Using the Kalimba in Music Education

Using the Kalimba in Music Education
Mark Holdaway, PhD
mark@kalimbamagic.com
(520) 488-7641
www.kalimbamagic.com
Abstract: Bamboo-tined African lamellaphones appeared about 3000 years ago, and metal-tined lamellaphones
appeard about 1300 years ago, but the kalimba as we know it was first made in the 1950s by Hugh Tracey, who
combined many design features of different traditional instruments, but with an alternating note layout and a
Western tuning. While the kalimba has long been a powerful symbol of African music and unique African achievement, there have been essentially no instructional materials guiding people on how to use the kalimba in western
music. Over the last six years, I have dedicated my life to writing kalimba instructional materials that elucidate the
principles of the kalimba so that the kalimba might be better used by children, teens, adults, and elders.
This presentation touches on ways of using the kalimba with very young children with no formal musical knowledge, as an Orff instrument, as a replacement for the recorder (a first instrument reading musical notation), as a
world music instrument, as an example of a truly ancient instrument from approximately 1300 years ago, as an
instrument of black and African pride, as a modern folk instrument, as an instrument capable of playing hymns,
classical, rock, new age, and jazz music, and as a laboratory for understanding music theory.
5-Note Hokema Kalimbas tuned to different
chords can be played sequentially by different
players to create melodies from arpeggiated
chords. This is a great introduction to chord
progressions and illustrates how a simple motif can be repeatedly modulated to construct
longer melodic phrases. Ages 5-15
Simple: each player makes a six-note phrase in their chordal kalimba: ||: F | C7 :||
Next: try four-note phrases cycling through I-IV-I-V:
||: F | Bb | F | C7 :||
Moderate: use relative minors, the II chord, etc; improvise among:
F Dm7 G7 BbM7 C7
Advanced: figure out the chords you need to accompany a song you want to do, and set up those chords.
The 6-Note Catania Kalimba covers one octave of the pentatonic scale and can be used improvisationally as an Orff
instrument in an ensemble of other instruments, or it can be
used with “paint by numbers” notation. Ages 6-10
3 2 1 2 3 3 3
2 2 2
3 5 5
Ma-ry had a lit-tle lamb lit-tle lamb lit-tle lamb
Similar instructional materials are
available for the 8-Note and 12-Note
Catania Kalimbas.
3 2 1 2 3 3 3
3
2
2
3
2 1
Ma-ry had a lit-tle lamb whose fleece was white as snow.
2
The 8-Note Kalimba is a perfect recorder substitite. It covers
one octave of the diatonic scale. Music is available for it in
numbers-based and tablature notation. Three tines can be
painted to aid in “keeping your place” on the kalimba, interfacing left and right side tines, and transferring notes from
tablature to the kalimba itself.
Experience gained on the 8-Note diatonic kalimba is directly
transferable to larger diatonic kalimbas.
Note: Alaska guitar finger picks can be used on the thumbs!
Ages 6-12
Kalimba tablature is a map of
the kalimba that uses otherwise
standard music notation.
The 8-Note or 9-Note Student Karimba has an idiosyncratic
note layout that is present in all ancient lamellaphones in
southern Africa, and has been called the “kalimba core” and
has been hypothesized to be the “original African mbira” from
1300 years ago that gave rise to more complex instruments
such as the mbira dzavadzimu.
Traditional and original music for this instrument is available
in the book The Student Karimba, and much of it is appropriate for elementary school kids. Playing traditional African
music on this instrument is an exercise in ethnomusicology - it
gives us an opportunity to compare African chord progressions
and musical forms to western music, and also gives us a real
appreciation for the genius of the African mind circa 700 AD.
It is my personal mission to promote this instrument in the
schools.
Ages 6-15
3
The Two Octave 11-Note Pentatonic Kalimba is a great instrument to improvise
on. I would describe it as an Orff instrument, but Maurice White of Earth Wind
and Fire made his career on improvising on the pentatonic kalimba in front of a
full R&B/rock band.
Because the scale requires alternating left-right strokes, it is relatively easy to play
quickly, and the pentatonic scale - aka the no fault scale - permits inexperienced
players to do the equivalent of guitar shredding. The student can think of the kalimba just in terms of root notes and geometrical patterns, and doesn’t need to consider notes or harmonic frameworks at all. It is more of a body-based intelligence.
11-Note Pentatonic Kalimba
in G major. G minor is also
a popular tuning.
The instructor could play an underlying chord progression on the guitar or piano
while one or more students improvise on the pentatonic kalimba. Other participants can play rhythm instruments or even bass kalimba.
Harmony of the underlying chord progression: You can play standard I-IV-V
progressions in G major - G-C-D. You can play in the relative minor, with Em, A
or Am (it doesn’t matter as the pentatonic is lacking the 4 or C note), and Bm or
B (the B’s major 3rd, D#, will clash with the kalimba’s D, but that is a bluesy kind
of good clash). Or there is an ambiguous mode - neither major nor minor - based
in A (it has 1, 2, 4, 5, flat 7), so you can play chord progressions using A or Am, D,
and Em.
Ages 9 and up
Note: please read about the
diatonic kalimbas on page 4
before you read this!
Key Flexibility for Diatonic Kalimbas: it is simple to retune
around the circle of 5ths (by change the F#s into F naturals
for example), but then the root note changes location: the
note layout is very different, and it is harder on the player.
On the other hand, every note can be retuned by a half step
or a whole step - like putting a capo on a guitar, or picking
up a harmonica in a different key.
Alto Kalimba:
E F F# G Ab A
Bb Treble Kalimba:
Ab A Bb B C
D Treble Kalimba:
C Db D Eb E
All of these kalimbas can “read” the Alto tablature in these
books and instructional downloads:
Instructional books for the diatonic kalimbas:
Alto Fundamentals*
The Alto Hymnal*
Classical Alto*
African American Spirituals for the Alto Kalimba
Christmas Carols for the Alto Kalimba*
Advanced Christmas Carols for the Alto Kalimba*
Instructional downloads for diatonic kalimbas:
10 Trad. Karimba Pieces Arranged for Alto
12 Easter Hymns for the Alto Kalimba*
Kalimba Americana
* These books or downloads are also available
in versions for the standard Treble Kalimba.
4
Diatonic Kalimbas, such as the 15-Note Alto, the 17-Note Treble,
or the Bb and D families of Treble kalimbas can play between 80
and 90% of the non-classical, non-jazz songs you might think of
playing. With two octaves or just over two octaves, the range exceeds most people’s vocal range, and it is possible to play melodies
while accompanying oneself with chords, harmony, or counterpoint.
The examples below are for the 15-Note Alto kalimba.
Ages 10 and up

