The mbira is a very ancient African musical instrument, consisting of several blades joined, on a table made of rush or bamboo wood, but which can also be made of metal, as often happens for convenience or desired sound effects in some mbira models.

Below the wooden slats, there is a box usually made of wood (but in more “rural” tools this box can also be an emptied pumpkin) with a large hole in the front or two small holes in the back, which functions as a sound box for the musical instrument.

In reality, there are numerous versions of this instrument, some with smaller or flatter “speakers”, others even fully electronic; for this reason, we limited ourselves to the description of the more “standard” mbira.

How to play mbira?

Being a percussion instrument, the mbira is played through the percussion of its blades, which can be present in a variable number that starts from a minimum of 5 to a maximum of 30 blades, whose length can vary depending on the type of mbira.

How to hit the lamellas of the mbira to play the mbira?

First of all, you must have a mbira: you can find good quality and prices easily online.
Instead of using a stick as happens in other percussion instruments, fingers or nails are used, in particular with the thumbs, but other fingers of the hand can also be used, which can be used to better modulate the single sound or the sound effects of the mbira.

To play the mbira, first, check the notes of the instrument

To play the mbira it is necessary to verify that it is set well in the notes through the use of a tuner; this for scruple or when it is not possible to know which note corresponds to each finger to be played with the fingers of the instrument. Usually, together with the mbira, a small sheet is released with notes or some annotations showing what are the sound combinations or the reference scales of the instrument being used. However, mbira usually divides into standard slat numbers, so you should be able to search for a similar model on the internet to be sure of the sound scale to use to play your own.

The most important thing in this sense is to understand which note corresponds to the central lamella, from which it is possible to obtain the other notes of the instrument; the note of the central lamella is the one with the lowest tone.

Some instructions on how to tune the mbira are explained in English in this video on Youtube; a valid help could also be the vision of this second explanatory video. If, on the other hand, you prefer to look directly at a kalimba that is being tuned, there is a very direct video tutorial visible through this link.

Instructions on how to play the mbira

To play the mbira, hold the instrument with both hands and use your thumbs to play by pressing on each blade that interests you to apply your melody. It is important to remember that the holes in the resonance chamber must not be closed, in particular those behind (also because it is difficult to cover the central one).

Tip: if you find it uncomfortable to play and in the meantime also hold the instrument in your hands try to keep it resting on a table while you play it, possibly inserting something underneath that prevents you to completely plug the holes of the soundbox if these are placed in the back of the instrument.

Some interesting effects that can be played with mbria are that multiple keys are pressed simultaneously, often in combination with a 2-handed and 1-handed or vice versa.

To play the mbira and give life to the music you have chosen, it may be ideal to look for a tablature of the song you want to follow, possibly trying to get a tablature suitable for the type of kalimba you are playing.

One way to change the pitch of the mbira, which depends on the length of the bars to be struck to the bridge (therefore a longer bar will correspond to a lower sound while a shorter one to a higher sound), is to change the position of the bridge, for example by loosening or tightening it more, or to play the slats in the outermost part, thus increasing the pitch of the sound.

To learn how to play the mbira better you can also try watching some video tutorials and lessons on Youtube regarding this musical instrument, particularly present in English and not in Italian, such as the one below.

However, to learn how to play mbira flawlessly, the suggestion we give you is to buy a guide book, which reports the correct technique to play this instrument as well as the best ways and instructions to read and find the tablatures and scores that interest you.

Where to buy a mbria?

The price of a mbira is quite affordable and excellent tools are easily found online; pay attention to the fact that a lot of models are equipped with various keys and good sound quality.