Playing Sansula

Playing the Sansula 2.
0 1 Mark Holdaway
Playing the
Sansula
Version 2.0
Mark Holdaway
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MP3s and
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Playing the Sansula 2.0 2 Mark Holdaway
I am proud to present Playing the Sansula 2.0, the
new and much improved primo guide to sansula
playing. The sansula is a marvelous introductory
kalimba, for grownups especially, offering maximum
pleasure for minimum work and commitment.
Why is the Hokema sansula a fantastic kalimba?
- Its tines are beautifully smooth

- The instrument has a sweet and clear voice
- The tuning is lovely and mystical
- The note layout makes it easy to play
- The body can make a great special sound effect
The most important thing: this instrument is set up to simply

and easily make enchanting music.
This is perfect for music to accompany meditation, relaxation,

eye gazing with a partner, a therapeutic sound bath, or music
therapy. Standard A minor Sansula Tuning
The instruction in this book is for the standard

A minor sansula tuning. About 75% of all sansulas
I sell are in this tuning. The A minor tuning is re-
markable in that everything you play will very easily 3- 5
sound mystical, sweet, and beautiful. The down side 2
1 1 E
is that it makes its own music - there are essentially C
no songs you know that are playable in this tuning. 6- B
A 3 A 5
If you have a sansula that is not in A minor tuning, 1 F
C E
you have choices: (a) You can retune your sansula
until it matches this tuning. (b) I have written in- A
structional material for several other tunings, and I
may have your tuning covered. (c) or, you could choose to look at the sorts of patterns and les-
sons this ebook gives you, and apply them to your sansula’s tuning. Many lessons
Heavenly will transfer
A Sansula Tuningin
part because patterns will still work on other tunings.
The relative lengths of the tines in this diagram are a realistic representation of the sansula. The
long E and the F are nearly the same length and make nearly the same note. The two A tines on
the left (though one is in the lower and one in the upper row) are the same length, and in fact
play the same note. (Please note that lower tines are represented by 3white columns, and upper 5
tines are represented by gray columns.) The central A is longer and plays a note an octave lower. 2
1 7 E
C#
© 2018 Mark Holdaway 6 B
A G# 5
Different Sorts of Sansulas
The Hokema sansula has been a very popular kalimba. It now exists in
at least seven different models and dozens of exotic tunings.
Sansula models shown above, on the top row, from left to right:

Standard Sansula Renaissance Sansula Deluxe Sansula
Sansula models shown on the bottom row, from left to right:

B9 Pocket Sansula Twin Sansula B9 Elektra Sansula
Not shown: Renaissance Elektra Sansula, with piezo pickup and microphone.
Table of Contents
Different Sorts of Sansulas 3
Sansula Playing Techniques 5
Kalimba Tablature 9
The Sansula’s Big Trick 10
Going Up? Or Coming Down? 12
Two Notes on Each Side 13
Lower Notes - Upper Notes 14
Chords and Arpeggios 15
Repeating the Cycle - Enter The Trance 16
Thumbing Issues 17
Two Thumbs Play at the Same Time 18
A “Two Against Three” Pattern 19
A “Three Against Four” Pattern 20
Pulloffs 21
Syncopation 22
Pickups 23
Playing Sansula with Guitar or Piano 24
A Minor and A Minor 9 Chords 25
F Major and F Major 7 Chords 26
Some Ear Candy: ||: Am | EM7 :|| 27
C Major Chord 28
Sweet Smooth Jazz ||: CM7 | Am :|| 29
Improvising on ||: FM7 | Am :|| 30
Jamming Isn’t Just Making Things Up 31
Improvising on ||: Am | G | F | G:|| 33
The E and Dm Chords 34
Improvising on ||: FM7 | Dm7 :|| 35
Improvising on ||: FM7 | Em :|| 36
Improvising on ||: Am | FM7 | E | E :|| 37
Improvising on ||: Am | F | Dm | E :|| 38
Improvising on ||: C | G | F | E7 :|| 39
Improvising on ||: C | G | F | G7 :|| 40
A Fancy Song 41
Exotic Tunings: 42
Beautiful E 44
Heavenly A 45
C Major 46
Moroccan E 47
Bluesy E Tuning 48
G Major - The Fireplace 49
C minor pentatonic - Dancing Dragon 50
Your Sansula And Kalimba Journey 51
Sansula Playing Techniques
Basic Playing
Gently touch the tip of a tine with your
thumb flesh, then slide your thumb off, very
slightly depressing the tine, and catching the
tip of the tine with your thumb nail as you
slide off. To play louder, depress more. To
play softer, barely press at all.
The thumb nail helps create a clear sounding

attack, and helps to protect the thumb flesh.
Pulloff
When sliding off an upper level tine, it is very
E simple to land on an adjacent lower-level
C B tine, and to pluck that one next.
A A
F You can slide off the upper tine to the left or
C E
A
to the right. Experiment with different pulloff
combinations - there are only eight differ-
ent ones if you only consider adjacent tines.
Which do you like? Which are not as good?
Glissando
The glissando technique is useful for playing
two or three adjacent tines on the same level.
E As adjacent lower-level (or upper-level) tines
C B have extra space between them on the sansula,
A A
the glissando technique is challenging unless
F
C E you have thumb nails.
A
The three upper-row notes F, A, C make a
beautiful chord. Touch the longest one with
your thumb nail, slide outward, letting your
thumb nail surf over the tines, plucking as you
go.
Alternate Right and Left The easiest way to play smoothly on a kalim-
ba is to alternate right and left. (Logically, the
lowest tine belongs to the right thumb.) This
sets up a stable rhythm, much like walking.
E Sometimes you will need to break this stable

 A
C
A
B pattern, but there is a lot of music that fits in
F with the strict right - left alternating playing.
C E
A
Note that the thumbs in the tablature al-
ways point to the starting tines.
Left and Right Together - Doubling It is very simple to play two notes at the same
time if one is played by the left thumb and
the other is played by the right thumb. The
drawback: the peak speed of playing this way
is only about half as fast as if you are playing
E with alternating right - left thumb strokes.
 C B
A A
F
Why not cut loose and experiment with dif-
C E ferent pairs of tines you enjoy of sound of
A
together?
Several Left or Right in a Row Sometimes the notes you want will all be on
the same side, and you will play two, three,
or more notes in a row with the same thumb.
Again, imagine doing this as fast as you can
- you will still be able to slip in notes on the
opposite side in between each of these notes,
allowing you to play a rhythm that is twice as
E
C B fast.

