Virtual Kalimba

What this virtual kalimba is

This page shows a kalimba with seventeen metal tines, the most common size sold today. You pluck a tine by tapping or clicking it, and it rings with a soft, chime-like note that fades slowly. All the notes belong to the C major scale, so any combination of tines sounds pleasant together. There is nothing to install and no account to create.

The sound is synthesized in your browser, so no audio files are downloaded. It gives an impression of a plucked metal tine, but it is a simplified imitation and not a recording of a real kalimba. The board is wider than a phone, so on small screens it scrolls sideways.

How a kalimba makes its sound

A kalimba is a lamellophone, which means an instrument whose sound comes from thin strips, called lamellae, fixed at one end. The strips are metal tines mounted on a wooden board or a hollow box. The player holds the instrument in both hands and plucks the free ends of the tines with the thumbs. A tine that is longer vibrates more slowly and sounds lower, and a shorter tine sounds higher. The hollow body amplifies the sound.

The tone is soft and bell-like, with a quick pluck at the start and a long gentle fade. On this page, each note is a pure tone with two much quieter high overtones that die away quickly, plus a very short click for the thumb. It is a rough model, and a real kalimba has a richer and more varied sound than this.

The tine layout

The kalimba uses an alternating layout. The longest tine sits in the middle and plays C4, the lowest note. The next note up, D4, is on the left, then E4 is on the right, F4 on the left, and so on, zigzagging outward. The shortest tines, at the outer edges, are the highest notes. From left to right, the notes are D6, B5, G5, E5, C5, A4, F4, D4, C4, E4, G4, B4, D5, F5, A5, C6 and E6.

This zigzag is the clever part of the design. Each thumb plays every second note of the scale, so neighboring tines on the same side are a third apart. That makes chords simple: the middle tine and the next two on the right sound C, E and G, a C major chord. On the page, the tines are drawn from long to short, so you can see the arrangement at a glance.

Playing with a mouse, touch screen or keyboard

• Mouse. Click a tine to pluck it. Hold the button and drag across the tines to play a quick run of notes.
• Touch screen. Tap a tine with a thumb, as you would on a real kalimba. Use both thumbs, or more fingers, to pluck several together. Swipe sideways to see tines that are off screen.
• Computer keyboard. The keys follow pitch, not position. The bottom row, Z X C V B N M, plays C4 to B4. The home row, A S D F G H J, plays C5 to B5, and Q W E play C6, D6 and E6.
• Keyboard navigation. Press Tab to reach the tines and press Enter or Space to pluck the tine in focus.

Each pluck is a separate sound, and notes ring on and overlap, which gives the kalimba its dreamy, shimmering quality when you play several in a row.

Where the kalimba comes from

The kalimba belongs to a family of thumb pianos that has been played in Africa for a very long time. The best-known relative is the mbira of the Shona people of Zimbabwe, which is central to their music and ceremonies. Related instruments are found across much of the continent under many names. In the twentieth century, the ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey helped popularize a version he called the kalimba, tuned to a Western scale, and it spread around the world.

Today the kalimba is popular because it is small, quiet and easy to start. Most models are tuned to C major, which means you can play simple tunes straight away, and the light, soothing sound suits relaxation and gentle music.

Beginner exercises

1. Find the center. Pluck the middle tine, then the tines either side of it, and notice how the pitch rises as you move outward.
2. A C major chord. Pluck the middle tine and the next two on the right together or one after another. They are C4, E4 and G4.
3. A D minor chord. Pluck the three tines to the left of the middle one, D4, F4 and A4, for a gentler, more wistful sound.
4. A G major chord. Pluck the second, third and fourth tines on the right of the middle one, G4, B4 and D5.
5. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. With the computer keys, play Z Z B B N N B, then V V C C X X Z.
6. A simple arpeggio. Pluck C4, E4, G4, then C5, one note at a time, slowly, and let them ring together.

What a virtual kalimba is good for

A virtual kalimba is a calm, easy instrument for exploring melody and chords. It is useful for children who are learning notes, for people who want a few quiet minutes of gentle sound, and for songwriters sketching a delicate hook. Because every note belongs to one key, you cannot play a wrong note. Compare it with the virtual xylophone, whose bars are struck instead of plucked, and with the virtual piano, which offers a full range of notes.

Online kalimba versus a real one

A real kalimba sits in your hands, and your thumbs feel the tines and can pluck them at different strengths, giving each note a different loudness and tone. A real kalimba is also small enough to carry anywhere and costs little. Players can change the pitch by sliding the tines in some designs, and adjust them with a small tuning hammer.

The virtual version lets you try the layout and hear a tune right now. Every pluck is the same strength, and you tap a screen rather than feel a tine move. Treat it as a quick first try and a way to find notes, and consider a real kalimba if you enjoy it.

Limitations of this version

• The sound is a basic synthesized imitation of a plucked tine, not a recording, and does not match any particular kalimba.
• Every pluck has the same strength, and there is no tremolo or sliding effect.
• Only a seventeen-tine kalimba in C major is offered. Other sizes and tunings are not.
• Tines cannot be retuned and there are no sharps or flats.
• Nothing is recorded or saved, and there is no MIDI input.

Common problems and how to fix them

• No sound. Browsers keep audio off until you interact with the page, so tap a tine first. Then check the volume slider, your device volume and the tab's mute icon. On an iPhone, also check that the silent switch is off.
• Some tines are off screen. On a narrow screen the kalimba scrolls sideways. Swipe along it, or turn your phone to landscape.
• The keys do nothing. Click an empty part of the page so focus is not in another field.
• The letters play the wrong tines. The layout follows the physical position of keys, so on a non-US keyboard the letters on your keys may differ from the labels on screen.
• The sound lags. Close heavy tabs and use wired headphones or the device speaker.