all the time: "Why do some kalimbas have some upward-bent tines?"

The short answers: it is a design element in many traditional African kalimbas, permitting two interleaved rows of tines, one with shorter tines and the other with longer tines. This not only makes the instrument physically easier to play, but also suggests a host of harmonies and musical motifs that otherwise would be difficult to play.

This is a new kalimba from China. It almost didn't make it, as the factory where it is made in China was shut down for a few months over the Covid-19 crisis. But here they are now! The standard tuning is a C major / A minor pentatonic scale. The resonant body with goat-skin membrane makes a great wah-wah effect. The two rows of tines make for an easy division of the notes. This is a fantastic instrument for improvisation.

Each Moon-10 Kalimba comes with a soft form-fitting padded case and a 24-page instructional manual, complete with sound recordings. And it is remarkably affordable.

I get a lot of requests for numbers-based instruction from people who cannot read music.

While I have created numbers-based materials, they are very limiting. The world of possibilities is huge, deep and broad, and the numbers-based instructional materials can only touch the surface.

In order to achieve kalimba greatness, I suggest you move over to the graphical Kalimba Tablature. To see some of the advantages to this approach, read on, dear reader!

I long thought that the best music was created in the 1960s, and some in the 1970s.

However, I am now of the belief that the pop music of the last 10 years is as good as its ever been. So I am starting to learn some of these modern pop songs on kalimba, and you, dear reader, will be the beneficiary of these pop songs.

Enjoy this arrangement of the Maroon 5 song "Payphone".

The most important thing you can do to keep your kalimba sounding good is to keep it in tune. The second most important thing you can do is to fix any buzzing tines.

We give you the resources you need to do these kalimba maintenance items yourself - click through to see the links.

If you are unable to accomplish the tuning and fixing yourself, let me introduce you to The Kalimba Doctors: Mark Holdaway, and Mike Ankomeus. Together, we will do our best to improve your old kalimba in about a dozen different ways.

In the 1950s, Hugh Tracey made prototype kalimbas from dozens of different types of African hard woods. In the end, he chose Kiaat for the wood for his new invention, the Hugh Tracey Kalimba. Even though it was a new-fangled instrument, it reflected many design choices from traditional instruments, and the Kiaat wood choice was one of those, as many traditional kalimbas were made from Kiaat wood.

And today, in 2020 - or 66 years later for the math challenged among us - the Hugh Tracey Kalimba is still made from Kiaat African hardwood.

What makes kiaat so special?

When Hugh Tracey made his new kalimbas back in 1954, there were only a few people in the world who could play this non-traditional African instrument.

But what about people in Africa? Didn't they too play kalimba? They did, but they played instruments with other designs, other setups, and other tunings. The Hugh Tracey Kalimba was a new instrument in the kalimba family, ideally suited to playing western music.

Hugh's eldest son Andrew Tracey went to Oxford to study music so he could write a manual for the Hugh Tracey kalimbas. This old 1968 manual is hard to find, so I scanned it and make it available to you (with AMI permission, of course).

I recently got this message in my Facebook feed:

"Hey man, I just wanted to say thank you for your research regarding the kalimba. I came across it randomly and thought it originated in Asia, but boy was I wrong! Thank you for showing us where its true roots lie."

Yes, so many kalimbas are made in China that the African roots of the instrument are becoming obscured. I have a really cool video I made that explains some of the important parts of the kalimba's story in Africa.

In 1960, Andrew Tracey discovered the karimba player Jega Tapera in the township surrounding Bullawayo (then Rhodesia). Jega Tapera taught Dumisani Maraire to play karimba... which he renamed mbira nyunga nyunga. And Dumisani taught his daughter Chiwoniso to play mbira nyunga nyunga.

Jega, Dumi, and Chiwoniso are all gone.

But now, there is Stango and Nongoma!

If you are looking for inspiration for your karimba or nyunga nyunga playing, check out their music!

Welcome to the new world. While I don't know exactly what that means, I can do my best to reassure you that what we ship to you is safe and will not get you sick. This is important for all of us. Read more to find out what we are doing to keep ourselves - and YOU - safe!

When life slaps you in the face, what do you do?

You get to decide. It is all up to you. But if you keep walking with an attitude of gratitude for the things that still work, for the sun that shines warm on your face, the wind that cools you down, the rain that waters the plants, the stars that shine at night, and the song that plays on in your heart - you'll have a much better time of it.

I am able to give a huge shout of "THANK YOU" to the kalimba community for my job of sailing this ship called Kalimba Magic. Thank you for trusting me at this time.

 Most people who play kalimba quickly discover a set of musical tricks that are easy to do and sound good... but sometimes, they get stuck in a rut and don't really know what else to do. To get out of the rut, they could get a new kalimba with a different number of tines or a different note layout, as the new kalimba would provide new vistas and new opportunities for creativity. Most people who play kalimba for more than a few years will end up getting multiple kalimbas. 