A A
F
C E Clearly, same-side playing will be limited in
A speed. This is a good time to use the “wah
wah” effect; see the next page.

“Wah Wah” Effect
The “wah wah” effect is made by lowering the
sansula’s air chamber body onto a flat surface
and closing the chamber, then reopening it.
This changes the geometry of the resonant air
chamber, and changes which notes are ampli-
fied by the resonance. Repeating this motion
makes the “wah wah,” a sweepable midrange
filter. While it sounds electronic, it is a modern
incarnation of a thousand-year-old African
technology.
I use a stack of paper to reduce frame clatter.
Two Thumbs and a Finger

Once your thumb has plucked a tine, it needs
to lift itself up to pluck another note. This
takes time, and it limits the speed at which
you can play. You can play more notes, more
quickly by adding your index finger and
either plucking tines upward with it (mbira
style) or downward (karimba style). This is a
standard African playing technique.
Four-Finger Technique
There are a number of Brazilian kalimba
players who use a four-finger technique.
A disadvantage of the four-finger technique

is that it requires the sansula to be supported
on a table or on your lap, meaning you can-
not create the “wah wah” sound modulation.
If you have difficulty holding the sansula, the

four-finger technique might be exactly right
for you.
Other Notes
Thumb Nail Care

I estimate 90% of kalimba players prefer to
pluck the tines with their nails. If you can’t
grow your thumb nails - or if you break one
of them - try the Alaska Pik. Learn about
Alaska Piks and nail care here:
kalimbamagic.com/nails
Tuning Your Sansula

After playing for a few months, your sansula
will be a bit out of tune. You can either touch
up the tuning, returning it to the “factory
setting,” or you could experiment and change
to a new tuning. You will want to get a $20
chromatic electronic tuner, and watch You-
Tube videos to learn to tune. Learn more at:
kalimbamagic.com/tuning
Listen to Songs on this Download

This ebook is formatted as a download, and
not as a print book, and it has live links in
each page. You can access sound recordings
of each song, lesson, or bit of tablature by
clicking on the pictured note-and-sound icon
wherever it appears. You can also access all
the song links from a single page:
The CLICK-TO-LISTEN icon.
kalimbamagic.com/sansulabook7
Kalimba Tablature - A Powerful Notation Method
About Reading Tablature
We use kalimba tablature in this book to indicate

to you exactly which tines to play. If you have
some experience reading music, kalimba tabla-
ture should be a natural extension. Important:
tablature reads from bottom to top. For more info
on tablature, see:
kalimbamagic.com/tablature
kalimbamagic.com/ktabs

Tablature Footer shows Note Names
Kalimba is a very geometrical instrument, and
I mostly attend to the patterns I make as I play
the tines. I don’t usually give much thought to
the names of the notes I am playing, but it can be
E useful to know, to connect with your prior musi-
 C B cal understanding or to communicate with other
A A
F
musicians you are playing with.
C E
A
If you ever need to know what a note is, follow the
tine down to the tab footer and read the note name.
Upper-Row Tablature Tines are Shaded

The four upper-row tines are represented by
shaded columns in the tablature. The five lower-
row tines are represented by white columns in the
tablature.
Generally, you play the left-side tines with the left

thumb and right-side tines with the right thumb.
E
E The center tine logically belongs to the right

A
A
C
C
A
A
B
B thumb but can be played by either. We sometimes
F
F
E
suggest you reach a left note with your right
C
C E
A
A thumb and vice versa.
The Sansula’s Big Trick - exchanging E and F

Repeating simple but interesting patterns is the basic trick of any kalimba. You
can do other things with it, but cyclic, repeating patterns is the easy native
thing the kalimba does easily and beautifully.
The sansula, in its standard A minor

tuning, has another trick that informs
almost everything you will do in this
tuning.
Repeat
This tablature shows a simple four-note
pattern. It is not fast, and its right-left
repeating pattern is easy to play. The
first measure (at the bottom) is repeat-
ed; do so as many times as you want. I
like 4 repeats for this song.
The second measure (at the top) is very

similar to the first measure - only the
Repeat
first note has changed, from E to F.
After you play measure 1 four times,

then play measure 2 four times, and go
back and do it all again.
E But here is the big trick: it is really

t easy to make great-sounding music by
C B
Star !

A A
F
first playing a pattern that uses E but
e
Her
C E NOT F, and then switching to a similar
A
pattern, but using F and NOT E.
The Sansula in Standard A minor tun-

ing is sort of a one-trick pony, and now
you know that trick.
Most of the music in this book deals with dressing up, slowing down, or trying to run in the op-
posite direction of this trick.
Sit down and play your sansula while meditating on the trick - exchanging E and F.
(Green ovals call attention to the E and F notes that switch back and forth from measure 1 to measure 2.)
The Sansula’s Big Trick - expanded

This is the exact same trick, trading out E and F, but with a more complex pattern.
The sansula photos show the notes used in the tablature next to them. As a great
exercise, try improvising on just these notes.
Repeat
2
1 3
Repeat
t
Star !
C B

A A 2
e
Her
F
C E 3
A 1
While the tablature is a simple and precise recipe for making some particular music, it can ob-
scure the basic shapes of the patterns it contains. When you encounter new tablature, transfer
the notes to your sansula and try to understand the patterns. The three right-thumb notes in
measure 1 appear to be a straight line in tab, but when you play them, they make a triangle. Ob-
serve this pattern in the photo on the right. Seeing patterns is important!
Going Up? Or Coming Down?

This is such a tiny detail, but it is so cool! You can take the same set of notes
and make very different music by going up or going down.
Measure 1 and measure 2 both use the

same two lower-row notes on the right,
and both use the same two upper-row
notes on the left.
The right-side notes don’t change, but
Repeat
the left-side notes are played in reverse
order in measure 2.
Reversing those left notes do not

change the “harmony,” but change the
direction of the “melody.” Measure 1
has a melody that moves upward and
measure 2 has a downward-moving
melody.
Repeat
E
 C B
A A
F 2
C
A
E
1
In case you forgot, this icon means:

“Click here and listen to what this song sounds like.”
Two Notes on Each Side May Look Simple, But This is Complex
We are still staying within the basic trick of switching between E and F. The
green ovals in the tablature call attention to the E, then the F. Those tines also
have a green circle on the chord charts to the right.
Repeat The right thumb makes a three-note

