The Mbira Explained

The mbira is a traditional instrument of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. Musicologists classify this plucked idiophone as a lamellaphone.

Metal-tined lamellophones appeared in the Zambezi River valley around 1,300 years ago. Bamboo tines came first.

Njari mbira has many metal tines arranged in rows.

Players hold the instrument and pluck staggered metal tines with their thumbs.

Bottle caps or shells are often affixed to the soundboard.

Unlike flutes, plucked lamella overtones are inharmonic. The complex attack dies quickly, leaving an almost pure tone. Acoustic chaos, briefly.

Ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey commercially produced the kalimba in the late 1950s. Electric guitars were understandably offended.

UNESCO added the art of crafting and playing this instrument to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2020.