15-key Karimba 'Nyunga Nyunga'

This instrument class represents the 15-key, 6-tone scale karimba, developed at Kwanongoma College of African Music in Bulawayo in the 1960s. Following the lead of Dumisani Maraire it later came to be called nyunga nyunga mbira. Despite the similar name, it is a very different instrument than the nyonganyonga of Mozambique, a close relative of the matepe.

Its layout is an extension of Jege Tapera's karimba which originates from Tete province of Mozambique, with two keys added in the upper manuals (see Andrew Tracey's article Mbira Music of Jege A. Tapera).

Currently there are six notations. They are called

All of them employ an additional track for Hosho [down]beats (denoted by a dot "."). The Pitch... notations distinguish four playing areas:
  • LU: Left thumb upper manual
  • LL: Left thumb lower manual
  • RI: Right index finger upper manual
  • RT: Right thumb lower manual
The Berliner notation uses only two playing areas. In case both right hand fingers play a key in the same pulse, use two rows labelled R:
  • L: Keys played with the left thumb
  • R: Keys played with the right thumb or index finger

All notations are convertible to and from Pitch.4. If a direct translation between two notations is not available, use an intermediate step across Pitch.4.

Pros and cons of different counting schemes
In Pitch.1 and Pitch+Octaves.1 notations, scale degrees 1-3 and 5-6 denote the notes of the kalimba core as in Andrew Tracey's The Original African Mbira?), which can be useful to compare [transcriptions on] different instruments.

Pitch.4 and Pitch+Octaves.4 are there for compatibility with the "big" karimba, where this scheme works similar to a position notation on most manuals.

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

The six scale degrees are numbered from 1 to 7, with the 4th missing.

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.
LU5671
LL3,123
RI5671
RT13,567
Aliases
The table below lists all alias keys. Row names are shown in black, cell content in red.
KeyAliasNotes
LL3,RT3,LL3, key played with the right thumb
LU1RI1Highest key in the center, either played with the left thumb or right index finger

Same numbers as the Pitch.1 notation, but full octave indication.

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.
LU5671'
LL3,123
RI5671'
RT1,3,5,6,7,
Aliases
The table below lists all alias keys. Row names are shown in black, cell content in red.
KeyAliasNotes
LL3,RT3,LL3, key played with the right thumb
LU1'RI1'Highest key in the center, either played with the left thumb or right index finger

This is similar to the Pitch.1 notation, just counting 4 as the lowest key of the instrument. Scale degrees are numbered from 1 to 6. It is the same as the Pitch+Octaves.4 notation, with all octave indication omitted where it can be deduced from the playing area.

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.
LU1234
LL6,456
RI1234
RT46,123
Aliases
The table below lists all alias keys. Row names are shown in black, cell content in red.
KeyAliasNotes
LL6,RT6,LL6, key played with the right thumb
LU4RI4Highest key in the center, either played with the left thumb or right index finger

Same numbers as the Pitch.4 notation, but full octave indication.

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.
LU1'2'3'4'
LL6,456
RI1'2'3'4'
RT4,6,123
Aliases
The table below lists all alias keys. Row names are shown in black, cell content in red.
KeyAliasNotes
LL6,RT6,LL6, key played with the right thumb
LU4'RI4'Highest key in the center, either played with the left thumb or right index finger

This is a positional notation which Paul Berliner uses this book "The Soul of Mbira". Keys in the upper row are marked with apostrophe. If right thumb and index finger play keys simultaneously, transcriptions need two rows labelled R.

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.
L12342'3'4'1'
R1L12342'3'4'1'
Aliases
The table below lists all alias keys. Row names are shown in black, cell content in red.
KeyAliasNotes
L1RL1L1 key played with the right thumb
L1'R1'Highest key in the center, either played with the left thumb or right index finger

In this popular positional notation by Dumisani Maraire keys are simply numbered 1-15 from left to right, according to their position on the soundboard.

To increase readability, two captions U and L are used for keys in the upper and lower ranks. If multiple lower keys are played simultaneously, transcriptions need two rows labelled L.

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.
U101214RI8
U6428
L9RT7111315531
L7
Aliases
The table below lists all alias keys. Row names are shown in black, cell content in red.
KeyAliasNotes
L7LRT7L7 key played with the right thumb
U8URI8Highest key in the center, either played with the left thumb (U8) or right index finger (URI8))