“boom CHUCK CHUCK” pattern. The
left thumb is strictly alternating be-
tween A and C, or a two-note pattern.
Put them together and the composite
pattern expands to fill two measures.
The first measure makes a “down-up-

down” pattern, and the second mea-
sure makes an “up-down-up” pattern.
Repeat
The second half shifts the starting

note of each measure from E to F, with
nothing else changing - our big trick.
E
 C B
A A
F
C E
A
This piece demonstrates that interest-

ing music can be made with only a few
notes.
Lower Notes - Upper Notes

This is still alternating between E and F, but that core principle is a bit dis-
guised. This also follows the rhythmic pattern shown on the previous page.
Repeat The second phrase uses all four of the

upper-row notes, plus the far-right B tine.
The B note makes sense, as it is in between
the left side’s A and C notes.
Repeat
E Check it out! The first phrase uses only

 C B notes on the longer tines. While the
A A
tablature shows a cool pattern, there
F
C E are countless patterns you can make
A with these notes.
Chords and Arpeggios

Normally, a chord is a bunch of notes all played at the same time. On the sansula it
is easy to play notes one or two at a time, but difficult to play all the notes of a chord
at the same time. However, as each note on the sansula sustains for several seconds,
you can play them one at a time, in slow motion - an arpeggio!
Repeat
FM7
The upper notes play an FM7 (F major
7) chord. I have also added the lower-
row B as a passing note... passing from
A to C by way of B.
Repeat
Am9
The lower-row notes play an Am9 (A

E minor 9) chord.
 C B
A A
F While the first measure emphasizes the
C E
lower-row notes, don’t miss the two
A
upper-row notes.
In measure 1, we play A on the lower

row. In measure 2, we play the same A
note on the upper row.
Repeating the Cycle - Entering The Trance
If you are paying attention, you have noticed that every bit of music in this ebook is re-
peated. In the recordings, you even hear that I repeat one phrase two or four times, then
repeat the next phrase the same, and then I repeat the entire thing (made up of phrase one
repeated plus phrase two repeated) a few times. (That’s a “second order” repetition.)
If you don’t already know, those double horizontal bar lines in the tablature with two dots
above indicate the beginning of a section that you are to repeat, and the place where the
dots are below the double horizontal bar lines indicate the end of the repeated section.
When you get to the end of the repeated section, jump down to the start of that section and
do it again. When you repeat a phrase, there is no pause. It is as if the section were written
out two, four, or more times. (A repeat sign means “repeat once.” But in kalimba playing,
we repeat sections multiple times. Use your judgement as to how many times you repeat.)
One obvious benefit to repeating the music is that you will have a chance to practice it and
get good and solid on it. It also “adds body” to the music: you might get five minutes of
music for just one minute’s worth of understanding.
Inevitably, after you have looped through a musical cycle ten or twenty times, you will have
that particular song or segment under your belt and you may start to get bored. This is
where you start to create your own variations, either by intentionally trying a new note, or
by accidentally playing a note that sounds great. Just be aware of this process, and especial-
ly be aware of when you’ve played something that sounds unexpectedly delightful. Remem-
ber those happy accidents if you can.
When you play repetitive cyclical music, you tend to go into a trance-like state. The music
can seem to hypnotize you. This connects us directly to the African roots of the sansula. In
Africa, one of the uses for musical instruments of this family is to lead people into a trance,
especially in ceremonies to commune with the ancestral spirits.
Thumbing Issues
Have you noticed that every bit of music so far has started on the right, then
left? And it has been E then A, or A then C. Those are good ways to start, but
let’s do something different now and start on the left.
E
 C B Each measure requires strictly alter-
A A
nating thumb strokes. Measures 2, 3,
F
C E and 4 also continue alternating as we
A go from one to the other. Going from
measure 1 to measure 2 requires two
right-thumb strokes in a row. Going
from measure 4 back to 1 requires two
left-thumb strokes in a row.
Two Thumbs Play at the Same Time

Up until now, everything has been about playing only one note at a time and
alternating between left and right thumb strokes. Of course, there are other
things you can do.
It seems that almost anything you play

on your sansula sounds beautiful.
But if you try playing two notes at
the same time, you may reveal some
real clunkers and break that illusion.
For example, if you play A against B,
or worse, C against B, you’ll discover
some of those clunkers. The reason
why E and F are right next to each
other (on the right side) is to stop you
from playing E with one thumb and F
with the other - they sound really bad
if played at the same time.
This tablature presents some two-note

chords that actually sound good.
It is easy to play two notes simultane-

ously if one is played by the left thumb
and the other is played by the right
thumb.
But in measure 2, the E-B, the C-A,

and the A-E chords will actually be
played by the same thumb. Use the
glissando technique to slide over the
two adjacent tines.
E
C B Homework: Try your thumbs at this
 A
A yourself. What other pairs of notes
F
C E sound good together?
A
A “Two Against Three” Pattern

While the right thumb is playing two notes every measure, the left thumb is playing
three notes every measure. Each measure starts out with the left and right thumbs
playing together. The rhythmic pattern goes: “Together - left - right - left” and
sounds like “LONG short-short LONG.”
E
 C
To begin, try this: Just play the left-
B
A A thumb notes, which will be equally
C
F
E spaced on the bold beat numbers:
A “one two three four five six.” The
right thumb also plays equally-spaced
notes, but less often: “one two three
four five six.”
Then put the two thumbs’ patterns to-

gether. This is a great African pattern.
A “Three Against Four” Pattern

This pattern is similar to the “two against three,” but instead of being in 6/8
time, this one is in 4/4 time - four beats per measure. The rhythm in each mea-
sure goes something like: “WE---play-the-san-su-LA--- ” or
“LONG short-short-short-short LONG.”
The right thumb is just alternating

between E and B in measure 1, always
E
 C B playing on the beat - four notes are
A A played in each four beat measure. The
F
C E left thumb is trying to play three times
A in four beats, and it sort of dances
around the right thumb’s strong but
plodding pattern.
I find this to be a very fulfilling pattern.

