Editing Mbira (section)

==Variants==

===Mbira dzavadzimu===
[[Image:mbira dzavadzimu in deze.jpg|thumb|Mbira dzavadzimu in a [[deze]]]]

In [[Shona music]], the mbira dzavadzimu (''"voice of the ancestors"'', or ''"mbira of the ancestral spirits''", national instrument of Zimbabwe<ref>{{cite web|title=Music in Zimbabwe|work=Nordiska Afrikainstitutet|date=March 16, 2006|access-date=December 17, 2007|quote=The instrument is, in slightly varying forms, several centuries old and is found in many parts of Africa, but only in Zimbabwe has it risen to become a national instrument|url=http://www.nai.uu.se/research/areas/cultural_images_in_and_of/zimbabwe/music/ |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071226003847/http://www.nai.uu.se/research/areas/cultural_images_in_and_of/zimbabwe/music/ <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = December 26, 2007}}</ref>) is a musical instrument that has been played by the [[Shona people]] of [[Zimbabwe]] for thousands of years. The ''mbira dzavadzimu'' is frequently played at religious ceremonies and social gatherings called ''mapira'' (sing. "''bira''"). The ''mbira dzavadzimu'' can be used to play over one hundred songs, such as ''Kariga mombe''.

A typical ''mbira dzavadzimu'' consists of between 22 and 28 keys constructed from hot- or cold-[[forged]] metal affixed to a hardwood [[Sound board (music)|soundboard]] (''gwariva'') in three different registers—two on the left, one on the right.

While playing, the [[little finger]] of the right hand is placed through a hole in the bottom right corner of the soundboard, with the little finger entering from the front of sound board, and the [[ring finger]] and [[middle finger]] reaching around the back to stabilise the instrument. This leaves the thumb and index finger of the right hand open to [[pizzicato|stroke]] the keys in the right register from above (thumb) and below (index finger).  The fingers of the left hand stabilise the left side of the instrument, with most fingers reaching slightly behind the instrument.  Both registers on the left side of the instrument are played with the left thumb. Some mbira possess an extra key in the upper left register which is hit from below by the left index finger.

[[Bottle cap]]s, [[Exoskeleton|shells]], or other objects ("''machachara''"<ref name="williams">Williams, B. Michael. (2001) Learning Mbira: A Beginning. Everett, PA: HoneyRock. {{ISBN|0-9634060-4-3}}</ref>)  are often affixed to the soundboard to create a buzzing sound when the instrument is played.  In a traditional setting, this sound is considered extremely important, as it is believed to attract [[ancestral spirits]].

During a public performance, an ''mbira dzavadzimu'' is frequently placed in a ''[[deze]]'' ([[calabash]] resonator) to amplify its sound.

The ''mbira dza vadzimu'' is very significant in [[Shona people|Shona]] [[Shona religion|religion]] and [[Shona culture|culture]], considered a sacred instrument by the Shona people. It is usually played to facilitate communication with ancestral spirits, bringing the spirit of the dead back on its homestead.<ref name="Reporter">{{Cite web|url=http://southernafrican.news/2016/02/29/the-irony-of-mbira-instrument/|title=The irony of mbira instrument|author=Staff Reporter|website=Southern Times Africa|date=29 February 2016 |access-date=2016-04-15}}</ref> Within the Shona tradition, the mbira may be played with paired performers in which the ''[[kushaura]]'', the caller, leads the performed piece as the ''[[kutsinhira]]'', the responder, "interlocks" a subsequent part.<ref name="Soul of Mbira">{{cite book|last1=Berliner|first1=Paul|title=The Soul of Mbira|date=1978|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley, Los Angeles, London|isbn=0-520-04268-9|pages=17–18|edition=1st Paperback}}</ref> The ritual is known as the ''Bira.'' During these all-night ceremonies, people call upon the spirits to answer questions. The variations of notes in an ''Mbira'' piece aid the participants in going into trance, which in Shona culture aids the spirits in taking over the participant's body.<ref>{{cite book|last=Alves|first=William|title=Music of the Peoples of the World|year=2009|publisher=Schirmer|location=Boston, MA |isbn=978-0-495-50384-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/musicofpeoplesof00alve/page/64 64]|url=https://archive.org/details/musicofpeoplesof00alve/page/64}}</ref>

