The kalimba, also known as a thumb piano, is a simple tuned instrument that produces a beautiful ringing tone much like the tone of a music box. The metal tines are plucked with the thumbs to produce the sound of each note. We sell a variety of different kalimbas with different materials, notes and tunings.

8 note Kalimba

The 8 note kalimba is perfect for instant gratification. It's something you can be entertained with immediately as there's no real learning curve. The 8 notes are the pentatonic scale, which is all the black notes on a piano, and our 8 note kalimbas fit in the palm of your hand. You can’t play a wrong note on these, so you can pick them up and create beautiful sounds immediately. They’re like a musical stress ball and they make an excellent gift. You are limited to the number of recognisable songs you can play on an 8 key kalimba.

17 note Kalimba

The 17 note kalimba is your starting point for a kalimba that you can play popular songs that you'll recognise. Unless otherwise stated, our 17 key kalimbas are all tuned to the key of C major and the notes start from Middle C on the piano (C4) up to E6. You can tweak the tuning to play in minor keys if you want to.

21 note Kalimba

The 21 note kalimba gives you 4 notes BELOW C4 which gives you some extra room to play melodies that go below Middle C. Beginners will find it easier to learn on a 17 note, and they are quite addictive, so you might find you'll get a second one to play with a friend or family member and end up with one of each. Unless otherwise stated, the 21 note kalimbas in our store are also tuned to C Major. You can easily retune a 21 note Kalimba to the key of F major by dropping all the B's down to Bb, or to G major by raising all the F's to an F# and then remarking the keys.

What does a kalimba sound like?

They have a beautiful bright ringing tone like a music box or a xylophone. The quality of the sound will depend on whether you choose a solid or a hollow body and the quality of the timber. The more expensive the kalimba, the better quality the timber. Joanne, who owns Shop Naturally, hand selected every instrument and checks the sound of each instrument before they leave our warehouse. Joanne is a professional musician, musical educator, songwriter, and has played the piano since the age of 5.

Hollow vs solid kalimba. What should I choose?

The main difference between the two (apart from the price) is the type of sound they produce and their volume.

• A hollow kalimba is louder than a solid kalimba.
• A solid kalimba's tines usually ring around 20% longer, depending on the instrument. This creates quite an ethereal and lingering sound which is great for
• relaxation and meditation.
The tone of a solid kalimba rings cleaner. A hollow kalimba usually has a more earthier tone to their sound, and because the tines don't ring for quite as long, if you're playing songs and not using the instrument for relaxation, sometimes the shorter ring time creates a cleaner melody.

Joanne plays and tunes* every kalimba before they leave the warehouse. The quality of the sound of any of our instruments improves the higher the price. We check the instruments for dead tines (where they don't ring when plucked) and if any tines have a buzzing sound, the tines are moved around to eliminate the buzz. They are all hand finished and hand tuned and some very minor inconsistencies are a part of the instrument, but you can be assured that anything that's not right just will not leave our warehouse*.

*Some instruments will be sold as untuned at a lower price or as seconds if they have anything we deem as an imperfection in their visual or tonal quality . Far too many samples we bought from marketplace websites had imperfections we found unacceptable, so we went directly to the manufacturers and found the best instruments in their price range and then hand check every single one before they leave us. Anything we deem as a second will be perfectly fine for a beginner or someone just having a bit of fun, but someone with a musical ear will find them unacceptable. You can trust the quality of the instruments leaving our warehouse because they passed the eyes and ears of a very fussy professional musician.

Can I play chords on a kalimba?

Yes you can. The way the kalimba is tuned means that the 3 notes in chords are usually together and can be plucked in a sweeping motion. For example, the 1 3 5 combo is a C chord, the 4 6 1 is an F chord and the 5 7 2 is a G chord.

Is a kalimba the same thing as an mbira?

They are both instruments from Africa that have timber and metal tines that are plucked, but they are different instruments. A kalimba is an African thumb piano as it's held in the hands and the tines are literally plucked with the thumbs. There are different kinds of mbiras. Some of the traditional instruments are still handheld and are played with the thumbs and index fingers and are usually tuned differently.

There is a modern mbira built by Array Instruments. They are used by professional recording artists like Sting and there's one used in the Taylor Swift song Clean from the 1989 album. Joanne has an Array Mbira in her music studio but we do not sell them. You can listen to how beautiful the Array Mbira sounds HERE, being played by the inventor and builder, Patrick Hadley.