Pulloffs
The pulloff technique was probably invented when people in Africa started
building mbira instruments with two rows of tines, around 600-1000 years ago.
That goofy tilted smile in the tablature indicates the pulloffs.
The sansula photos show the notes used in

the tablature next to them. As a great exer-
cise, try improvising on just these notes.
E The low A in measure 2 is played with

 C
A
B the left thumb.
A
F
C E This is a great composition technique:
A
a fast pattern (the right thumb pulloff)
superimposed on a slower pattern (left
thumb alternating between C and A)...
and then an even longer scale pattern
which is the chord change at measure 2.
Syncopation
Syncopation is about setting up rhythmic expectations, and breaking them,
often by playing an expected note half a beat before you might have expected it
to be played.
You could call this “five against four”

if you wanted to keep going with the
lopsided numerical titles. The first two
measures have four notes played on the
right side, against five notes played on
the left.
The curved lines that join two consecu-

tive notes on the same tine are called
“ties” - only play the first of each pair
of such tied notes. The tie represents a
composite note which is as long as all
E of its constituent notes. Mainly, the tie
 C B tells you how long to wait before play-
A A
ing the next note.
F
C E
A When you see tied notes, it often indi-
cates notes that start before a downbeat,
or before the start of a measure, a sign
that the rhythm may be syncopated.
Pickups
Where do you start? At the beginning... unless you have a pickup note, which is
played before the beginning of the measure.
The pickup note, B, comes before the

measure starts, and before the repeat
sign.
Note that the pickup note B is repeated

at the end of measure 5, just before
the repeat sign, which leads us back to
measure 2.
E Pickups are often weak notes that lead

 C B into stronger notes that tend to be ac-
A A
F
cented at the beginning of a measure.
C E
A Since the last note of measure 4 is
played by the right thumb, it is easi-
est to reach over and play the low A in
measure 5 with the left thumb.
Playing Sansula With Guitar or Piano
Get ready to learn a completely new modality, one that
eventually will give you wings.
Up until this point, you learned from tablature exactly

what to play. From now on we will only use chord
charts, those sansula images to the right of the tablature
on previous pages, to allow you much more flexibility
and creativity.
Instead of telling you what to play, I will give you “reci-

pes” for making music. First, I’ll tell you what tines
make up different chords and the role that each of a
chord’s notes plays within that chord.
I then show you a sequence of chords, and supply an

audio “chordal” backing track that uses that sequence of
chords. Your job is to choose notes and improvise on the
sansula over the chordal backing track, and have fun.
When you play the sansula solo, (by yourself), the main
move you make is going between A minor and F Major.
But when you play the sansula with a flexible chording

instrument like the guitar, the great thing is that when
the guitar offers to take the sansula to many more places
than just Am and F, the sansula can still come along!
This section could be

the most fun for you!
The A Minor and A Minor 9 Chords

How to use these sansula chord charts:
Each chord identifies a particular way the notes of the sansula sound good together, and gives the chord
a name that musicians can understand. Even if you don’t fully understand a chord’s name, you can still
remember it.
Find the notes in the chord on your sansula, and then improvise mainly using those notes.
Click on the sound icon and hear the backing chord track. Play along on your sansula.
How to use the numbers in the diagram:
Think: “Do Re Mi Fa So”.
Now, sing the same notes, but named “1 2 3 4 5.”
Sing the same notes, but as “1 and 3 and 5.”
Now try to just sing “1 3 5.”
You have just sung, one note at a time, a major 1

chord. Its notes are referred to as the root (1), the 5
third (3), and the fifth (5).
3- 1
The sansula in A minor standard tuning is in a mi-

nor key, which always means the third is a minor. I
indicate a minor as “ 3-” in the diagram to the right A Minor
(think “3 minus” which sounds a lot like “3 minor.”)
Here is another way of looking at it that may help

with your understanding:
Whichever tine is “1,” that is the root note of the

chord, the most important note in the chord.
The “5” is a stable and loyal helper pointing to the

“1.” Together they make a strong, but “empty”
chord. 3- 5
1 9
The “3” adds the flavor to the chord, filling it out. A 5
“ 3-” (minor third) makes the chord dark, and a “3” 3- 1
(major third) makes the chord light.
And the 7, 7-, 9, 4, 2 are all extra flavor notes, add-

ing subtle overtones to the harmonic meaning. A Minor 9
The F Major and F Major 7 Chords

There is something essential about having two notes (one on each side) that you can play. You
actually don’t need any more than that at any instant. Simply having a choice - THIS or THAT? -
for each of your thumbs, gives you a lot of the essential kalimba experience.
Of course, you do want to change to other pairs of notes at some point. When you change to
other notes, you are instigating a chord change.
The F Major chord presented here has A

(the 3rd of F), in the bass (the low note of
the chord, that is). People generally like to
hear the 1, the root note, in the bass of a
chord.
You could leave out that low A, and just

play the three notes 1, 3, and 5 for the F
major chord. But the drawback there is that
5 3 1
the right thumb would only have one note,
and would not participate in that choice 3
among two possible notes. That is, to get the
full sansula experience, each thumb should
have at least two note choices to change
between.
F Major
The F Major 7 chord is pure heaven. For
one, it is simple, consisting of all four up-
per-row tines. And it sounds so sweet, as
Major 7 chords are apt to do.
And you have two tines for the left thumb

to choose from, and two tines for the right
thumb to choose from. 7
5
1 3 1
And you have the “1” in the bass.
In case you forgot, this icon

means: “Click here to hear F Major 7
what this song sounds like.”
Some Delicious Music

Congratulations! You made it through all of that tablature.
I am rewarding you for making it to this point by turning you loose on the simplest, most de-
lightful music that the sansula plays:
||: Am | FM7 :||

In the recording, the chords go back and forth between A minor and F Major 7, over and over
again.
Important Item #1: The A minor chord comprises all of the lower-row notes, minus one, while
the F Major 7 similarly contains almost all of the upper notes. Use that as a guide as the chords
change.
Important Item #2: It sort of doesn’t even matter what you play - anything will sound good!
The first chord you hear is Am, the second is FM7, and the third is Am, and so on.
Click the icons

below to hear two
different recordings
5 7
3- 3
1 1
5
3- 1
A minor F Major 7
This is what I played with

the chord progression
Just the chord backing

track, please jam along!
The C Chord
C is a rather poor chord - it has no 5th. The 5th of C is G: “C D E F G” = “1 2 3 4 5.” But there is
no G in the standard tuning! So the C chord here only has the “1” and the “3.”
However, we do have two “C” notes and two “E” notes. We have not mentioned this before now
(and you have no doubt noticed), but the sansula in standard Am tuning has three octave pairs
on adjacent upper and lower tines: The two C notes, indicated here as 1, two E notes, indicated
here as 3, and the two A tines immediately to the right of the two C tines (A is not in the C ma-
jor chord, so the A tines are unmarked here).
The C chord is a bit odd, because the left

