Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
mbira

mbira

9.9
An African instrument with metal keys you pluck with your fingers
  • noun
  • /əmˈbɪrə/
translation icon : mbira
  • He crafted his own mbira from wood and metal, creating beautiful music for his community.

Examples

  • The musician skillfully played the mbira, captivating the audience with its unique sound.

  • [Mbira instrument resonates]

    King Solomon's Mines (1950)

  • 3. Show pictures of mbiras and discuss the construction of the instrument.

    Academic text (2011)

  • A unit on Zimbabwean music may include a focus on the mbira, whose music can easily be arranged for xylophones.

    Academic text (2009)

  • Take, for example, the so-called thumb pianos: the mbira, the kalimba, the sansi.

    Academic text (1999)

  • In our music class, we learned about the mbira, an African instrument with metal keys that you pluck.

Synonyms

kalimba
vsmbira
1 8.8

A small African instrument with metal keys that you pluck to make music

is plucked by the fingers from metal keys to produce sound

How Portable

harmonica
35 2.9
mbira
9.9
guitar
∞ 1.0
harp
37 1.9
piano
698 1.0

Surface Forms

mbira singular
mbiras plural

Etymology

Mbira comes from the Shona language of Zimbabwe and names a small 'thumb piano' with metal keys that you pluck with your thumbs and fingers. So mbira still means the African instrument you play by plucking metal keys.