Online Kalimba

How to play the online kalimba

• Tap a tine to pluck it. Use several fingers at once for chords, or drag across the tines for a glissando.
• On a computer, the bottom letter row Z to M plays the lowest seven notes, A to J the next seven and Q W E the top three. With the kalimba focused, the arrow keys move between tines and Enter or Space plucks.
• Record and share. Press Record, play, then Stop. The notes and their timing are written into the page address, so Share gives you a link that plays your tune back.
• Play along. Pick one of 99 public-domain songs and pluck the glowing tine to step through it. Press Listen first if you want to hear how it goes.

Tips for reading kalimba tabs

• Numbers are steps of the scale. 1 is the home note (C in C major, G in G major), 2 is the next note up, and so on to 7. One dot above a number means one octave higher; two dots, two octaves higher.
• The longest tine is the lowest note. It sits in the middle, and the notes climb outward, alternating left and right. Tines marked with a small dot are the home notes.
• Neighbours make harmony. Tines next to each other on the same side are a third apart, so plucking two neighbours together sounds sweet. Slide from the middle tine across the two to its right to strum a major chord (1 3 5).
• Tabs in either key work. Songs and recordings are stored as tines, not pitches, so switching between C and G major plays the same tab in a different key.

Kalimba tabs

Every play-along song also has its own tab page, in numbers and letter notes for a 17-key kalimba in C. See all 99 kalimba tabs.

Questions

Is this online kalimba free?

Yes. It runs entirely in your browser with no sign-up and nothing to install.

Why can't I hear anything?

Browsers only allow sound after you interact with the page, so tap "Tap to start" first. If it's still quiet, check your volume. On recent iPhones the kalimba plays even in silent mode, which also pauses music from other apps while you play. On older iOS versions, turn silent mode off.

How does sharing work? Is my tune uploaded?

Nothing is uploaded. Your notes and their timing are packed into the part of the link after the # sign, which browsers don't send to our server. Anyone who opens the link hears the same tune. Recording stops after 800 notes to keep links a sensible length.

Can I use real kalimba tabs here?

Yes. The kalimba uses the usual 17-key layout, from C4 in the middle up to E6 at the edges, so number tabs written for a 17-key kalimba in C play note for note. In G major the same tabs start from G3.

How is the sound made?

It's synthesized live with the Web Audio API: a pure tone for each tine, a few quickly fading metallic overtones, a soft click for your thumb and a small generated room echo. There are no recordings or samples.