thumb has just the two C tines to play, and
the right thumb has just the two E tines to
play. I imagine there are some positives that
arise from this situation, but I can’t tell you
what they are. Sometimes life is like that.
1 3
3
1
I find the C Major 7 to be much more ful-

filling. It does have the possibility of dis-
cord, in that the 7 and the high 1 (the B and
C Major
the C) are only a half step apart. Don’t play
them at the same time (unless you feel like
breaking something).
In fact, you can pivot between the high 1

and the 7 in the same way we did between
the E and F notes. The music is easy and
sounds good when you do one for a bit,
then do the other for a bit, but it’s difficult
when you try to play them at the same time.
1 7
1 3
The C Major or C Major 7 are really impor-
1
tant chords to master if you want to break
out of the A minor kingdom. C is the rela-
tive major to A minor, and it likes to work
with F Major 7. A recipe for goodness?
C Major 7
Sweet Smooth Jazz: ||: FM7 | CM7 :||
Ah, beautiful lazy days in the sun! That is what this simple progression sounds like to me.
Even though this starts on an F note, it is in the key of C. And this is so major (as opposed to
minor)... lght and fluffy major.
C is the “relative major” to A minor, the key of the sansula. Notice how these two chords avoid
the low A? That note is actually in the F Major 7 chord, but playing the low A would emphasize
A, and in this progression we want to emphasize F and mostly C.
In other words, this progression is very far away from the default A minor playing of the sansula.
Click the icons

below to hear two
5 7
3 1 7
1 1
1 3
F Major 7 C Major 7


||: CM7 | Am :||

As you play the backing chord track, you will notice the chords changing. The first chord is C
Major 7, the second is A minor, and they go back and forth that way to the end of the recording.
The chord charts below tell you a lot of information about these two chords.
Levels of awareness you may have with the numbers:

* You can ignore the numbers, just paying attention to which tines have dots on them - that is, which
notes are in the chord, the notes that will be strongest with the backing track.
* The next level of awareness is to try to stress the “1” notes in each chord, by playing the “1” note right
when the chord changes, by accenting that note, or by playing it more frequently.
* Two fundamental motions are: 5 to 1 and 7 to 1. Can you weave those into your improvisations?
* Look for “holdover” notes that are in both chords - the C notes are the “1” of CM7, and then the “3-”
(or minor third) of A, so C can be played any time with this simple chord progression.
* When the backing track is playing A minor, of course you can play other notes that are not in A mi-
nor, but the most important notes in your melody will be chosen from the chord.
Click the icons

below to hear two
1 3-
7
1
3 5
1 3-
1
C M7 A minor


Jamming Isn’t Just Making Things Up

The backing track repeats this chord progression:
||: A minor | C Major | F Major 7 | C Major 7 :||

or, in better musical shorthand:
||: Am | C | F M7 | C M7 :||
As the chords change in the backing track, you should change the notes you are playing as well.
You don’t have to totally agree with the chords that are playing, but mostly, you should follow the
chord charts below.
7 1 7
5 1 3
1 3 1 3 1 1
3-
1 3
5 1
3- 1
C Major 7
F Major 7
C Major
A minor
Can you hear when the chords change in the recording? Can you
hear when the cycle repeats and you start over at A minor?


OK - What Just Happened?
You were introduced to a chord progression. You knew that every chord played could also be ex-
pressed on your sansula. And you were even reminded of what notes were in each chord.
While in some sense all of the sansula’s notes are right, you were given the secret decoder ring that
told you which notes were the rightest notes at each instant in time.
When you improvise, you get to make up whatever you want - whatever you feel like.
Think about rhythm, and liken it to an animal moving. Do you want to be like a snake, sliding
through the chord progression? Do you want to be a falcon soaring over the chord progression?
Do you want to be an antelope bounding? A kangaroo leaping? A whale drifting? A human athlete
racing? A friend dancing? Or perhaps, do you want to be yourself, proudly walking through the
chord progression, owning each change and return? Rhythm reflects detail in motion.
Each of these choices will change the way your thumbs dance on the tines.
You probably want the chord progression and your sansula to sound as if they have the same inten-
tion. Whenever you play a note from the current chord, you are giving the message that you are in
agreement with that chord’s intention.
When you change what you are doing on your sansula, right when the backing track chord chang-
es, that shows that you are aware, tuned in, and that you are in agreement with the chord progres-
sion.
In a situation where you are improvising with others, and you play a note or several notes that are
not in the chord, that sends the signal that you are your own person, making your own decisions.
If you do it all the time, it sends the signal that you don’t care about the other musical part, or the
musical outcome. It may send the signal that you are insensitive or unaware.
The skilled improviser learns when to strengthen the chord progression by answering with notes in
the chord, and when to assert their own sovereign musical power as a creative non-conformist by
playing notes outside of the chord - but usually for a reason.
Improvising with the Progression ||: Am | G | F | G :||

Another three-chord progression. These chords go down, from A to G to F... then back up again to G, and
back to A.
The only trouble is, your sansula does not have the note G. The notes of the G major chord are: G B D,
and, of those, the standard A minor tuning has only the B.
This is actually a typical situation for the sansula. So, we do what we can, and we improvise - we empha-
size the one note in that chord - B - and flutter about other nearby notes, waiting for the next chord to
come, because we will be strong again on the F or Am. This is an important lesson to become very con-
versant with. To go into further detail:
On the sansula, the G chord is missing most of its notes. (I gave it the name “G huh?” for this reason.)
On the chord chart, the only member of the G chord is B, the third. But I also include A and C, the 2nd
and 4th of the scale... these are not in the G chord and are considered “passing notes” around the 3rd,
and can be briefly useful if not played on a strong beat. But these two notes are part of both the A minor
as well as the F Major 7 chords. (On the F Major 7 chart, it looks like that A is missing, but it was left off
only to simplify the chart.)
The A and the C are part of just about everything you play on this instrument. They can be a “structural
part” of the music you play on it. Their meaning will be changeable, sometimes interacting very coher-
ently, sometimes less, as the chords change.
This makes a significant point: Each of these two notes is beautiful. Play them with confidence. With
some chords, they will work brilliantly, and with others, they’ll work less well. But keep playing them,
because when it all works again, it will sound so much better after having passed through that moment of
weakness, and it seems to give the music depth and substance.
Just the
This is what chord track
I played
4
7 2 3
5
4 1 3 1
3- 2 3
1
5
3- 1
G - huh?
F Major 7
A minor
G - huh?
hear when the cycle repeats and you start over?
The E and Dm Chords

