Authentic 23 Key African MBIRA Thumb Piano Kalimba Handmade in Zimbabwe. Ships fast from USA!

The mbira is the National instrument of Zimbabwe
Hand hammered and hand polished keys.
Nhare tuned by Cypren In Zimbabwe
Oiled mahogany finish, mahogany hardwood construction
Medium authentic size, Mellow tone

I recently returned from Zimbabwe where I had a chance to meet with Cypren Vambe and one of his sons Richard who produced a short performance which was fabulous. Hand made from a block of carefully selected wood which is stained and sun dried prior to making the mbira so as not to interfere with the instruments acoustics. It has 22 metal squarish keys and has a particularly great tone to it with decent sustain. When each key is made they use a master mbira to adjust each key to sound the same as that master mbiras keys ensuring it is tuned correctly. This is the primary instrument of the Shona Zezuru people of Zimbabwe and has been for hundreds of years where the instrument first originated.

In a typical mbira band performance there would be 4 mbira players, one playing bass, another playing rhythm, a sub rhythm player, a lead and finally a dancer! It is quite entrancing to hear the various sections played together by experienced players. Compare this to other mbiras online retailing for over $200. Made from the same shona mbira masters as those were but at a fraction of the price. Being born and raised in Zim I can assure you this is an authentic Zim-bira!

There are many links online showing one how to play the mbira ( http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mbira&search_type= ) You can find tuning information for mbiras here which I encourage you to read in order to get the best use of this instrument, as the keys may still be adjusted up/down on the board to alter the tune. http://www.nscottrobinson.com/mbiratunings.php This could make a great gift. Thanks for looking.