Scales are made by playing notes alternating
right and left and incrementing outward
(higher) or inward (lower).

Melody only!


Triads are made by playing three adjacent notes in a
glissando or arpeggio. Octaves are on opposite sides.
Melody and a chordal accompaniment.
5
Use the kalimba as a laboratory for Music Theory! Because the kalimba is organized differently than standard western instruments, it makes chords more easily than scales, i.e. it provides a different way of looking at
music. The basic philosophy of the kalimba is to provide all the notes you need for a particular song, but only
those notes. However, it can be easily retuned to other scales or keys. You can set the instrument up a certain
way and put it in someone’s hands and have them go off and work around a particular scale or mode, letting
them improvise or compose in that mode until they really understand the sound of that scale or mode.
Ages 14 and up
To illustrate the kalimba’s use as a music theory laboratory, work on these modal scales written out for
the Alto kalimba. Do you have a favorite mode? Try improvising a song in that mode.


G major scale
A dorian scale


C lydian scale
D mixolydian scale


B phrygian scale
E Aeolian scale
On a G major Alto kalimba, how do you play the G mixolydian mode? (Hint: you need to retune)
How do you play the modal 7th chords? How do you play 9th chords?
Other resources
KTabS - the Kalimba Tablature Software - is a $30 Windows computer program that allows you to
create kalimba tablature quickly and easily, and you can play the music back on your computer to make
sure you wrote the right thing and to help you learn how to play it. You can also set up templates for
kalimbas of any number of tines in any tuning, you can copy, cut and paste and even transpose phrases
or entire pieces. It is a great composition tool. And you can play back several parts simultaneously.
http://ktabs.theirhouse.org
Kalimba music writing and arranging. Kalimba Magic is dedicated to providing high quality instructional materials for kalimbas and high end support to kalimba customers. If you need help writing or
arranging kalimba parts to go with other music, WE CAN HELP! Contact Mark Holdaway at (520)
488-7641
The Kalimba Magic website has over four years of daily tips and five years of informative and imaginative newsletters, all archived for your viewing pleasure. See what we have to offer at:
www.kalimbamagic.com
Kalimba Magic is selling a set of several PDFs for a
Transposing Wheel - print the wheels and pin them
together and spin them around to transpose the major
scale, modes, exotic ethnic scales, simple chords, advanced chords, and even chord progressions from one
key to another! The information in these transposing
wheels is not couched in terms of any particular instrument, so it is equally applicable to piano, thumb piano,
tuba, or flute.
If you buy the set of PDFs, you can print these out for
your whole class! Comes with a 10 page manual and a
one page quick start guide.
C
C#
B
Db
1
root
A#
M7
Bb
Major 7th
D
Basic
Chords
7
flat 7
A
3-
minor 3rd
EbD#
3
major 3rd
5
fifth
Ab
4
sus
E
G#
G
Gb
F
F#
And of course, come and visit me at the Kalimba Magic table # 19 in the exhibit hall - come and chat,
tell me what you are up to, and we’ll talk about how you might be able to use the kalimba in your music
education work. - Mark Holdaway