[[Albert Chimedza]], director of the Mbira Centre in [[Harare]], has estimated that "there are at most ten thousand people in the world who play mbira."<ref name = "bbc2014">{{Cite news
| title = Making music: Zimbabwe's mbira
| work = BBC News
| access-date = 2014-07-09
| url = https://www.bbc.com/news/business-27939869
}}</ref>

=== Mbira Nyunga Nyunga===
The nyunga nyunga which normally has 15 keys, originated from [[Manicaland Province|Manicaland]] where it traditionally played the entertainment role during social gatherings and commemorations.<ref name="Reporter"/> Jeke (Jack) Tapera introduced the '''mbira nyunga nyunga''' in the 1960s from Tete province of Mozambique to Kwanongoma College of African music (now United College of Music) in Bulawayo. Two keys were then added to make fifteen (Chirimumimba, 2007), in two rows. The mbira nyunga nyunga is similar in construction to the mbira dzavadzimu, but has no hole in the soundboard. Key pitch radiates out from the center, rather than from left to right.

Zimbabwe's [[Dumisani Maraire]] originated mbira nyunga nyunga number notation. The upper row keys (from left) are keys 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14 while the bottom row keys are notated as 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15.  Maraire brought awareness of this instrument to the United States when he came to the University of Washington as a visiting artist from 1968 to 1972.

Recently a [[Midlands State University]] ([[Gweru]], Zimbabwe) lecturer in the department of music and musicology has suggested a letter notation; the upper keys as (from first left upper key)  E, D, C, F, C, D, and E and the lower or bottom keys as (from the first lower key) A, G, F, A, F, C, D, and E. But the Maraire number notation has remained the internationally accepted system (Chirimumimba, 2007).

Dutch composer [[Maarten Regtien]] (1963) uses a Mbira Nyunga Nyunga in the electronic composition [http://www.regtien.info/pages/computer.html Daddy Mbira - Mbira Penguin Talks] (2014), creating soundscapes and using western composition techniques like the canon, impossible to play on a mbira.

=== Njari mbira ===
Njari mbira has 30 to 32 keys and was also originated from Zimbabwe particularly Masvingo and Makonde.<ref name="Reporter"/>

=== Nhare ===
The nhare has 23 to 24 keys and was originated from Zimbabwe.  In the Zimbabwean tradition, nhare was used for rituals of communicating with Musikavanhu or Nyadenga (God).<ref name="Reporter"/>

=== Mbira matepe ===
{{Main|Matepe}}
[[Image:Matepe.jpg|thumb|A Zimbabwean ''matepe'']]

Mbira matepe which has 26 keys originated from along the borders of Zimbabwe and Mozambique.<ref name="Reporter"/>

===Outside Africa===
====In the diaspora====
{{See also|marimbula}}
[[File:Playing the Marimba, da Coleção Brasiliana Iconográfica.jpg|thumb|A Kalimba player in [[Brazil]] by [[Eduard Hildebrandt]] (1846)]]

The first documentation of Kalimbas in Brazil dates back to 1723 where they are referred to as marimbas (not to be confused with [[marimba]]s).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Between the Marimba Thumb Piano and the Grand Piano: Musicians and Black Musicalities in 19th-century Brazil with Dr. Rafael Galante|url=https://sppo.osu.edu/events/between-marimba-thumb-piano-and-grand-piano-musicians-and-black-musicalities-19th-century|access-date=2021-08-29|website=sppo.osu.edu|language=en}}</ref> They seem to have faded into obscurity as they didn't make it to the present day, although "modern" Kalimbas now exist in Brazil.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kalimba history in Brazil|url=https://silo.tips/download/the-kalimba-a-brief-history-of-an-ancient-instrument-from-africa-mark-holdaway-p&ved=2ahUKEwjJnImdy9XyAhVfRTABHdjyC2cQFnoECAcQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1q4_JofG8An-vdDJOT8gP2|access-date=2021-08-29|website=www.google.com}}</ref>

[[File:Marimbol-haitiano.jpg|thumb|An example of a Marimbula in [[Haiti]]]]

In [[Cuba]] African [[lamellophone]]s along with the [[Cajón]] influenced the origins of the marimbula, whose history is poorly documented but is suspected to have originated in eastern Cuba.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Marimbula history and origin|url=https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_601901%26ved%3D2ahUKEwjoyf30y9XyAhWDQzABHfaRDxIQFnoECCsQAQ%26usg%3DAOvVaw0Nh9ELn1RuZMKnwsNonbEB|access-date=2021-08-29|website=www.google.com|archive-date=2021-08-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829065527/https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_601901%26ved%3D2ahUKEwjoyf30y9XyAhWDQzABHfaRDxIQFnoECCsQAQ%26usg%3DAOvVaw0Nh9ELn1RuZMKnwsNonbEB|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====Hugh Tracey====
The [[Hugh Tracey]] kalimbas are tuned [[Diatonic and chromatic|diatonically]] in the key of G. The arrangement of the notes on the Hugh Tracey kalimba borrows from the typical scheme with the lowest notes in the center and the upper notes on the left and the right, with the notes in the ascending scale alternating strictly right-left and going outwards towards the two sides.

