Get to know Kalimba better with 10+ real example sentences, the meaning.
Kalimba meaning
A type of thumb piano, similar to the mbira.
Using Kalimba
- The main meaning on this page is: A type of thumb piano, similar to the mbira.
- In the example corpus, kalimba often appears in combinations such as: the kalimba, tracey kalimba, chromatic kalimba.
Context around Kalimba
- Average sentence length in these examples: 25 words
- Position in the sentence: 7 start, 11 middle, 2 end
- Sentence types: 20 statements, 0 questions, 0 exclamations
Corpus analysis for Kalimba
- In this selection, "kalimba" usually appears in the middle of the sentence. The average example has 25 words, and this corpus slice is mostly made up of statements.
- Around the word, tracey, chromatic, western, tuning, tunings and african stand out and add context to how "kalimba" is used.
- Recognizable usage signals include 1984 with kalimba de luna and 2 octave kalimba which ranges. That gives this page its own corpus information beyond isolated example sentences.
- By corpus frequency, "kalimba" sits close to words such as aaj, aal and aalto, which helps place it inside the broader word index.
Example types with kalimba
The same corpus examples are grouped by length and sentence type, making it easier to see the contexts in which the word appears:
The Chromatic Kalimba is also a fairly new instrument. (9 words)
It follows the discoveries of Kalimba, Afoxé, Agogo and Ndungu. (10 words)
There are a few different makers of the chromatic kalimba. (10 words)
The diatonic western kalimba tuning which Tracey used was practical for a worldwide instrument - with hundreds of African kalimba tunings, the chosen Western standard would maximize the number of people who would immediately connect with the kalimba. (37 words)
So, the arrangement of notes on the Hugh Tracey kalimba (and on virtually any kalimba, as this note layout scheme has been adopted by virtually everyone who copies the instrument) makes some complex musical operations very simple. (37 words)
In the mid 1950s the mbira was the basis for the development of the kalimba, a westernized version designed and marketed by the ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey, leading to a great expansion of its distribution outside of Africa. (37 words)
Example sentences (20)
The diatonic western kalimba tuning which Tracey used was practical for a worldwide instrument - with hundreds of African kalimba tunings, the chosen Western standard would maximize the number of people who would immediately connect with the kalimba.
So, the arrangement of notes on the Hugh Tracey kalimba (and on virtually any kalimba, as this note layout scheme has been adopted by virtually everyone who copies the instrument) makes some complex musical operations very simple.
It follows the discoveries of Kalimba, Afoxé, Agogo and Ndungu.
Chapman, David M.F., "The tones of the kalimba (African thumb piano)", J. Acoust.
Composer Georg Hajdu has tuned the Hugh Tracey alto kalimba to the chromatic steps of the Bohlen–Pierce scale in a piece called Just Her - Jester - Gesture.
Each note of the kalimba can be tuned independently (unlike a guitar), so any scale, western or non-western, is possible, and traditional African scales are still accessible to this modern African instrument.
In the mid 1950s the mbira was the basis for the development of the kalimba, a westernized version designed and marketed by the ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey, leading to a great expansion of its distribution outside of Africa.
It is also tuned in the key of G major/E minor in an extended version of the Hugh Tracey kalimba tone layout with a range of 3 1/2 octaves.
Mark Holdaway of Kalimba Magic has introduced a graphic form of tablature for the karimba, and traditional karimba tunes as well as modern songs and new compositions and exercises are available in this tablature.
One is the Hugh Tracey/AMI 2-octave kalimba which ranges from the G below middle C up to the G above the top line of the treble clef.
Other alternative tunings move the kalimba to non-modal scales (such as Middle-Eastern scales).
Recently, (2010) Aaron Chavez modelled an idea for the 4-octave chromatic kalimba utilizing octaves C2-C6; JBH Guitars is its original manufacturer.
Several high quality kalimba makers exist around the world today: Lucinda Ellison, Andrew Masters, David Bellinger, Steve Catania, Luc DeCock, R. P. Collier, and Greg Trimble.
Shortly after the Hugh Tracey kalimba started being sold around the world, artisans and craftspeople started copying or adapting the design.
Some alternative tunings simply change the key of the kalimba, without changing the note layout scheme.
The accidentals are mounted on the rear side of the kalimba as flats right under their adjacent parent note from the top.
The Chromatic Kalimba is also a fairly new instrument.
The group, however, returned to the German Top 20 in the autumn of 1984 with "Kalimba de Luna" (a Top 10 hit in France) and "Happy Song", the latter seeing Bobby Farrell return to the group.
The note layout and tuning were not traditional; rather, the kalimbas were tuned diatonically in the key of G, with adjacent notes on the scale sitting on opposite sides of the kalimba.
There are a few different makers of the chromatic kalimba.
Common combinations with kalimba
These word pairs occur most frequently in English texts:
- the kalimba 9×
- tracey kalimba 3×
- chromatic kalimba 3×
- kalimba as 2×
- of kalimba 2×
- alto kalimba 2×
- kalimba to 2×