The sansula is heavily biased toward the A minor. Every note on the instrument, except for
the F, is in the A minor 9 chord.
The advantage this gives us is that no matter what you play, it will be firmly grounded in A mi-
nor, even if you know not what you are doing.
The disadvantage is that many notes that are required to play some of the logical chords you
would like to play with A minor are missing from the instrument.
The E chord is in better shape than the G

chord. At least we have the root note in E. In
fact there are two E notes, on the right side
of your sansula. It also has B, the 5th of the E
chord.
But that’s where it stops: there is no 3rd and 1

no 7th. And this is the downside - you cannot 5
play music that must distinguish between an E 1
major and an E minor.
The advantage: you can simply play along with

an E chord, or an E minor chord, or an E7
chord, and you play the same 1 and 5 bits with E - neither major
nor minor
any of those chords.
In other words, what seemed to be a disadvan-

tage can be used as a strength.
The sansula’s D minor 7 chord has the minor

3rd, the 5th and the minor 7th... but as there is
no D on the sansula, the root note is missing.
7-
If you had to play a D minor chord on your
sansula alone, you’d be in trouble. But if you’re 5 5 3
playing along with a chording instrument, it
will supply the D note, and now you know 5
what notes you have that can play along with a
D minor or D minor 7 chord.
D minor 7
Hint: when you see Dm or D minor 7, just
play the notes from the F chord.
Improvising on ||: FM7 | Dm7 :||

F is the relative major to D minor, and D is the relative minor to F major. These chords have the
same relationship as CM7 and A minor do. This is a huge hint to you - why not try combining
the FM7 - Dm progression with the CM7 - Am progression? You could do the first progression
for two or four repeats, followed by the same number of repeats of the second progression.
But first, try grooving on the F Major 7 - D minor 7 progression.
When two chords share a “relative major and minor” relationship, that means that most of the
notes of the two chords will be shared. The three upper tines, F A C are the 1 3 5 in the F Major
7 chart below, and also the 3 5 7 in the D minor 7 chart.
One strategy for improvising with such relative major and minor chords is to find a little melody
that works well with one chord... and repeat it exactly when the chord changes. That melody
should work, unchanged, or with slight changes, with both FM7 and Dm7.
Click the icons

below to hear two
5 7 7-
3 1 5 5 3
5
F Major 7 D minor 7


Improvising on ||: FM7 | E minor :||

On the previous page, we saw how almost every note is shared between two chords such as FM7
and Dm7, which share the relative major / minor relationship. That is why they sound so good
together.
The chords here, FM7 and Em, share almost no notes. Well, the 7th of F is E, which is the root of
the E chord... which means only one note is shared between these two chords. Let me say this a
different way: E, the 7th of FM7, is the least stable note of that chord... while E is the root or “1”
of the E chord, which is the most stable note.
In other words, the E notes could be like an anchor - you can create melodies around the E note,
and as the underlying chords change from FM7 to E, your E note will switch from somewhat
unstable (during FM7) and very stable (during E).
This is a pretty jazzy change, just like FM7 - CM7. If your brain is working like mine, you will
look into blending the two progressions.
Click the icons

below to hear two
5 3 7 1
1 5
1 1
F M7 E


Another Classic Progression ||: Am | FM7 | E | E :||

This is a great Latin progression that will sound familiar to you. In addition to our usual Am
and FM7, it has the E chord.
Harmonically, E is a very strong chord in the key of A minor. But the E chord is rather weak on
the sansula, and it lasts twice as long as the other two chords in this particular music. What you
lack in terms of notes, you must make up with emotional intensity. Play the notes louder? Play
them with a syncopated rhythm? Play other notes “around” the E chord, such as the 4 and 6?
Rhythm
Rhythm is such an important topic, and I have mostly ignored it here. My apologies. I am hop-
ing you explore the rhythms that make you happy.
This backing track here has nice rhythm, so you could actually ignore rhythm and play it straight,
letting the backing track drive the rhythm. If one part is very rhythmic, it can be good to have
another part less so for contrast.
On the other hand, you could invent a rhythmic pattern that used... oh, two notes on each
thumb? Then, you make the same rhythmic pattern on the next chord, and the next. A consoli-
dated rhythmic pattern creates unity, making the whole piece of music feel as if it was cut from
one cloth.
This is what I played with Just the chord backing

the chord progression track, please jam along!
6-
1
7 41 5
5 3
3- 1 1
1
5
3- 1
E
F Major 7
A minor
Improvising on ||: Am | F | Dm | E :||
This is almost the same as the previous chord progression. The previous progression only had
three chords, so it sat on the E for twice as long. This change brings more balance into the pro-
gression. It still starts on Am and F, but delays the conclusion to E by slipping in the Dm.
Listen to the bass notes

Not always, but often, the bass will really spell out the chord progression. The bass tends to play
the root note (that is, the “1”) of each chord at the instant that the chord changes. If you listen to
the bass line, it will usually give you some very clear clues about the chords.
Furthermore, bass lines will often lead into the changes. A walking bass line might be planned to
land right on the root note of a new chord exactly when the music changes to that chord.
The bass player is your friend when it comes to understanding the music. By the way, drummers
also herald changes in the chord progression as well as larger structural changes.

1
5
14 4
1
5 51 5 3-
3- 3 1
1 5
5
3- 1
E
D Minor
F
A minor
Improvising on ||: Am | G | F | E7 :||
Hit the Road, Jack! or One More Cup of Coffee Before I Go

This is a classic progression, with a simple descending bass line. One thing that is different about
this progression here is that I have sped it up. Most of the other progressions held a chord for an
entire four-beat measure, giving you time to figure it out, while this one spends only two beats
on each chord.
When chords are flying very fast, there is a bit more forgiveness for not following the chords.
The two most important chords are the first one - A minor - and the last one - E. Do your best to
play the notes in those chords as they come around, and let yourself just shimmer on whatever
notes come your way on the G and F. In other words, if you start strong and end strong, you can
get away with a lot about what you do in between.
And what do you do in between? Try to tell a story. Any little story. Make a reason in your mind
why you go from this note, to the next, to the next. Improvisation is about telling your story, in
your own way. So, experiment with telling different kinds of stories. These stories will help you
remember the topography of your improvisations, and may well help you return to a similar
space the next time you are here.

