Some are tuned to the 'Western' musical scale, but the Zimbabwean mbira dzavadzimu (this instrument) is tuned to its own traditional scale. To learn more, you may find some more information on the tuning scale by looking up ILAM... the International Library of African Music. There are many kinds of mbira/kalimba, each with their own tuning, so it is very individual to different versions of such instruments, which are often localised to specific geographic areas - e.g. the 'hera' mbira is another type from the Zambesi valley area. I have seen mbira dzavadzimu tuned to the western scale - the traditional tunes sound quite different when this is done, of course.
@@dorasneddon774 Thank you for the information! I didn't know about International Library of African Music. I bought an mbira from Zimbabwe one year ago and asked the seller about this video and according to her the mbira in this video is tuned in Nyamaropa in B sharp.
I looked up the Mbira dzavadzimu tuning on Google after replying to you and the Wikipedia info is pretty good, referring to a 'stretched' scale. ILAM is in Grahamstown / Makhanda in South Africa, where I grew up, so I have the privilege of knowing Andrew Tracey, whose father was a huge enthusiast for the Mbira dzavadzimu. Do you know Louis Mhlanga's music? He, like many Shona musicians, has built his music on the foundations of the beautiful, traditional Mbira dzavadzimu tunes.
No. The keys are carefully hammered from steel rod or other available steel. Each key must make the right note while also sitting with its tip neatly placed between its neighbours. The very tips of the keys are also shaped to create 'overtones'. They may look like spoon handles to you, but this is a complex musical instrument with long history.
it's mostly the same. Im transcribing it now, he added a note on the left hand. Remember, the Mbira tradition is by watching a master, not writing the exact notes.
Actually it isn't a mistake, rather he switched off from learner mode into expert mode once he started playing. There are 2 things that slightly changed during play which some teachers avoid teaching beginners(which he tried to avoid, but then muscle memory kicked in during play) namely a) on the bottom left register as you count the keys from right to left, expert players replace key-5 with key-7 b) Looking at the 2 left registers, normally we learn a note by hitting a key on the top register followed by a corresponding key on the bottom register, however once you have got the key strokes in your hands, you can play the note starting from the bottom register to the top register if you like - this style gives birth to a variation called Nhemamusasa yepasi. Again you can choose to make this variation for some notes not all and in the recording above, he only chose a single note. So he unwittingly gave us at least 3 variations in this tutorial.
So beautiful. Thank you for teaching us. Namaste!
namaste
Nhemaste
Thank you for creating these beautiful tutorial's from directly from the master's.
Easiest learning tutorial i have ever seen
Lovely, thank you, Mukoma
Did Forward play the hosho on this?
I want a mbira like that
🌈💐💐💐🌹❤️❤️❤️🌈
What tuning does this mbira have?
Some are tuned to the 'Western' musical scale, but the Zimbabwean mbira dzavadzimu (this instrument) is tuned to its own traditional scale. To learn more, you may find some more information on the tuning scale by looking up ILAM... the International Library of African Music. There are many kinds of mbira/kalimba, each with their own tuning, so it is very individual to different versions of such instruments, which are often localised to specific geographic areas - e.g. the 'hera' mbira is another type from the Zambesi valley area. I have seen mbira dzavadzimu tuned to the western scale - the traditional tunes sound quite different when this is done, of course.
@@dorasneddon774 Thank you for the information! I didn't know about International Library of African Music. I bought an mbira from Zimbabwe one year ago and asked the seller about this video and according to her the mbira in this video is tuned in Nyamaropa in B sharp.
I looked up the Mbira dzavadzimu tuning on Google after replying to you and the Wikipedia info is pretty good, referring to a 'stretched' scale. ILAM is in Grahamstown / Makhanda in South Africa, where I grew up, so I have the privilege of knowing Andrew Tracey, whose father was a huge enthusiast for the Mbira dzavadzimu. Do you know Louis Mhlanga's music? He, like many Shona musicians, has built his music on the foundations of the beautiful, traditional Mbira dzavadzimu tunes.
@@qeshi always in B and they stay in tune forever
Do mbira have a distortion sound when they are struck or is that just the video badly rcording the sound?
Hey Giuseppe. See the bottle caps mounted to the wodden board ? That's what the buzz sound is from.
the keys must have had been loosely connected somehow
the bottle tops are for that purpose...to imitate the rattles
@@tinklerstyles No, this is part of the sound.
@@tinklerstyles Now people is trying to teach african how to use african instruments. So unkind and arrogant.
BELO
Is it made from a cutlery set?
No. The keys are carefully hammered from steel rod or other available steel. Each key must make the right note while also sitting with its tip neatly placed between its neighbours. The very tips of the keys are also shaped to create 'overtones'. They may look like spoon handles to you, but this is a complex musical instrument with long history.
that is a weird kalimba
Watch what he is teaching you and what he plays at the end they do not match at all disappointing!!! it may have been a genuine mistake.
it's mostly the same. Im transcribing it now, he added a note on the left hand. Remember, the Mbira tradition is by watching a master, not writing the exact notes.
no, never mind, the left hand is totally different. LOL
Here is a series of videos here on youtube: ua-cam.com/video/knCZxTHKc2s/v-deo.html
Actually it isn't a mistake, rather he switched off from learner mode into expert mode once he started playing. There are 2 things that slightly changed during play which some teachers avoid teaching beginners(which he tried to avoid, but then muscle memory kicked in during play) namely a) on the bottom left register as you count the keys from right to left, expert players replace key-5 with key-7 b) Looking at the 2 left registers, normally we learn a note by hitting a key on the top register followed by a corresponding key on the bottom register, however once you have got the key strokes in your hands, you can play the note starting from the bottom register to the top register if you like - this style gives birth to a variation called Nhemamusasa yepasi. Again you can choose to make this variation for some notes not all and in the recording above, he only chose a single note. So he unwittingly gave us at least 3 variations in this tutorial.