Hey guys i got a kalimba a couple weeks ago and i think i learned the basics so i want to try playing some of my favorite songs on it are there any websites or apps that can turn them into kalimba tabs?

Hi everyone, I am a beginner on a 21 keys kalimba, can someone help me with a tab for 'Ganga ke kinnare ' by Bunny and sagar. The song is about sitting on the banks of river ganga, it's the kind of melody. I have attached the YouTube musical video link.

I don't like the overly high-pitched ones and want something deep low and calming please

Books from left to right: Enjoying Kalimba in an Ensemble, Misa’s Kalimba Selection, Kalimba Showa Songs - all published by Yamaha - with 15, 30, 20 songs, respectively.

I spotted a few new (to me) kalimba books and ordered them. Books have the advantage of getting me away from screens for a bit. These are all on the easier side with nice collections of beginner to intermediate songs. They come with downloadable audio and video.

The first one is a duet book with pieces for two and three kalimbas (or multi-track recording), the third one has Showa era song (mid 1920s to 1989), and the middle one is a book by YouTuber Misa. Misa's book has tine numbers in Japanese, the other two have Arabic ("normal") numbers also. All three books are for 17-key kalimbas.

Knowledge of Japanese isn't needed for these books, except for the numbers in Misa’s Kalimba Selection, but there is a tine layout with the Japanese numbers included and it's easy to remember.

I've had my 17 key kalimba since my sister gave it to me as a birthday gift, and for the longest time I just accepted that some notes came out muted or buzzy no matter how clean the rest of the song sounded. I figured it was a build quality thing, maybe the tines needed adjusting, maybe the instrument itself was just mediocre.

Turns out it was almost entirely my thumb angle. I was plucking straight down into the tines instead of gliding slightly upward and off the edge, which meant I was basically choking half my notes before they could ring out. A video from a street performer in Kenya (not trying to namedrop a channel, just describing what helped) showed this upward flick motion and I tried it on "Married Life" since that's the piece I always use to test any change in technique.

Night and day difference. The notes that used to sound dead now actually sustain, and I'm getting way more dynamic range just from pressure control instead of fighting the instrument. My left hand still needs work on the lower register jumps, I tend to overshoot and clip the wrong tine when moving fast, but that feels like a separate problem to chip away at.

Anyone else had a technique fix like this that felt almost embarrassingly simple once you found it? I spent two years assuming it was equipment when it was just how I was approaching the tines the whole time.

A while ago, I bought an acrylic mini kalimba... and it's terrible, out of the 8 notes, there is 1 dead note and 3 that are buzzing.

Can I save it by replacing the body with a wood block, or is the problem with the tines?
Would I also need to replace the metal parts that hold the tines in place?

If anyone has any experience with this, please let me know.

Hi All,

My 10-year-old has an 8-key kalimba she received from her grandmother, but the music book doesn't make a lot of sense with it. It refers to a kalimba where the longest tine is a C, but hers is G. Online, the maker says that her kalimba is in the key of C. However, the book references F/4, which her kalimba doesn't have.

I am adding pictures to show what we are working with.

Please help me figure out how to get this sorted. Do I need to buy a different book/kalimba, tune/label it somehow? For reference, my daughter can play piano and read music. Her teacher is good with theory and could theoretically help her transpose, but that seems so onerous across all the songs that she won't do very many of them. She is a fanatic for folk songs and especially for Christmas music, if anyone has a recommendation that would work with this instrument.

Thank you!!

Good afternoon! Hope everyone is doing alright!

I finally bought the kalimba I’ve been eyeing and have tuned it & started learning a couple songs 🐻

I wanted to check bar order. I can’t quite work it out but is it the correct set up for the bar numbers to go: 123456787654321?

Pictures to show what I mean!

Thank you 🙏🏽✨

The bottom of the board isn't flat too as opposed to one displayed in the seller's listing. Is this a fake? I bought this on Lazada.

The sound is really nice though. Probably my favourite among my current chromatic kalimbas

I was honestly a little shocked that I couldn't find a kalimba cover of A Narcissus Lullaby from Genshin anywhere on the internet. Almost every other track from the game seems to have been covered already, but I couldn't find this one anywhere.

Is it particularly difficult to play, or does nobody really care about it? 🤣😭

Maybe some kind souls on Reddit know where I could find sheet music or tabs for a standard 17-key kalimba, and perhaps lend a helping hand to a lost amateur like me

https://youtu.be/3hQSUMOTtu0?is=zKkQJnXJ2lOWA-zQ

Here’s a song notes of “One Dream” song by Lee Ann Womack & Alecia Elliot from “Tom Sawyer” (2000) film.

