Hokema Kalimba - B11 "Melody"

Kalimbas are reed instruments that originate in southern Africa and can be found there in countless shapes and designs. The Hokema Kalimba B11 'Melody' is carefully handcrafted from solid American cherry (black cherry). The surfaces are treated and polished with vegetable oils and waxes. The 11 reeds are precisely tuned to the G major scale, which means a variety of well-known songs can be played. The “Melody” is also suitable for improvising and intuitive playing.

When arranging the sound reeds, Hokema alternated between long and shorter reeds for technical and tonal reasons. The six shorter tongues have been bent so that their ends are at a higher level than those of the long tongues so that they can be easily reached by the thumbs. When playing the notes from low to high, first the five long tongues from the middle outwards are plucked alternately with both thumbs - the right thumb starts on tongue number 6 - then the six short tongues, also from the middle outwards. The left thumb starts on tongue 5.

Factory Tuning: G major (g-a-e-d-c-g-d-g-f#-b-a)