Karimba

This instrument class represents what Andrew Tracey in his article The Original African Mbira? calls the South Bank Karimba type. In Mozambique it is called kalimba nkulu (big karimba).

Most instruments cataloged at ILAM originate from the Sena/Nyungwe or Sena/Tonga people in Mozambique. In the article Karimba: The Shifting Boundaries of a Sacred Tradition, Jocelyn Mory (then Moon) explores the "big" (20+ key) karimba in Zimbabwe's Northeast.

Its key layout is a rather straightforward extension of the 15-key 'Nyunga Nyunga' karimba, and also resembles the njari without LT manual, which just has the bass keys laid out consecutively for the left thumb, and the lower left keys played with the forefinger.

Currently there are four notations. They are called

All of them employ an additional track for Hosho [down]beats (denoted by a dot ".").

There are six playing areas:

  • LI: Left index manual (optional)
  • LU: Left thumb upper manual
  • LL: Left thumb lower manual
  • RI: Keys in the right upper manual, played with the index finger Depending of the type of Karimba, these keys are either struck downwards or plucked upwards.
  • RT: Keys played with the right thumb
    On certain karimbas, the outer keys of the right lower manual are also plucked with the index finger, like on the njari
  • B: Bottom keys, played with the right thumb.
    For some keys, the right thumb then reaches across the lowest key of the instrument. When played with the left thumb, these notes become part of the LL row - see pictures below.
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.

In Pitch.4 and Pitch+Octaves.4, on most instruments the two right hand, and the left upper manuals start with scale degree 1, similar to a position notation. This may help to memorise finger patterns, and is congruent to the njari Pitch.5 and Pitch+Octaves.5 notations.

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

Scale degrees are numbered from 1 to 7; 1 being the reference key of the instrument (which most cases is the lowest key, as in the picture above). It is the same as the Pitch+Octaves.1 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.
LI712345
LU4567123
LL6,,7,,1,2,3,4,6712345
RI4/5671234
RT5671234
B671234
Aliases
The table below lists all alias keys. Row names are shown in black, cell content in red.
KeyAliasNotes
B6LL6,,B6 key played with left thumb
B7LL7,,B7 key played with left thumb
B1LL1,B1 key played with left thumb
B2LL2,B2 key played with left thumb
B3LL3,B3 key played with left thumb
B4LL4,B4 key played with left thumb

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.
LI71'2'3'4'5'
LU45671'2'3'
LL6,,7,,1,2,3,4,6,7,12345
RI45671'2'3'4'
RT5,6,7,1234
B6,,7,,1,2,3,4,
Aliases
The table below lists all alias keys. Row names are shown in black, cell content in red.
KeyAliasNotes
B6,,LL6,,B6,, key played with left thumb
B7,,LL7,,B7,, key played with left thumb
B1,LL1,B1, key played with left thumb
B2,LL2,B2, key played with left thumb
B3,LL3,B3, key played with left thumb
B4,LL4,B4, key played with left thumb

This is similar to the Pitch.1 notation, just assigning 4 as the reference key's scale degree.

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.
LI345671
LU7123456
LL2,3,4,5,6,7,2345671
RI7/1234567
RT1234567
B234567
Aliases
The table below lists all alias keys. Row names are shown in black, cell content in red.
KeyAliasNotes
B2LL2,B2 key played with left thumb
B3LL3,B3 key played with left thumb
B4LL4,B4 key played with left thumb
B5LL5,B5 key played with left thumb
B6LL6,B6 key played with left thumb
B7LL7,B7 key played with left thumb

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.
LI3'4'5'6'7'1''
LU71'2'3'4'5'6'
LL2,3,4,5,6,7,2345671'
RI71'2'3'4'5'6'7'
RT1234567
B2,3,4,5,6,7,
Aliases
The table below lists all alias keys. Row names are shown in black, cell content in red.
KeyAliasNotes
B2,LL2,B2, key played with left thumb
B3,LL3,B3, key played with left thumb
B4,LL4,B4, key played with left thumb
B5,LL5,B5, key played with left thumb
B6,LL6,B6, key played with left thumb
B7,LL7,B7, key played with left thumb