Pluck the steel tines with a click, a tap or the middle row of your keyboard, and swipe across them for a glissando. The numbers engraved on each tine are the kalimba tabs players use; pick a song and the next note glows until you play it.
The tines sit exactly where they do on a 17-key kalimba, so what you learn here works on the instrument in your hands.
The longest, lowest tine sits in the middle; the notes then climb outwards, one to the left, one to the right. That is why a C major chord sits under your thumbs as three neighbouring tines, and why scales are played by alternating thumbs. The layout and the tine lengths follow a standard 17-key kalimba.
Kalimba music is usually written in numbers: 1 is the tonic, 2 the next note up, and so on to 7, with a dot above for each octave higher. Every tine carries its number, and every song shows its tab under the instrument. Switch the labels to note names or to your computer keys whenever you like.
Choose Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Ode to Joy, Silent Night or a GOONS original, then press Play along: the next tine glows and waits until you pluck it. Press Listen to hear the song first, with each tine lighting up as it plays, and slow it down to half speed.
No samples: each pluck is synthesized from the way a tine really vibrates. A steel bar clamped at one end rings at its fundamental plus overtones about 6.3 and 17.5 times higher, which fade in a fraction of a second and give the bright attack. Low tines ring longer than high ones, as on the wooden box.
A kalimba is retuned by sliding a tine in or out. Switch from C major to G major and the F tines rise to F sharp; choose F major and the B tines drop to B flat. The numbers move with the key, so a tab written in numbers plays in any of the three tunings.
Tap with several fingers on a phone or tablet, as with real thumbs. On a computer, the middle row of letters plays the scale from the lowest note up, and the top row adds the six highest tines. Keys are read by position, so QWERTY, AZERTY and QWERTZ keyboards all work.
Click or tap a tine, or press a key of the middle row. Swipe across several tines for a glissando.
The centre tine is 1, the tonic. The tine to its left is 2, the one to its right is 3: notes climb outwards, alternating sides.
Choose a song under the kalimba and press Listen to hear it, with the tines lighting up and the tab scrolling.
Press Play along: the next tine glows and waits for you. Lower the speed to 50 percent while you learn the tune.
| Type | 17-key kalimba (thumb piano), playable on this page, free |
|---|---|
| Range | C4 to E6 in C major |
| Layout | Lowest tine in the centre, notes alternating left and right towards the high outer tines |
| Tunings | C major, G major (F sharp), F major (B flat) |
| Labels | Kalimba numbers with octave dots, note names, computer keys, or none |
| Sound | Modal synthesis of a clamped steel tine: fundamental, overtones at 6.27 and 17.55 times, thumb click, room reverb |
| Songs | Public domain tunes and a GOONS original, with number tabs, listen and play-along modes, 50 to 100 percent speed |
| Controls | Mouse, touch with several fingers, computer keyboard by key position (QWERTY, AZERTY, QWERTZ) |
| Requirements | Any modern browser with Web Audio - Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari |
The kalimba is a lamellophone: a row of thin metal tongues, or tines, fixed over a bridge on a wooden board or box, and plucked with the thumbs. Its family comes from Africa, where instruments such as the mbira of Zimbabwe have accompanied songs and ceremonies for centuries. The modern 17-key kalimba in C, with its number tabs, became popular around the world in the last decades as an easy, gentle first instrument.
In a kalimba tab, each number is a note of the scale: in C major, 1 is C, 2 is D, 3 is E, up to 7 for B. A dot above the number means one octave higher, two dots two octaves higher, and a dot below one octave lower. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star starts 1 1 5 5 6 6 5. Because the numbers follow the key, the same tab plays on a kalimba tuned in G or in F.
Liked the ring of steel? Try the online handpan and its long, singing notes, or the steel drum from Trinidad and Tobago. The same songs are on the kids piano, with sheet music.
Yes. The kalimba at the top of this page is free, with no account and nothing to install. It runs in your browser with the Web Audio API.
The middle row of letters plays the scale from the lowest note: on a QWERTY keyboard A is C4, S is D4, and so on up to the apostrophe. The top row, from Q to Y, plays the six highest tines. Choose Keys in the labels to see each key on its tine.
On a kalimba, the thumbs alternate. Putting the longest tine in the middle and alternating the next notes left and right keeps neighbouring notes under alternate thumbs, so scales and chords fall naturally under the hands.
A dot above a number means the note is one octave higher, two dots two octaves higher. A dot below means one octave lower, which happens on the low tines in the G and F tunings.
Yes. The songs are traditional tunes and classical melodies in the public domain, plus an original written by GOONS for the kalimba.
The kalimba is free, with no account. GOONS Studio adds synths, drum machines, a looper and a sequencer that play together - free for 7 days, no card required.
Free on this page, no account. Play the online piano →