kalimba
1
8.8
- noun
- /kəˈlɪmbə/
:
kalimba
- By the way, there's an amazing modern African band from Kinshasa that builds their own kalimbas and plays them electrified: Konono N1.
Examples
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He taught himself to play the kalimba by watching online tutorials.
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I picked my kalimba up just this morning after finding it packed away in a box when I moved four years ago.
Blog text (30) -
I have been playing a kalimba since 1974.
Blog text (30) -
We could remove the sleigh bells and put in kalimba.
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This is a kalimba.
Blog text (30) -
The kalimba appears to have been invented twice in Africa: a wood or bamboo-tined instrument appeared on the west coast of Africa about 3000 years ago.
Blog text (30) -
Take, for example, the so-called thumb pianos: the mbira, the kalimba, the sansi.
Academic text (1999) -
The soothing melodies produced by my kalimba filled the room with joy.
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At the festival, several musicians performed together using a kalimba and other traditional instruments.
Synonyms
An African instrument with metal keys you pluck with your fingers
Surface Forms
Etymology
Kalimba comes from African languages and is closely linked to the older instrument mbira, often called a 'thumb piano'. A helpful way to remember it is to picture a small, hand-held 'thumb piano' with thin metal prongs you pluck with your thumbs, which gives the kalimba its soft, melodic sound.