music therapy

 The Battle Hymn of the Republic, on 17/C Kalimba As a retired kalimba master, I have been doing a lot of music performances at elder care facilities. While I can get through a one hour performance with 15-20 songs, I need to have a lot more than that up my sleeve: not everyone I play for has a bad memory! If I play the same songs each week, some of the residents will catch on, and I might lose my dream job of playing for people and bringing them joy. One simple way to keep a diverse song list is to pay attention to the calendar. For example, you

“This is My Song, Oh God of All the Nations” Playing kalimba helps me through the good times and the hard times in my life. In May, when I traveled to Longmont Colorado to facilitate my father’s memorial service, I saw on Facebook that a long time friend, LS, was in hospice… also in Longmont. I had known LS for over 30 years, but I had not seen him since 2019. I reached out to his wife to ask if I could come and see him and play music for him. There was a 36 hour delay in the communication (Facebook messenger), but my friend was still alive when I

African Tuned Karimba, a traditional African note layout. Use the coupon code KARIMBA35 to save 35% on the Hugh Tracey African Tuned Karimba or the Hugh Tracey African Tuned Karimba + PU, now through June 30 2025. Kalimba or Karimba? You might want to read here for the full story on the different names of this uniquely African instrument. Generally, if it has two rows of tines, an upper row and a lower row, it is called a Karimba. But this is not a universal rule. The Sansula and the B11 Kalimba have two rows of tines, but they are not rooted in the traditional African karimba… so I don’t

My personal kalimba collection is a bit excessive. I have five different Hugh Tracey box pentatonic kalimbas, all in different tunings. Why? Because they are fun, easy-to-play instruments. I love to play them myself, and I love to put them in other people’s hands and watching them cut loose as I play guitar to back them up. But “Kalimba Magic the Business” (as opposed to “me and my personal collection”) still has two more Hugh Tracey box pentatonic kalimbas. We sold out of the box pentatonics with Pickup many months ago, sorry. And as African Musical Instruments (AMI) no longer makes kalimbas, these two will be among the last Hugh

On April 4-6 2025, I went back to a regional Music Therapy Conference to pitch the kalimba to Music Therapists, and I had a great time. You can get the 34 page PDF download for the two hour presentation here. Before I get into it, be aware that Music Therapists are not just musicians who want to make a bit of money playing nice music for sick people. You might call that person a “therapeutic musician”, which is not any sort of official designation. Rather, Music Therapists receive extensive training, including a college degree, a 6 month internship with other practicing music therapists, and they need to pass a certification