African musical instrument of the lamellophone family
"Kalimba" redirects here. For other uses, see Kalimba (disambiguation).
"Zanza" redirects here. For the Rurouni Kenshin character, see Sagara Sanosuke.
Mbira
Mbira dzavadzimu
Other instrument
Other names
finger harp, gourd piano, ikembe, kalimba, kilembe, likembe, likimba, marimbula, mbla, sansa, sansu, sanza, thumb piano, timbrh, zanzu, finger piano
Classification
Lamellophone, Plucked Idiophone
Hornbostel–Sachs classification
122.1 (Plucked idiophone)
Timbre
clear, percussive, chimelike
Volume
low
Attack
fast
Decay
moderate
Playing range
Varies, see Tuning
low to medium
Art of crafting and playing Mbira/Sansi, the finger-plucking traditional musical instrument in Malawi and Zimbabwe
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage
Country
Malawi and Zimbabwe
Reference
01541
Region
Africa
Inscription history
Inscription
2020 (15th session)
List
Representative
Mbira (/əmˈbɪərə/əm-BEER-ə) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and plucking the tines with the thumbs (at minimum), the right forefinger (most mbira), and sometimes the left forefinger. Musicologists classify it as a lamellaphone, part of the plucked idiophone family of musical instruments. In Eastern and Southern Africa, there are many kinds of mbira, often accompanied by the hosho, a percussion instrument. It is often an important instrument played at religious ceremonies, weddings, and other social gatherings. The "Art of crafting and playing Mbira/Sansi, the finger-plucking traditional musical instrument in Malawi and Zimbabwe" was added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2020.[1]
A modern interpretation of the instrument, the kalimba, was commercially produced and exported by ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey in the late 1950s, popularising similar instruments outside of Africa. Tracey's design was modelled after the mbira nyunga nyunga and named ''Kalimba'' after an ancient predecessor of the mbira family of instruments. The kalimba is basically a westernised younger version of mbira.[2] It was popularized in the 1960s and early 1970s largely due to the successes of such musicians as Maurice White of the band Earth, Wind and Fire and Thomas Mapfumo in the 1970s.[3] These musicians included mbira on stage accompanying modern rock instruments such as electric guitar and bass, drum kit, and horns.
Their arrangements included numerous songs directly drawn from traditional mbira repertoire. Other notable influencers bringing mbira music out of Africa are: Dumisani Maraire, who brought marimba and karimba music to the American Pacific Northwest; Ephat Mujuru, who was one of the pioneer teachers of mbira dzavadzimu in the United States; and the writings and recordings of Zimbabwean musicians made by Paul Berliner.
Joseph H. Howard and Babatunde Olatunji have both suggested that mbira (and other metal lamellaphones) are thoroughly African, being found only in areas populated by Africans or their descendants.[4] Similar instruments were reported to be used in Okpuje, Nsukka area of the south eastern part of Nigeria in the early 1900s.[5]
^"Art of crafting and playing Mbira/Sansi, the finger-plucking traditional musical instrument in Malawi and Zimbabwe". Intangible Cultural Heritage. UNESCO. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
^"What is Kalimba". kalimbahq.com/. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
^Cite error: The named reference bbc2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Olatunji, Babatunde (1965). Musical Instruments of Africa: Their Nature, Use, and Place in the Life of a Deeply Musical People (1st ed.). New York, New York: John Day Company, Inc. p. 48. ISBN 0-381-97013-2.
^"Sub-Saharan African Instruments at the National Music Museum". collections.nmmusd.org. Archived from the original on 2020-05-29. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
Mbira (/əmˈbɪərə/ əm-BEER-ə) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted...
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of the mbira. Leonard Dembo poised for national hero status. Leonard Dembo remembered 25 years on. Albums Music of Zimbabwe Shona language Mbira, the non-profit...
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varieties of mbira including the mbira dzavadzimu and mbira nyunga nyunga. Shona music is well known as representative of mbira ("thumb piano") music. The performer...
clapping. The two mbira players are joined by a player on a pair of gourd shakers (hosho), which emphasize the underlying triplet beat. The mbira playing and...
master performer of the mbira, a traditional instrument of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. He specialized in the form of mbira called nyunga nyunga, as...
Tendayi buy his own Mbira, which he did. With this Mbira, he went to another Mbira manufacturer, Seke, who made two more mbiras of the same tuning for...
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is an American multi-instrumentalist specializing in piano, zither and mbira. His albums include the 1980 release Ambient 3: Day of Radiance, produced...
split, and plucked idiophones, such as claves, xylophone, guiro, slit drum, mbira, and rattle. Membranophones, which produce sound by a vibrating a stretched...
instruments like mbira. It is a solo project, I just orchestrated on the sidelines with a new and dynamic team. My aim was to experiment with the mbira sound on...
drum loop on "Quick Escape", keyboards on "Alright" and "Seven O'Clock", Mbira on "Alright" and "River Cross", programming on "Seven O'Clock", piano on...
Gumbo Hakuna matata Impala Indaba Jenga Jumbo Kalimba Kwanzaa Mamba Mambo Mbira Marimba Rumba Safari Samba Simba Ubuntu Along with the Latin script and...
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