African Music – The Blog of Samite

Posts Tagged ‘thumb piano’

The translation of Kalimba is little music, and it is a perfect blend of African sounds adapted to include Western tastes.

Developed in the 1960s by Englishman Hugh Tracey, it is often referred to as the thumb piano for allowing the musician to play harmony using both thumbs.

Tracey relocated from Great Britain to Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia, to assist in the operation of a tobacco farm owned by his brother in the 1920’s. While there, he became fascinated by the African music culture, particularly an instrument called the mbira.  Tracey invented the modern Kalimba based on the construction of the mbira.

There is some cross-pollination of these instruments in Africa.  In Zimbabwe the population still refers to the instrument as the mbira and in Kenya they say Kalimba.  To further confuse the issue, in Rwanda and the Congo the instrument is called an ikembe.  Less common names are the sanza, marimba and marimbula.

Perhaps the most generic name for this marvelous instrument is the thumb piano, gourd piano and finger harp.

Essentially, the Kalimba, pronounced ka-leem’-buh, is a wooden box with metal keys called lamellas adhered to the top.  The keys are sometimes made from cane while the box is made from an African hardwood called kyat.

Traditional African self-reliance has some of these beautiful instruments fashioned out of bicycle spokes, spoon handles or discarded wire that is shaped into the necessary length for plucking.   These strings are plucked with the two thumbs or a combination of thumbs and fingers.

The strings or keys are 20 to 24 in number, placed on two bars on the sound box.  The loose ends of the keys are various lengths which provide the different pitches.  Like any stringed instrument of the West, a longer string produces a lower pitch and a shorter string accords a higher pitch.

Our friend Samite is a master of Kalimba music, so why not invite his artistry into your home?

Order Samite’s latest CD.

The story of Uganda music is much like the tumultuous history of the country itself for the last 100 years.

The center of Ugandan music is the city of Kampala and the area of Wandegeya.  The musical icon of this region is Bernard Kabanda who played a form of music called Kadongo Kamu, meaning “one guitar”.   This style of sound is revered by the older people of the villages, though it is a hard sell to the younger generations who enjoy more complex sound involving more instruments.

The newest form of music in East Africa is called takeu.  It is borrowed from the first letters of Tanzania and includes sounds from Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.

In the central area of Uganda are the people of Baganda who constitute one of the largest tribes there.  The King of Buganda is Kabaka and he is the customary patron of the music.  In this region music includes drums and expressive dances called the Nankasa, Amaggunju and Bakisimba.

Unlike other tribes in Uganda which rely heavily on percussive elements, the Baganda incorporate melody with instruments like the entongoli lyre, the ennanga harp, aerophonnes, idiophones and lamellophones.   One of the largest xylophones in the world comes from this area and it is called the madinda.

In central Uganda are the Langi tribe and they create music with a reliance on the thumb piano, or okeme.   This instrument was introduced to the region 100 years ago by the Congolese.  Their lyrics also closely resemble the rap music of America.  The dancing that accompanies this tradition of music is particularly lively and features much jumping and marching.

The uganda music industry is growing quickly and as much as 40 % of the sounds you hear on Ugandan radio stations are from local musicians, showing there is widespread support for this authentic music niche that is spreading worldwide.

Our friend Samite brings you a true authentic form of Ugandan music instilled in his childhood and delivered with all the passion that is the true Soul of Africa.  Watch the video on Samite’s main website and you will be moved by his description of his mother playing a stringed instrument stretched between a bent tree sapling and a tin cover.

You will help the cause and spread the joy of African Music by pre-ordering Samite’s forthcoming CD.