Musical instruments in Zambia: lamellophones
Musical instruments in Zambia: lamellophones. The general word for lamellophone is kalimba, meaning: small musical instrument.1The lamellophone is the most often described musical instrument of South Central Africa. For the Lala region important external sources are Jones (1950), Davidson (1970) and Van Dijk (1983 and 2010) while it is treated shortly in Anonymous (1945: 10), Lambo (1946: 331) and Jones (1949: 29). Jones & Hewitt (1931) have several Roman Catholic songs accompanied by the kalimba in their Lala Hymnbook. There are two types of kalimba: the kankobele and the ndandi. The latter has two versions: one with a separate resonator and one with a fixed sound box.
Contents
Tuning the kankobele
Bichords on the kankobele
A popular instrument in the previous century
The repertoire of the kalimba
The kalimba follows the song
Tone groups on the kalimba
Photo 135 ∵ Kankobele
Sitifini Nunda playing the kankobele.
Kankobele
Musical instruments in Zambia: lamellophones. The kankobele2The Chibale kankobele is different from the lamellophone from the Nkoya region with the same name. is the most frequently played kalimba.
It consists of an almost square wooden sound board with three raised edges and a flat, curved fourth side. The iron tongues (ngela), made from bicycle spokes or nails, rest with one end on the back edge. Then, they pass under a small iron bridge (musao) fastened to the sound board with iron wire (lubango).3See the drawing in Jones (1950: 326) considering that the lowest side was more curved, and therefore the two sides were shorter.
The player plucks the keys with his thumbs. At the same time, he holds the sound board between the stretched index fingers while his remaining fingers hold the separate resonator (muteshi). This is a gourd or tin can, that he moves up and down during playing to vary resonance. The sound board has a small hole in the middle. It is covered by the thick web of a certain spider (lembalemba) or by cigarette paper. It serves as a mirliton and is heated slightly before playing starts.
The player tunes an out-of-tune key by pulling or pushing.
Photo 136 ∵ Tuning the kankobele
Sitifini Nunda tuning his kankobele.
Song 74
A song accompanied on kankobele by Kambele, 1981.

Text of Song 74 ∵ To not produce children
Mwebakashi fyo mwanjebele
Mwanjebele ati we cibola
We cibolo tafyala oo oo
Mwebalamu fyo mwanjebele
Mwanjebele ati we cibola
Mailo nakubwelela mama
Kwalola ba cibinda bankombalume akasuba kawa
Katulokuya ba nkombalume twailila
Wife, what you said to me
You said to me: you, the infertile
You the infertile who does not produce oo oo
In-laws, what you said to me
You said to me: you, the infertile
Tomorrow I am going back, mother
To the direction where the big hunters have gone, the sun is setting
You big hunters let us go, it is getting late
When faced with one of the most dreaded allegations, it’s time to focus on what makes you respectable.
Musical instruments in Zambia: lamellophones. The tools needed to build a kalimba are an axe, small axe, knife, hammer, awl and chisel. Not all of these belong to the standard farm tools set. For this reason, specialists built the kalimba though some men built them themselves. 4See Jones (1950) for a description of the making of a kankobele.
Photo 137 ∵ Tools to build a kankobele
The set of tools needed to build a kankobele.
Tuning of the kankobele
Musical instruments in Zambia: lamellophones. Before 1930 the kankobele had eight keys.5Also in Jones (1950: 324). Under the influence of the two or three upper keys of the ndandi, see below, two upper keys, that is shorter and more upward curved keys producing higher, thinner tones, were added around 1930. In the 1980s, players used the upper keys in fewer than half of the songs played on the kankobele and never used them as the upper tone of bichords6See van Dijk (2010).. The tuning from left to right is close to (relatively): a’-g’-f’-a-f-c’-c”-d’-bes’-e’; c” and bes’ are the upper keys; e’ was flat in one case. The absolute pitch of the lowest key of each of the eight instruments measured is always between d and f.
Bichords on the kankobele
Andrew Tracey (1972) argues that the tuning of the Lala kankobele is the ‘basic (tuning) core’ for all lamellophones of the central/south African belt. Kubik (1988) states that all bichords (octaves, fifths and fourths) played on the kankobele can be derived from the lower harmonics of the fundamentals provided by the four lowest keys: f-a-c-d. These fundamentals, he argues, are presumably derived from the three pairs of ‘anchored’ fundamentals (f-a, a-c and c-d) used in San (Bushmen) musical bow music.