However, there is an easier way to get the feeling of a new kalimba, without paying for anything: have you considered trying a brand new tuning on your kalimba?

New tunings can loosen up your conception of the kalimba and help you be more creative. We present alternative tunings for: 17-Note Kalimba in C, Alto Kalimba, Sansulas, African tuned Karimba, and 8-Note and 10-Note Kalimbas.

Now is a chance for many people around the world to do some home-schooling. Kids are loving the time and parental attention combined with the freedom of being home instead of at school. What a great time to do kalimba with them! 

This is an opportunity for precious one-on-one time with your kids... or with your parents! This is a time to make something beautiful together.

And I can recommend two kalimbas (see the image above) that go great together, and they come with an ebook of duets written just for them!

This particular moment is a fantastic time to pick up the kalimba. It attracts you into the NOW and invites you to focus in as deeply as you can.

And when the world looks as it does right now, with fear and uncertainty, having something that you CAN do to create beauty and an aura of peace gives you a confidence-boosting sense of control over your life.

The kalimba is a care free instrument. Its size and portability make it a great instrument to travel with. However, the kalimba tines require protection when you travel, or else they will tend to get pulled and pushed out of tune.

If you want to travel safely with your Hokema B9 or B11 kalimba, check out these carrying cases made specifically for these instruments.

At the age of 86, John Burns of Melbourne, Australia is having the time of his life, playing meditative music on the Native American Flute and the Sansula. He started playing tuba in high school, then a rare chording harmonica. He continues his exploration of arpeggiated chords, now on the Sansula.

John brings the sensitivity and spirituality of the Native American Flute to his Sansula playing, and he touches the hearts of the people for whom he plays.

Kalimba tablature, invented by yours truly in 2004, reflects my internal conceptualization of the kalimba and how it is played. My gift to the kalimba world, this tablature can be used to learn how to play, to transmit any sort of music to others, as well as an easy and elegant aid in composing new music.

But not everyone likes my vertical tablature.

If you're new to kalimba tablature and find it overwhelming, you might want to first try the numbers-based approach to learning how to play. A simple, "play by the numbers" method, it references the degrees of the scale and is a valid approach to understanding music.

This is a perfect place for children to start playing kalimba - or for anyone without musical experience who want to start very simply.

I have been playing music since I was 8 years old – for almost 50 years. I did not discover the kalimba until I was 24 – about 34 years ago. I have played many different instruments, and though I love many of them, the kalimba is my favorite. It is the instrument that I have become most recognized for, and it is also the instrument that I make my living through.

What are my reasons for loving playing the kalimba so much?

The first reason why I love playing kalimba: It helps you see and understand music in a completely different way from any other instrument. The unique note layout of the kalimba requires that you understand it physically more than mentally. You learn what sort of thumb dancing you need to do to accomplish a certain song. In a totally unique way, playing kalimba really puts your consciousness into your body.

For the last two years, people have been asking me in emails: "So, is the Hugh Tracey kalimba really worth it? I can get a 17-note kalimba made in China for much less."

Of my own personal kalimbas, 8 out of the 10 that I commonly use for performances are Hugh Tracey instruments. Obviously, it's clear to me that if you are at the performance level, the Hugh Tracey kalimba is worth it.

But I have to admit that I was quite pleased to hear KalimbaCam come out with a solid "Yes!" to the Hugh Tracey Alto kalimba in his review on YouTube.

This morning, as I was playing kalimba and walking along the Tanque Verde wash, I answered a call from a customer who had bought the "44 Beginner Songs" ebook for the 17-Note Kalimba in C. She was so excited about progressing with the kalimba, her first musical success ever! She could read the tablature... but she said she didn't play any of the songs that she wasn't already very familiar with.

I quizzed her: "You do know that the ebook comes with sound files for each song, right?"

She did know that they were available, but didn't know how to access them. And I realized that if she didn't know how to get the sound files, there are very likely other people who need help. That help is here!

A large part of what makes the kalimba such a magical instrument is the nostalgia it creates when you play it. Not always, but often the kalimba will sound like a tiny little music box. You can play that up, by learning some of the famous songs from music boxes: "A Time For Us," "Over the Rainbow," or "Fur Elise."

And an obvious song to add to that list would be Frank Mills' "Music Box Dancer" - which in my mind was a song that was created to play upon that same nostalgia.

The holiday classic "Silverbells" turns out to be the perfect song to showcase the Hugh Tracey Treble kalimba.

Why, you might ask? Because the song "Silverbells" dips down to the 3rd of the scale, but no lower. In the opening line, "City sidewalks," the word "walks" goes down to the 3rd. Also, the refrain "Silverbells" starts on the 3rd and goes up.

It seems that "Silverbells" was made just for this kalimba! But even if you have a different kalimba, you will still be able to use this tablature.