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Kalimba has only these notes repeating over and over again, at least when it’s in the C major. Now, if we take a look at the kalimba in the key of C, we can notice the exact same notes. The black key on the right side of the C note is either C# or Db based on the scale. If you start from the note C and play notes on the right, you will get a C major scale or the following notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B. The piano is designed in a way where each white key is a whole note, while black keys are either sharps or flats. Now, why is this important, you might ask.
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Today, each piano has 52 white and 36 black keys. At the end of the nineteenth century, Steinway started manufacturing 88-key pianos, and other companies followed. The Difference Between NotesĮven if you have never played the piano, you are probably aware that there are white and black keys. For example, both kalimba and piano have A4 notes which are 440 Hz.
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But other than that, these instruments are quite different.Įven though the notes have the same frequency, they will still have a different color and sound to them. Both instruments have horizontal keys, and you will press (or pluck) them to create a note. The reason why many people call kalimba “thumb piano” is because of the visual similarity. Needless to say, if you pick a smaller kalimba, your range will be even more limited. Moreover, if we go even further, we can see that the piano goes from C1 to C8, while the kalimba covers only notes from C4 to E6. When we compare the notes, we can easily see that even if you have a 17-key kalimba, you’ll be able to find all those notes on the piano and 71 additional notes. Kalimba, on the other hand, has a lot fewer keys, and they are identical to the ones you can find on the piano. A regular piano has 88 keys, and it offers a bit over seven octaves. What is interesting is regardless of the kalimba you pick, you will be able to find those notes on the piano. But it is possible to find several other keys as well as different modes. Furthermore, these instruments can have any key you like, and be tuned in any scale.įor instance, most commonly, kalimba is tuned in the key of C major, and it has seventeen tines. You can find models with as little as five tines, as well as kalimbas with over twenty keys. Today, there are so many different types of kalimba available on the market. There are a couple of things you need to know about this instrument and all the similarities it shares with a regular piano. However, there are a couple of differences between the two. This means that the notes on the kalimba are the same ones as on the piano. But how similar are these instruments really? Is kalimba a smaller version of a piano or is there something else?Īnd are kalimba notes the same as the ones on the piano? Kalimba is a westernized version of mbira, and it follows the music theory used in western music. Popularly, kalimba is known as a thumb piano. If you ever read about the kalimba, you probably noticed that this instrument has a nickname.