However, Kubik’s “system-inherent simultaneous sounds”: d’-a’, e’-a’, c’-g’, f-f’ and a-e’7Jones (1950: 331) also gives these intervals as ‘harmonies used’, adding three more. Two of these contain a tone from one of the upperkeys; bichords not encountered by us. The third harmony (f-a’) belongs to the group of bichords we found less frequently: a-d’, c’-g’, d’-a’, c’-a’ and f-a’. do not completely correspond to the intervals most frequently played in Chibale8As measured by us, see van Dijk (2010).: f-f’, c’-f’, d’-g’, e’-a’ and a-e’. Players play fifths, so prominent on Kubik’s list, mostly only in specific (not repeated) parts of a piece. These are the parts without singing where the player can show his skill. The introduction, the coda and the instrumental variations (teka).
A popular instrument in the previous century
Musical instruments in Zambia: lamellophones. In the beginning of the 20th century iron became more readily available. This presumably led to a rise in the popularity of the instrument, see for instance Proverb 160.
Proverb 160
Akalimba kakwapula takashilisha misango
A borrowed kalimba does not finish off all the melodies
Don’t be possessive when you borrow something, it is not yours.
The owner plays so much on the instrument that the one borrowing it can only play for a little time.9Also in the Lala Primer (1937: proverb 7) and Doke (1927: proverb 11) for the Lamba region.
Musical instruments in Zambia: lamellophones. With the development of cash-crop farming the amount of leisure time diminished gradually. In the last quarter of the twentieth century, banjo players were boys and kalimba players were older men. The playing of the kankobele awaits revival or disappearance.
Ndandi
Musical instruments in Zambia: lamellophones. The ndandi is a lamellophone, sometimes called ndimba, with 11 normal keys and two or three upper keys. It has a separate resonator: a gourd or a thin can. The normal keys are ordered from low (left) to high (right).
The instrument was introduced in Chibale at the end of the 1920s by migrant labourers. Because of the fundamental difference in the ordering of the keys, no players were found who could play both the kankobele and the ndandi. The repertoires of the kankobele and the ndandi are said to be more or less the same.
Photo 139 ∵ Ndandi
One of the last ndandi in Chibale, 1981.
Song 78
A song accompanied on ndandi by Makaliki Mukwashi, 1981.
Text of Song 78 ∵ Makaliki to Lubembe
Ba Makaliki mwile pi – Ba Makaliki ku Lubembe
Ba Makaliki mwapita – Ba Makaliki ku Lubembe
Ba Chisensenta ee – Ba Chisensenta mwapita
Makaliki where did he go – Makaliki [went] to Lubembe
Makaliki has gone by – Makaliki [has gone by] to Lubembe
Chisensenta – Chisensenta has gone by
Kalimba kamaswao
Musical instruments in Zambia: lamellophones. The ndandi amaswao is a lamellophone of the ndandi type. It has an integral hollowed-out resonator in which a small iron bar (musombo) is fitted that passes through iron jinglers.
Photo 140 & Photo 141 ∵ Ndandi amaswao
The ndandi amaswao is an ndandi with a hollowed-out, fixed sound box. Parallel to the opening of this sound box, an iron bar is placed with some iron jinglers around it.10The piece of iron in the middle of the sound box opening supports its upper side. This particular instrument also has a gourd as a separate sound box.
Musical instruments in Zambia: lamellophones. The instrument has no other repertoire, use or history than the ndandi. Still, the integral resonator and the iron buzzers influence its sound quality. Though we did not encounter them, it is not impossible that kankobele have existed with a similar fixed sound box.
Photo 142 ∵ Making a hollowed-out resonator
Kambele, the instrument maker, hollowing out a piece of wood to make the integral hollowed-out resonator of the ndandi amaswao, 1981.
Song 79
A song accompanied on ndandi amaswao by Mailos Kalunga, 1981.
This type of kalimba has a metallic buzz to it.
Text of Song 79 ∵ If I were older
Mwana Chipungu bulombe
Koli mukulu kuya kupa
How beautiful Chipungu’s daughter is
If I were older, [it would be:] to go and marry her!
Kalimba songs can reflect the perspective of a boy/young man. The same holds for mankubala songs.
Song 77
A song accompanied on kankobele by Andson Chilimba, 1981.
Text of Song 77 ∵ When wishes come true …
Ba Kasubika Chinguwa bacaibela, nkoya ee
Yo kunyenga mukamwine nimpango kwatishe
Kasubika Chinguwa is really different – I’m going to her
To go out with someone else’s wife: you should have enough to pay the fine
Musical instruments in Zambia: lamellophones. The kalimba is a leisure instrument played while resting, waiting or walking.11See also Get-togethers of men.
Photo 138 ∵ Playing while walking
John Ngoma walking while playing the kankobele, 1986.
Musical instruments in Zambia: lamellophones. The player may use the fact that the ‘same’ melody, see the article on the root melody, can carry different texts. He puts some of these different texts in a row, resulting in longer texts than encountered in most other music. Listen to Song 76.