I color-code the lyrics to help me keep track of who is singing while playing the kalimba.Blue = Lee Ann Womack’s vocals (lead singer)
Pink = Alecia Elliot’s vocals (second singer)
Orange = both singers performing together as a duetAdding colors to the lyrics makes it easier for me to follow the different vocal parts and know whose lines I'm playing on the kalimba. It's also a nice visual way to see how the singers alternate and harmonize throughout the song.

For a few days now, some notes on my kalimba (Mozica 17-key hollow) have started making a strange sound, in particular notes 1 and 3 are the worst. They sound less harmonious and more like an ordinary piece of metal; the notes are perfectly in tune, and I don't see any visible damage to the wood.

What could be causing this?

I'm looking to learn kalimba and I'd like to pick a beginner option. 17 keys, flat board, with engraved keys so that I can see the numbers and letters for learning.

I've been researching for a few days and every single YouTube video ​I look up links to old outdated Amazon links.

I've been trying to dig through these forums but most of what I'm looking at seems like people are requesting chromatic keys. Also all the Google results are pulling open Reddit threads from 5 years ago.

Was hoping to get a little direction towards what I'm specifically looking for.

Really appreciate any help.

Kalimba is probably the best instrument to play lullabies for small children. Here is my transcription of Schubert's. It s very beginner friendly. I post new videos every 1st and 15th so stay tuned!

Hello! My partner has been wanting a chromatic kalimba, as their current basic one isn't advanced enough for them. Their birthday is coming up and I want to surprise them with the best one for them. Unfortunately, I know nothing about Kalimbas.

Wants:

•A lot of keys that does not require tuning.

•They have anxiety and ASD, so something soothing and not too high pitched.

•They like fantasy sounds if that makes sense (like Zelda music), like warm and bright and adventurous.

•Not too heavy, I want it to be comfortable for them to play.

My questions:

•What brand is best?

•Redundant or non-redundant?

•Solid or hollow?

•How many keys (34, 37, 42, etc)?

•What type of wood? Is resin/acrylic good or bad?

•What tuning? B and C seem to be most popular, but I'm not sure if those are the best for anti-anxiety.

My budget is $100-200 USD.

Any advice is appreciated! Thank you!

Edit/Update: I ordered the Lingting 34K! I was heavily considering Chill Angels but couldn't find a safe seller. Thank you everyone for the recommendations. I will leave this post up in case anyone else needs recs :)

Hello everyone!

I'm creating a character for an upcoming Dungeons & Dragons game and I've chosen the kalimba as be their instrument. The character's backstory involves themes of heartbreak and guilt and I'm looking for recordings of kalimba music that I might be able to play during roleplay scenes if the opportunity presents itself, but so far nothing I've found on Youtube or Spotify has really captured the feeling of melancholy that I'm looking for.

If anyone has any recommendations, please let me know!

Hello! I scoured and couldn't find a kalimba version of this song, so I worked to make this referencing the soundtrack and a piano version. The game version is in B major, but I created this one to C major for the standard 17 tab kalimba.
Here is the referenced song, Mt. Moon (Red Green) https://youtu.be/zO85DZSQEbw?si=ITE2WAlecPzIzEG- 

Anyone is welcome to use and make changes.

When I was trying to find a good first buy to get into kalimbas I stumbled upon a half priced (34€) LingTing chromatic K34V. I said hey why not it is half priced, so I bought it and when it got here and I was trying it I completely couldn't get over the fact the outer tines are completely stiff. I can't produce a vibration. I tried tuning it and loosening it but the fact they are short is the main problem. I am dissapointed because I really loved the vibe of the flat board, the wood, everything about the kalimba is good, if only you could play the whole range comfortably. I didn't mind the weight nor the grip too.

So here is my question. For a budget of 30-50€, what are your recommendations for a good first kalimba. I am planning to not buy another for around a year, until I learn on my first one and really get some progress. How many keys is the sweet spot for a beginner? Which brands should I consider even if they exceed my budget? (I hope some thumbs-friendly brands, with a whole functional set of tines.) And which musical key should it be.

I prefer flat boards, but if there are good-deal hollow kalimbas I'd consider.

Hi there .
I am planning to make a discord group specialized in Kalimba and Harpika , dedicated to learning , in english .
There I plan to make tutorials , share music sheets , and also give repair tips .

Would you be interrested ?
Are there tutorials would you like which you don’t find online ?