What is Kalimba?
The kalimba is an African musical instrument with a wooden soundboard and metal keys. The 15-key kalimba that we are making at Juma Instruments is an instrument that originates from African ethnic groups in Southern Africa. In the classification of musical instruments the kalimba is in the category of lamellophones or plucked idiophones (Hornbostel-Sachs system).
Kalimba is the names used for this 15-key African lamellophone. Other language varieties are Nyunga nyunga, Nyonga nyonga and Karimba. Karimba translates to “little wooden xylophone” and Nyunga nyunga translates to “something little that causes fun trouble”…
Variations of the kalimba are found all across Africa, for example in Zambia they play the Kankobela which has 7 to 12 keys. In Congo they play the Likembe which has 8 keys in pentatonic tuning.