What is a kalimba? The thumb piano explained

A kalimba is a small instrument with a row of metal tines (keys) mounted on a wooden or acrylic body, which you pluck with your thumbs. That is why it is also called a thumb piano: every tine plays one fixed note, and together they form a scale you can play melodies on straight away.

It fits in two hands, needs no amplifier and makes a soft, ringing sound that sits somewhere between a music box and a glockenspiel. Below you read where it comes from, how it works and why so many people pick it as their first instrument.

Instruments with plucked tongues of metal or bamboo have been played in Africa for centuries. Musicologists call this family lamellophones. Each region has its own versions and names. The best known is the mbira from Zimbabwe, which plays a central role in the music and ceremonies of the Shona people. In Central Africa you find related instruments called sanza or likembe.

These traditional instruments often have their own tunings that do not match a Western scale, and many have extra rattles or bottle caps attached that give a buzzing sound. That buzz is part of the music, not a flaw.

The kalimba as most people know it today goes back to Hugh Tracey, an English ethnomusicologist who lived in South Africa and spent decades recording African music. In the 1950s and 1960s he started producing a version of the thumb piano tuned to a Western diatonic scale and sold it internationally under the name kalimba. That made the instrument playable for anyone who already knew Western songs, and the name stuck.

Modern kalimbas build on that idea. The most common model today has 17 tines tuned to the C major scale. In Dutch it is often simply called a duimpiano.

The principle is simple:

• Each tine is pressed down onto a bridge by a metal bar. The part that sticks out towards you can vibrate freely.
• When you push the tip down with your thumb and let it slip off, the tine vibrates and produces a tone.
• The length of the free part determines the pitch. A long tine vibrates slowly and sounds low. A short tine vibrates fast and sounds high.
• The body amplifies the vibration. A hollow box gives more volume, a solid board gives a clearer, more direct tone.

That is also why you can tune a kalimba yourself: by tapping a tine a little further in or out, you change the length of the free part and therefore the pitch. You can read how in How to tune a kalimba.

On a 17-key kalimba the longest tine, and so the lowest note, is in the middle. The notes then climb in steps, alternating left and right. On most 17-key models that means:

• the middle tine is C (the lowest note)
• the tine just left of it is D
• the tine just right of it is E
• then F on the left, G on the right, and so on outwards

So a scale is played by switching thumbs: left, right, left, right. The highest notes sit on the far outside, where the tines are shortest. Our 17-key kalimbas run from C4 (middle C) to E6, which is just over two octaves.

There are a few reasons beginners often get a melody out of it on the first evening:

1. Every note is already in tune. You do not have to find a note, like on a violin. You press a tine and it sounds right.
2. There are no wrong-sounding notes. All tines belong to the same scale (C major), so even random playing sounds pleasant.
3. Neighbouring tines form chords. Tines next to each other on the same side are a third apart. Pluck the middle C together with the two tines to its right (E and G) and you hear a C major chord.
4. Numbered tines. Most kalimba songs are written as simple numbers instead of sheet music. 1 is C, 2 is D, and so on. Read more in How to read kalimba tabs.
5. It is small and quiet. You can play on the sofa, in bed or on the train without bothering anyone.

In everyday use the words overlap. Roughly:

• Mbira usually refers to the traditional Zimbabwean instrument, with its own tuning and often a buzzing sound.
• Kalimba is the name for the modern version tuned to a Western scale, as popularised by Hugh Tracey.
• Thumb piano (duimpiano in Dutch) is the general description for the whole family.

If you buy a "kalimba" online today, you almost always get a 17-key instrument in C major, or a smaller 8-key version.

For most people a 17-key kalimba is the best start. It has enough range for thousands of songs, and almost all tabs you find online are written for it. You can find them in our 17-key collection. Want something smaller to try first, or for a young child? Then look at the small kalimbas.

Want to hear what a kalimba sounds like before you buy one? Try the playable kalimba on our home page. Ready to start? The Kalimba Starter Set has a 17-key kalimba, a hard case, note stickers and a tuning hammer in one box, and the song library has playable tabs to begin with.