Mbila dzamadeza (bass on right)

This instrument class represents the mbila dzamadeza subtype with middle and bass manuals on the right hand side. For a general introduction, see mbila dzamadeza.

There are two notations:

Pitch
Pitch+Octaves

All instruments have three manuals (B, R, and LT/LI), some have an upper left LX extra manual.

LX: Upper left extra manual
LI: Keys of the (lower) left manual played with the index finger
LT: Keys of the (lower) left manual played with the thumb
The transition point between thumb and index finger varies from player to player. Generally, the first three keys LT1..3 seem to be played with the thumb, on one mbira catalogue item up to LT4.
R: Mid-range right thumb manual
B: Bottom right thumb manual

All notations are convertible to and from Pitch+Octaves. If a direct translation between two notations is not available, use an intermediate step across Pitch+Octaves.

Click on the tabs below for a description of each notation:

Pitch
Pitch+Octaves

Like Pitch+Octaves notation, but octave indication is omitted where can be deduced from the playing area. If a manual contains the same pitch class twice, the less frequently used key gets the octave indication.

Caveat: The notation uses two single quotes (''), not a double quote (") for the highest register.

Key Overview

The table below shows all keys of the notation, from lowest to highest. Each row contains all possible keys for that playing area. Each column contains all keys of the same pitch.

Not all instruments may have keys matching all these notes. Red notes are alias names for the same key, if it can be played with different fingers.

Hosho	.
LX																				5				2	3
LI																		3	4	5	6	7	1	2	3''
LT																1	2	3	4
R									1	2	3	4	5	6	7
B		1	2	3	4	5	6	7

Aliases

The table below lists all alias keys. Row names are shown in black, cell content in red.

Key	Alias	Notes
LT3	LI3	LT3 key played with the index finger instead of the thumb
LT4	LI4	LT4 key played with the index finger instead of the thumb

The numbers denote scale degrees (1-7) of the mbila's seven tone scale, starting with 1 as the lowest tone of both the L and B registers. Apostrophes and commas indicate the octave position relative to the middle register. e.g. 1, 1 1' 1''.