The diatonic western kalimba tuning which Tracey used was practical for a worldwide instrument—with hundreds of African kalimba tunings, the chosen Western standard would maximise the number of people who would immediately connect with the kalimba. The practicality of this note  arrangement, with notes going up the scale in a right-left-right-left progression, is that modal 1-3-5 or 1-3-5-7 chords are made by playing adjacent tines. If chords are played in the lower octave, the same notes will appear on the opposite side of the kalimba in the upper octave, which makes it very easy to simultaneously play a melody in the upper octave and an accompanying harmony in the lower octave. So, the arrangement of notes on the Hugh Tracey kalimba (and on virtually any kalimba that copies the instrument) makes certain complex musical operations very simple.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Chords on the 17-Note Kalimba in C - Kalimba Magic|url=https://www.kalimbamagic.com/blog/item/chords-on-the-17-note-kalimba-in-c|website=www.kalimbamagic.com|date=21 June 2019 |access-date=2020-05-29}}</ref>

Alternative tunings are possible, as the tines of most kalimbas are easily pushed in and out to sharpen or flatten their pitch. Some alternative tunings simply change the key of the kalimba, without changing the note layout scheme.  C major is a popular tuning, sold by multiple manufacturers. Other alternative tunings move the kalimba to non-modal scales (such as Middle-Eastern scales). Each note of the kalimba can be tuned independently (unlike a guitar), so any scale, western or non-western, is possible, and traditional African scales are still accessible to this modern African instrument. Composer [[Georg Hajdu]] has tuned the Hugh Tracey alto kalimba to the chromatic steps of the [[Bohlen–Pierce scale]] in a piece called ''Just Her – Jester – Gesture''. The Bohlen–Pierce scale subdivides the just twelfth into 13 steps.{{Citation needed|date=August 2019}}

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:TrebleKalimba.jpg|Hugh Tracey treble kalimba
File:OctagonalTwoOctaveMbira.jpg|An octagonal mbira of high craftsmanship which spans two octaves.
File:Photowalk at Gaya Street Sunday Market, Kota Kinabalu 18.jpg|Gaya Street Sunday Market, Kota Kinabalu
</gallery>

===Related instruments===
[[Image:Sanza.jpg|thumb|200px|Sanza]]
[[File:Gravikord.JPG|thumb|125px|Signature Series Gravikord]]

Instruments related to or inspired by the mbira include:

* [[Array mbira]], a modern invention consisting of as many as 150 tines configured in a special order based on the [[circle of fifths]] (see [[Isomorphic keyboard]]). 
* [[Gravikord]], an electrified double harp that is a modern [[Kora (instrument)|kora]] and kalimba hybrid, inspired by the [[cross rhythm]]s of the mbira. The Gravikord was invented in 1986 by Bob Grawi, an American musician and artist. It is also tuned in the key of G major/E minor in an extended version of the Hugh Tracey kalimba tone layout with a range of {{frac|3|1|2}} octaves. Music and playing techniques learned on this kalimba can be easily transferred and played on the Gravikord.
* [[Guitaret]], an [[electric lamellophones|electric lamellophone]] made by [[Hohner]] and invented by [[Ernst Zacharias]], in 1963.
* [[Ikembe]], an instrument common among the [[Hutu]] of [[Rwanda]], [[Burundi]], and eastern [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|DR Congo]].
* Modern kalimba, the mbira inspired instruments of Hugh Tracey. Named after the original kalimba (ancestor of mbira).
* [[Kisanji]] among [[Lingala language|Ngala-speaking]] people of western [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|DR Congo]] and eastern [[Republic of the Congo|Congo Republic]].
* [[Thoom Otieno]] (also tom, thom or toom), popular in [[Gambela Region]], in Western Ethiopia on the border of South Sudan.
* [[Marímbula]] (also Marimból), a bass instrument used in the Caribbean and Mexico.