1
7 5
5 14 4
4 1 3 1 1
3- 2 3
1
5
3- 1
E
F Major 7
G - huh?
A minor
Improvising on ||: C | G | F | G7 :||

This chord progression is commonly known as a I - IV - V (“one - four - five”). For people who
need to be exactly correct, it is I - V - IV - V.
In many ways, this is the most “normal” music that your sansula can play.
Songs like this: “Wimmoweh” and “Good Love.”
Check Out the G7 Chord At the End

Again, don’t get too excited about the G7 chord, as it is lacking its root note, G - it’s a G-less G
chord. However, we do have the F note, which is the 7th of G, which will effectively drive the
harmony back to C, which is where the chord progression goes on “repeat.”
Now, the 2 and 4 are actually pretty interesting with the 3 and 7- notes. The 4 will make a sus-
pension (a note outside of the chord, in tension with the chord, that is resolved when you move
to a nearby note in the chord) and I really like the 7- note in interval with both the 3 and the 4
notes. Also, the 2 can be thought of as a 9th, working to make rich alternate harmonies along
with the 7-.

4
7 2 7- 3
5
4 1 3 1
1 3 2 3
3
1
G7
F Major 7
G - huh?
C
A Fancy Song
This song is much longer than any of the three- and four-chord progressions we have worked on
up to this point. As a longer piece, the individual chord graphics have been left out.
At first, just try to swim or fly by intuition. You will have some success, but you will have more
success when you internalize the sound of these changes, and you know which notes will rein-
force the chord progression.
Understanding is not everything. Feeling counts. Your body seemingly running itself - in a mo-
ment when your mind might not know what to do - counts. Intuition counts. It is all part of be-
ing human.
But understanding how the music is built, and understanding how to flow with that, can only
help further you in your journey into the music.
||: Am | Am | Dm | Dm :|| (4 x )
| F | Em | Dm | Dm |
| F | Em | Dm | Dm |
| F | E m | Dm | G |
||: Am | Am | Dm | G :|| (4 x )
| F | Em | Dm | Dm |
| F | Em | Dm | Dm |
| F | E m | Dm | G |
||: Am | Am | Dm | G :|| (5x )
| Am |


Exotic Tunings
As we have discussed before, the good thing about the standard A minor sansula tuning is that
anything you play with it sounds lovely and so “A-minory.”
And the bad thing about the standard A minor sansula tuning is that it is really hard to break out
of the A minor harmony.
The sansula is such a beautiful instrument. But after I’d been playing the sansula for about two
solid months back in 2007, I realized I needed to find another tuning, one with more harmonic
and melodic possibilities. I discovered several tunings that I thought worked exceedingly well.
Sansula Pitch Helix
The Sansula Helix

The tunings I came up with for the sansula tend to follow
9
the basic pathway defined by the standard tuning, from 1 8
to 9 in the diagram here. (In the standard tuning, tines 5 7
6
and 6 are tuned to the same note.) 5
4
A typical kalimba tuning will zigzag left to right the 3
whole way up the scale. The sansula has two complica- 2
tions - two levels of tines, and a stretch of notes 3, 4, 5, 1
6, which do not zigzag but are all in a line. But they do
weave among lower-row and upper-row tines. In other
words, the sansula’s tuning is very idiosyncratic.
Rather than change this and make it simpler, my alter- Numbers represent the
native tunings adhere to this idiosyncratic note system. sequence from low to high.
Why do I do this?
First, it is a hugely simplifying assumption for the one who is coming up with tunings! Instead of a
million tunings to consider, maybe there are a thousand. It gives me a concept of the instrument.
Following this concept also gives the player an important tool: Even if you have never played this
particular tuning, if the notes follow the basic path, you will be able to find your way easily. Fur-
thermore, thumb patterns that you developed on one tuning will be likely to work in some way
with the new tuning, but will sound harmonically different. In other words, all your old moves are
likely to still work, but will sound different - so you get new-sounding music at minimal cost.
The Art of Tuning

If you are a serious sansula or kalimba player, you will already be skilled at maintaining your in-
strument’s tuning. If not, you should be able to learn to tune your kalimbas yourself unless your
hands are weak or painful.
The skills required to keep your sansula in tune are the same as the skills required to change over
to a new tuning. The difference is that when maintaining the tuning, you are changing tines by a
fraction of a half step, while changing the tuning may require retuning a tine several half steps.
You will want to get a chromatic elec-

tronic tuner (available for about $20 from
your local guitar shop or online), and
you need to know the notes your sansula
should be tuned to.
And you may have the sansula tuning

tool (the silver-colored bar next to the
sansula in the photo). A Pilot G-2 ball
point pen, retracted, will also work to
push the tines, but using the same pen
several times will fatigue the plastic.
Careful! Kalimba tines are harder and

sharper than your hands, and you don’t
want to push your fingers into an on-
coming tine edge.
You may want to get a T15 hexagonal

driver bit (contained in a set at your
hardware store) to loosen and retighten
the bolts to make it easier to adjust the
tuning. I recommend 1/2 turn or less.
Just touching up on the tuning doesn’t
require loosening the bolts, but chang-
ing to a different tuning is much easier
if you turn the bolts with the T15 driver
bit.
Learn more about tuning your sansula:
kalimbamagic.com/tuning
Beautiful E Tuning
Standard A minor Sansula Tuning Beautiful E Sansula Tuning
I find the Beautiful E tuning to be as enchanting

as the standard (A minor) tuning, but it is a ma-
jor tuning and so it feels expansive
3- and glorious5 7 1
rather than mystical and mysterious.
1 1
2 5
E 4 D# 3 E
C
6- B 2 B
This sansula tuning can create
A the 3 I,
A IV, and V
5 A G# 1
6
chords, as well as their relative minors 1vi, Fii, and 5 F#
iii. These chords are commonly usedC in pop, Efolk, C# E
rock, African and classical music. A B
In other words, the Beautiful E tuned sansula is a

Heavenly
huge step forward in musical A Sansula Tuning
possibilities. Moroccan E Sansula Tuning
Listen to3 a song in Learn more about the

Beautiful
1 E Tuning
7
5
2 ? 4
7-
Beautiful
3
1
E Download
5
C# E D E
6 B 2- B
A 4 G# 5 A 7- G# 1
1 F# 5 F
D E D E
A Watch on YouTube: B
Beautiful E Tuning
C Major Sansula Tuning G Major Sansula Tuning
We have a good instructional download to help you play the sansula in Beautiful E.
2 3 6
The download is a 48-page, 33-song PDF that 1 is intended as5 an introduction to the
land of the Beautiful6E Sansula. 3
D 5 The first 10
E songs are ones2 D you already
1 know,Elike
C
4 understand
Amazing Grace, and they will help you how Ato read the tablature.
6 The
B
A G 3 G
next two dozen pieces are compositions,
2 exercises, and explorations
3 5
thatE are tailor
1 F
made for the Beautiful E Sansula, which
E you will find to be much 1
more musically
D
D B
expressive and much more upbeat C than the standard A minor tuning. G
C Minor Pentatonic Sansula Tuning Bluesy E Sansula Tuning

