How To Play The Kalimba for Beginners Easy Exercises Lessons

today we'll be learning how to play the kalimba the kalimba is an easy to play instrument that originates from africa commonly made of wood kalimbas have long metal rods that are capable of playing high-pitched notes when plot before we play the kalimba we have to make sure that it's properly tuned most of the time when you buy your kalimba it comes to you already tuned that means that you don't need to do any kind of tuning and are able to play your kalimba right away but if you feel like your colombo is out of tune then have separate tuning video in the description which you can check out once your kalimba is tuned then let's start starting with the first step how to properly hold your kalimba place your thumbs on top of the kalimba with the rest of your fingers wrapping around it like this you can also place the kalimba on flat surface for you to be able to play with the rest of your fingers like this this allows you to play more complex songs because you are able to use your other fingers to hit the other notes at the same time it is important to note to not cover the two holes at the back of your kalimba because your kalimba won't sound right next let's produce sound hit tine with your thumbnail like this the tine should vibrate after you flick it practice hitting the time with your nail until it resonates when you're first starting off playing your thumbs may get little painful especially as beginner who plays and practices the kalimba for hours but worry not because eventually your thumbnails will get used to this for people who can't grow their thumbnails then there's an easy solution for this there are these accessories called alaska picks which you can purchase in your music store or order online on to the next step alternate between both thumbs for progression unlike piano the kalimba notes alternate fanning out from the center of the instrument with this in mind let's do our first warm-up basic exercise first you'll need metronome you can purchase one from music store or download an app on your phone i'll link the metronome app values in the description set your metronome at 4 4 measure and 100 beats per minute using the metronome as guide let's go up and down the major scale first let me show you how it's done do let's start do this basic warm-up exercise is great for you to get comfortable with the kalimba going up and down the scales help you identify the notes easier close to each other and alternating as well let's try our second warm-up exercise by playing with the octaves let's start with finding the which is the longest time in the middle of your instrument now find the one octave higher this can also be identified with single dot on top so the in the middle and the on top so play this both together let us try our second warm-up exercise by playing the octaves set your metronome at 4 4 measure and 80 beats per minute first let me show you how it's done let's start with exercise number two do this is great thing to practice because most songs require this kind of knowledge and it will also help you easily identify similar notes on the kalimba single notes and chords to create your own song one great way to understand this is through arpeggios an arpeggio is chord or group of notes played single note at time most songs use this kind of pattern so you will encounter this lot throughout your kalimba journey here is an example of major arpeggio starting from the lower note do you remember the last exercise and one octave fire now just hit the two tines next to it and lastly the higher now go back down now that is an arpeggio for the final exercise we'll be playing the arpeggios set your metronome 3 4 measure and 100 beats per minute first let me show you how it's done do let's start with the final exercise do these exercises are nice way to introduce yourself to the kalimba and get comfortable with the times beginners will be time to get used to the placement of the keys and get comfortable with the kalimba so it's important to practice lot to improve your kalimba playing i'm the kind of person who likes to take up new challenges and that's why i've always been fascinated with learning new instruments but sometimes along the way get discouraged because don't feel like i'm improving enough or that the instrument is bit too hard for me and that's why the kalimba is such an amazing instrument because i've never felt that frustrated and intimidated like other instruments but what discovered throughout my colombo journey is that it's difficult to find kalimba classes or lessons that are formatted for step-by-step learning along the way would pick up songs that required certain skill level and it would have saved me lot of struggle if knew that this song needed more experience remember needed whole month to learn just one song so it gave me an idea to fill that gap so that colombo learners like you and have place to get structured kalimba classes that's accessible for everyone what made is collection of songs on the kalimba arranged in order so you know where you can start and then improve your playing as you progress to the next one this way there's no need to jump from an advanced song to beginner one to an intermediate one i've designed these free lessons to make up full course to help you progress step by step from being beginner to an advanced player on top of these free lessons there are free guides and other more resources like sheet music ebooks and music tabs to support your learning and if learning by yourself isn't your style and you learn best with teacher now host live classes for kalimba beginners there are so many good things that come from learning the kalimba that's why wanted to share this great experiences i've had learning this instrument by making it as easy as possible for anyone to learn this community built for everyone who loved the kalimba like did has all the resources you need to get started and be great at it so hope you decide to take this new and exciting journey with me thank you for watching you