Song 76
A song accompanied on kankobele by John Ngoma, 1986.
Text of Song 76 ∵ Always sick but up there … there are stars
Mwana wanji kulwalalwala My child is always sick
Mwana wanji kulwalalwala baine Oh friends, my child is always sick
Mwana wanji ili akufwa My child will die
Mwana wanji nkashika kwi Where will I bury my child
Panshi napo pali muswa On the ground there are white ants
Kumulu nako kuli ntanda Up there … there are stars
Batata kulwalalwala My father is always sick
Batata kulwalalwala baine Oh friends, my father is always sick
Batata ili bakufwa My father will die
Batata nkashika kwi Where will I bury my father
Panshi napo pali muswa On the ground there are white ants
Kumulu nako kuli ntanda Up there … there are stars
Mwana wanji ukulwalilila kwacila My child is getting sick too much
Mwana wanji ukulwalilila kwacila My child is getting sick too much
Mwana wandi ili akufwa yo Now when my child dies yo
Mayo mwana nkashika kwi Oh mother where will I bury my child
Panshi napo pali muswa On the ground there are white ants
Kumulu nako kuli ntanda Up there … there are stars
Bamayo ukulwalilila kwapita My mother is getting sick continuously
Bamama ili bakufwa My mother will die
Bamayo nkashika kwi Where will I bury my mother
Panshi napo pali muswa On the ground there are white ants
Kumulu nako kuli ntanda Up there … there are stars
Tone groups on the kalimba
Musical instruments in Zambia: lamellophones. A clue to listening to kalimba music is to discern to which tone groups the tones used belong. Kalimba players divide tone groups similarly. They often use different names for the keys: mpelebele (= kace): a’ and, sometimes, e’ plus the two upper keys; cibitiku: g’, f’, c’, d’ and, often, e’; and cimbomba (= iyikulu): a & f. We see that only the e’ was grouped in two ways. One should listen to these three tone groups interacting, as in ensemble music. Listen to Music example 41.
Music example 41
In the example, played on a digital kalimba, we hear the different tone groups and their interaction. Each cycle is played four times.
1. all tone groups together – 2. kace tone group only – 3. cibitiku tone group only – 4. iyikulu tone group only – 5. kace and cibitiku tone groups together – 6. kace and iyikulu tone groups together – 7. cibitiku and iyikulu tone groups together – 8. all tone groups together.
The kalimba follows the song
Musical instruments in Zambia: lamellophones. According to the players the kalimba follows the song. This means that the notes played derive from the accompanied melody and its harmonisation in parallel fourths. This occurs in varying degrees. In Song 75, the kalimba follows the melody quite strictly but in other songs this may be less.
Song 75
A song accompanied on kankobele by Sitifini Nunda, 1981.
In this arrangement the kankobele follows the song more than in the other songs with kankobele accompaniment on this site.
Text of Song 75 ∵ Good music and serious trouble
Amalimbe fi calila mwinamina
Alila mwinamina akula panshi akula sensenta malimba/mbanindo
Nashala nenka mwansungamina/bata
How the music is sounding downward and upward
It sounds downward and upward, it drags over the ground, it sounds downward and upward again, the music/but why
I am left alone with all of you against me/father
This is a version of Song 1, a song that played an important role in constructing a theory on music.
Footnotes
- 1The lamellophone is the most often described musical instrument of South Central Africa. For the Lala region important external sources are Jones (1950), Davidson (1970) and Van Dijk (1983 and 2010) while it is treated shortly in Anonymous (1945: 10), Lambo (1946: 331) and Jones (1949: 29). Jones & Hewitt (1931) have several Roman Catholic songs accompanied by the kalimba in their Lala Hymnbook.
- 2The Chibale kankobele is different from the lamellophone from the Nkoya region with the same name.
- 3See the drawing in Jones (1950: 326) considering that the lowest side was more curved, and therefore the two sides were shorter.
- 4See Jones (1950) for a description of the making of a kankobele.
- 5Also in Jones (1950: 324).
- 6See van Dijk (2010).
- 7Jones (1950: 331) also gives these intervals as ‘harmonies used’, adding three more. Two of these contain a tone from one of the upperkeys; bichords not encountered by us. The third harmony (f-a’) belongs to the group of bichords we found less frequently: a-d’, c’-g’, d’-a’, c’-a’ and f-a’.
- 8As measured by us, see van Dijk (2010).
- 9Also in the Lala Primer (1937: proverb 7) and Doke (1927: proverb 11) for the Lamba region.
- 10The piece of iron in the middle of the sound box opening supports its upper side.
- 11See also Get-togethers of men.