OneTaskBy Tim King · Updated
Virtual Kalimba
8 or 17 Tines in Several Keys, Tab-Style Labels and Optional Reverb
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How the Virtual Kalimba works
This virtual kalimba puts a thumb piano on your screen. Tap the tines with your fingers, click them, or play from your computer keyboard. It lays out 17 or 8 tines the way a real kalimba does, lowest note in the middle and higher notes spreading out to each side, so kalimba tabs and songbooks read just as they would on the real instrument.
How the virtual kalimba is laid out
A kalimba's tines are arranged from the centre outwards: the longest, lowest tine sits in the middle, the next note up is to its left, the next to its right, and so on. A standard 17-key kalimba in C runs from C4 to E6 over two and a bit octaves of the major scale. The 8-tine version covers a single octave. Changing the key retunes every tine, as you would by tapping the tines in or out with a tuning hammer.
Reading kalimba tabs
Most kalimba songbooks use numbers: 1 is do, 2 is re and so on up to 7, with a small circle or dot added for each octave higher. Set the labels to Numbers to match. Note names suit players coming from piano, and Keyboard keys shows which computer key plays each tine. The lower nine notes are on A to L and the upper eight on Q to I, in ascending order.
The sound
Each pluck is an FM tone with a bright metallic attack that quickly settles into a soft, bell-like ring, close to the sound of a steel tine on a wooden box. Raise the reverb for a hollow-body feel, or turn it down for a dry, close sound.
FAQ
What notes are on a 17-key kalimba?
In C, from the left: D6, B5, G5, E5, C5, A4, F4, D4, C4, E4, G4, B4, D5, F5, A5, C6, E6. The lowest note, C4, is the centre tine, and the scale climbs by alternating left and right. Other keys shift every tine by the same interval.
Can I play chords?
Yes. Tap several tines at once on a touch screen, or press several keyboard keys together. On a real kalimba, chords are often played by sliding a thumb across two neighbouring tines, which gives thirds, and this layout gives you the same pairs side by side.
Is a virtual kalimba good for learning?
It is a good way to learn tabs and melodies before buying one, or to practise away from the instrument. The layout matches a real 17-key kalimba, so the patterns your eyes learn here carry straight over to the physical tines.
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