America the Beautiful Kalimba Tabs (17-Key)

America the Beautiful kalimba tabs

For a 17-key kalimba tuned to C major. This tab is the whole tune: 56 notes on 9 tines, from D4 up to E5.

newellabs.com/play/kalimba/tabs/beautiful/

Number tab

The number tab read aloud, one sentence per group. “High” stands for one dot above the number and “very high” for two. 5. 5, 3, 3, 5. 5, 2, 2, 3. 4, 5, 6, 7. 5, 5. 5, 3, 3, 5. 5, 2, 2, high 2. high 1, high 2, high 3, 6. high 2, 5. high 3, high 3, high 2, high 1. high 1, 7, 7, high 1. high 2, 7, 6, 5. high 1, high 1. high 1, 6, 6, high 1. high 1, 5, 5, 5. 6, high 1, 5, high 2. high 1.

Letter notes

G₄G₄E₄E₄G₄G₄D₄D₄E₄F₄G₄A₄B₄G₄G₄G₄E₄E₄G₄G₄D₄D₄D₅C₅D₅E₅A₄D₅G₄E₅E₅D₅C₅C₅B₄B₄C₅D₅B₄A₄G₄C₅C₅C₅A₄A₄C₅C₅G₄G₄G₄A₄C₅G₄D₅C₅

Tines you need

The long tine in the middle is 1 (C4). Notes climb outward, alternating left and right, so neighbours on the same side are two steps apart.

How to read this tab

Numbers are steps of the scale. 1 is C, 2 is D, up to 7 for B. A dot above a number means one octave higher; two dots, two octaves higher. The song starts 5 5 3 3 5 5 2 2 (G4 G4 E4 E4 G4 G4 D4 D4).
Gaps mark bars. Each group is one bar of music. The tab shows which tine to play, not how long to hold it; press Listen on the play-along page to hear the rhythm.
Other kalimbas. On an 8-, 10- or 21-key kalimba in C the numbers mean the same notes, as long as the tines you need are there.

About the song

Katharine Lee Bates wrote the words in 1893. They are sung to “Materna”, a hymn tune composed by Samuel A. Ward in 1882. The melody is in the public domain.

About this tab

What it covers. Whole tune (one verse), the top voice of the four-part setting.
Key. C major (as printed).
Simplified. One note is sharpened in the original: the first note of bar 7 is C sharp. A kalimba in C has no C sharp, so it is played as C.
Source. Transcribed from The Blue Book of Favorite Songs (Hall & McCreary, Chicago, 1928), p. 7, “America, the Beautiful” (tune “Materna”, Samuel A. Ward; words Katharine Lee Bates), top voice.