THE MBIRA

TUNING & PLAYING

INSTRUCTION
MANUAL
MBIRA KEY ARRANGMENT

The key arrangement layout above is for Mbira Dzenhare (Dzevadzimu Nhare).
Traditionally the lowest pitched key on the mbira are to the left of mbira and are
played with the left thumb. The three keys to the right of the low pitched key are
played with the right thumb and all keys to the right of that are played with the right
index finger.

Your instrument will probably not be in the key of C. Just be sure you have a lonian
scale (your basic do, re, mi) on the keys labelled C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C then pretend
your instrument is in C to learn these patterns. The key arrangement will seem
awkwardly non linear, after a while you get the grips of it as it is the way it is.
HOW TO HOLD MBIRA DZEVADZIMU NHARE
HOW TO PLAY A BASIC MBIRA TUNE

Nhemamusasa
U4 M3 U1 L3, U4 M4 U1 L5, U3 M4 U2 L7
U4 M3 U1 L3, U4 M5 U2 L6, U4 M4 U2 L7
U5 M2 U2 L4, U5 M5 U2 L6, U4 M4 U1 L7
U4 M3 U1 L3, U4 M4 U1 L5, U3 M2 U1 M1
Karigamombe
M1 U1 M2 U1, M5 U3X L6 U3X, M2 U2 L4 U2
M1 U1 M2 U1, M5 U3X L6 U3X, M4 U3X L5 U3X
M1 U1 M2 U1, M3 U4 L3 U4, M4 U3 L5 U3
L7 U2 M4 U2, M3 U1 L3 U1, M4 U3 L5 U3

Probably you need to label your mbira keys as above. U3X means U3 and X played
simultaneously. The notes are grouped in 4's for ease of learning, but traditionally the
rhythm is triplets, with the pulse landing on the underlined notes. Occasionally it's
played with the pulse on the note before the underlined ones (and rarely the one after,
although it is nice).The Mbira, is a little more like a piano in that the left hand has the
bass notes and the right has the trebles. The above is a photo of mbira with the keys
labelled so you can play the above tunes (but only if you have an Mbira at hand...). To
hold correctly, insert the right pinky finger downward through the hole and wrap the
right ring and middle fingers around the side, such that the right thumbnail can pluck
downwards on keys X and U1-2, while the right index fingernail can pluck upwards
on keys U3-9. All the other keys are played with the left thumbnail, with the left
pinky finger hooked under the bottom edge of the wood and the other fingers around
the side. While an Mbira sounds just fine on it's own, it's traditionally amplified by
adding any variety of rattles and/or placing it in a resonating gourd.
THE TUNING PROCEDURE

THE PHYSICS OF MBIRA TUNING

Mbira keys are held or bound onto a wooden soundboard. The top ends of the keys
rest directly on the top end of the soundboard. The lower portion of the upper section
of the keys rest on a metal bridge that is mounted in the recessed portion of the mbira
soundboard. An additional metal bar is placed over the top end of the soundboard
over the keys, thus binding the keys at the soundboard and metal bridge contact
points. The mechanism for binding the keys is either strands of wire traversing thru
the soundboard and binding between 4 and 5 keys together. The portion of the key the
sit directly under the top metal bar is the tuning point. This is a common point for all
keys and their length is measured from this point toward the lower portion of the
soundboard. The curvature of the key directly under this bar provides flexibility in
defining each note.

Option 1: Mbira tuning requires patience. To tune down a key, tap brutally on the top
end and to make it sharper, knock the key out (upwards), use pliers to bend the top
end down a little and then tap it back in gradually until it drops to the desired pitch. It
usually doesn't take much to knock them into a nearby concert pitch. A's, G's and C's
are common, but the occasional pesky Eb pops up now and again. There are several
traditional Mbira tunings, but there are two main ones. One is simply a major scale
(using C as a general tonic note) in this ascending pattern: L1=C, L2=E, L3=F, L4=G,
L5=A, L6=B, M1=C, L7=D, X=E, M3=F, M2=G, M4=A, M5=B, M6=C, U1=C(same
as M6), U2=D, U3=E, U4=F, U5=G,, U6=A, U7=B, U8=C, U9=D
The most common tuning is the same as this but with flattened 7ths (keys L6, M5 and
U7). The above tunes work in both tunings, but the second more often has the flat
7ths. There's another tuning that is quite common that is a phrygian mode (major scale
starting on the 3). Most songs use the straight major. Some songs has only the L6 key
flattened, which opens up the palette of available chords a little. Others may flatten
7ths key by adding a blob of blue tac under the keys, which sure beats getting out the
pliers (or angle grinder) every time.

Option 2: There are many books that discuss the mbira tuning process. This section
will describe a quick, common sense survival technique for getting your mbira back
in tune as quickly as possible. I use the notes from the beginner song, Karigamombe
as the guide to relative pitches of the first four notes on the top-left register of the
mbira dzenhare. Having tuned those keys to the karigamombe sound, you can tune
their octaves on the bottom register. Using karigamombe, or any other song you can
keep extending the range of notes noting until the entire instrument has been properly
tuned.
Option 3: Tuning a mbira notes means slightly varying a key's contact point with the
top metal bar. When a key is loose or out of tune, often "push" the key upward by
placing a hard piece of wood at the end of the key to be tuned and tapping it with a
tack hammer until it 'pops' out at the top of the instrument. Noting the keys contact
point with the bridge, very slightly bend the key at that contact point downward
(narrowing the angle). When you attempt to slide the key back down by tapping its
top end, you will notice resistance while the key is relatively short and the pitch much
higher than that of the target pitch. Continue to tap the key and noting the pitch. When
the pitch is exactly what you want, then it is tuned. This is a very tricky process. If
you make the curvature of the key too narrow, when you try to refit the key back
under the bridge, the resistance may enough to "lift" the bridge and possibly loosen
surrounding keys. Thus, you may end up with more than one key to tune. Tuning a
mbira is and incremental process and requires great care and patience. Best of luck in
this process!

The Tuning Kit

Finally, the tuning kit normally used consists of a tack hammer with one half of its
handle sawed off. This sawed off piece makes a great wooden piece for loosening
(popping) out keys without damaging the bottom ends of the keys. Often this sawed
off piece can be too 'fat' for some mbira - so you might want to get a rectangular
hardwood piece about 1/4"x1/4"x1-14". A third tool that is used is a very short (1/2")
flat screw driver. This is ideal for sliding keys along the bridge. Often, a key will have
a rattling noise when you play it not because it is out of tune, but because it is
'touching' an adjacent key. You can 'wedge' the flat screw driver against the target key
and tap the top of the screw driver until the key has moved enough to not be touching
another key. A fourth tool you can add to your tool kit is a rivet (or a "nail set")
ordinarily used to receding nails into wood when say one build a wooden deck or
veranda. This rivet would be used to individually isolate a key being tuned from the
top end of the keys. Thus the rivet would 'select' the key and the hammer taps on the
rivet. Finally an invaluable tool that you can add to your toolkit and just regular
sandpaper. For new mbiras, depending on who made then and how careful the seller
was to ensure the instrument is playable as delivers, some key might have wrought
metal etchings at the end making it scratchy for the thumbs or finger to play. This is
where the sand paper comes in. New Mbira owners are encouraged to take the time to
sandpaper the underside of keys played by the index finger regardless.