1 1 E 4 D#
Playing the Sansula 2.0 45 C Mark Holdaway
6- B
A 3 A 5 A
Heavenly A Tuning 1 F
C E
A
Heavenly A Sansula Tuning Moro
The Heavenly A tuning, invented by Rick Tar-

quinio, may be the most functional major sansula
tuning. Heavenly A tuning can play a lot of 3 5 7-
songs, and sounds pretty lovely doing it. 1
2
4
7 E
C# D
6 B
The I, IV, and V chords and their relative minors A 4 G# 5 A
can all be played; this opens the sansula to playing 1 F#
pop, folk, rock, and classical music. D E
A
C Major Sansula Tuning GM
Listen to a song in Learn more about the

Heavenly A Tuning ? 2 3
Heavenly A Download
1 5
6 D 5 E 2 D
4 C
A A
2 G 3
1 F
D E
Watch on YouTube: C
Heavenly A Tuning
C Minor Pentatonic Sansula Tuning Blue
There is an instructional download for the sansula in Heavenly A tuning.
This 39-page, 22-song PDF draws from both western songs4such as “This Little 5 Light 7-
of Mine” and “She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain When 1 F
She Comes,
7-
” and Gfrom
3- 5
traditional African songs that are usually played on the 9-note Student karimba. D
5 Eb
C Bb 4 B
3- G
Of course, every kalimba on earth owes a debt of gratitude to the Ancestors,
1 the
Eb F
ones who came before us and figured out how to build and play kalimbas. Every
C
kalimba’s lineage can be traced back to Africa, the motherland of kalimbas.
1 7 E 4
Playing the Sansula 2.0 46 C# Mark D
6 B Holdaway
A 4 G# 5 A
C Major Tuning 1 F#
D E
A
C Major Sansula Tuning GM
In general, I find the C Major sansula tuning to be

uplifting with a dose of triumph. Usually a very
beautiful feeling! 3
2 5
1
What is good about this C Major tuning? 6 D 5 E 2 D
4 C
A A
* Root note (C) in the bass. 2 G 3
1 F
* The roots of the I, IV, and V chords (C, F, and G) D E
are conveniently located in the middle. C
* Octave pairs D and E are located symmetrically
on the instrument.
* Some nice, simple melodies like to go up to the C Minor Pentatonic Sansula Tuning Blue
3rd of the scale (E), and it’s here - the highest note.
Listen to a song in Learn more about the

C Major Tuning ? 1 F
4
C Major
7-
5
Download
G 3- 5
7-
D
5 Eb
C Bb 4 B
3- G
1
Eb F
C
Watch on YouTube:
C Major Tuning
There is an instructional download for the sansula in C Major tuning. It is 48 pages,

with 32 songs. I am very fond of this tuning - it has good straightforward energy
and a lovely emotion behind it.
1 1 5
E 4 D# 3 E
Playing the Sansula 2.0 C 47 Mark Holdaway
6- B 2 B
A 3 A 5 A G# 1
6
Moroccan
1 F E Tuning 5 F#
C E C# E
A B
Heavenly A Sansula Tuning Moroccan E Sansula Tuning
This tuning is really exotic. I love to play it and

imagine I am in an African desert. Moroccan E has
a whole new flavor of mystery. 3 5 7- 1
2 5
1 7 E 4 3 E
The Moroccan E tuning can be C#thought of as a
6
D
2-
variant of the Beautiful E tuning,
A 4 but
G# with the5 flat B A 7- G# 1
B
7th (ie, D natural), and more importantly,
1 F#a flat 5 F
2nd (F natural). D E D E
A B
2
Listen
3 to a song in 6
5
Moroccan
E
1 E Tuning E 3
6 D 5 2 D 1
4 C 6 B
A A G
2 G 3
3 5
1 F 1
E
D E B D
C Watch on YouTube: G
Moroccan E Tuning
The tuning has a major 3 (G#) but a minor 2 (F), giving it the classic Middle Eastern
feeling - an ambiguity between major and minor. Tune up this way and pretend 1
you
4 5 7-
are writing the score for Lawrence of Arabia. Combined with the sansula’s wah-wah
3
1 trip!
tricks, it’s a wonderful F 7- G 3- 5
D
4 E
5 Eb 2 G#
C Bb 4 B A 1
3- 7-
G 5 F#
1
Eb F D E
C B
6 D 5 2 D 1 E
Playing the Sansula 2.0 4 48 C 6 Mark
B Holdaway
A A G
2 G 3
3 5
1 F
Bluesy E Tuning 1
E
D E B D
C G
Each tuning will feel and sound different, and while

this one is not quite as mystical as the standard A minor
Sansula tuning, I feel it is quite a bit more capable,
and I love the Mixolydian sound I 4get from it (without 5 7- 1
explaining, that high D, or 7-, which is a flat 7th or 3
1 7- G 3- 5 4 E
minor 7th, when played in contextFwith the low or high D
5 Eb 2 G#
E, is the essence of the Mixolydian
C mode).Bb I hope you B A 1
3- 4 7-
like this tuning. G
1 5 F#
Eb F D E
C B
Watch on YouTube: Get a Free 20 page

Bluesy E Tuning !! Bluesy E Download
1 7 E 4 3 E
C# D
Playing the Sansula 2.0 6 49 B 2- Mark
B Holdaway
A 4 G# 5 A 7- G# 1
G Major1Tuning
F# - The Fireplace 5 F
D E D E
A B
This G Major tuning is simple and charming and yet com-

forting. An innocent and natural joy. To me, this tuning
feels like looking back on a good day, with family and
2
friends, from the vantage of the fireplace, warm and com-3 6
1 5
fortable on a cool autumn evening.
6 D 5 E 2 D 1 E 3
4 C 6 B
I would love to write music forAthe G Major Sansula tuning. A G
2 G 3
3 5
1 F E
E 1 D
D B
C G
5 7- 1
4
3
1 F 7- G 3- 5
D
4 E
5 Eb 2 G#
C Bb 4 Listen B A
3- G
to a song in7- 1
1 5 F#
Eb F G Major Tuning D E
C B
6 D 5 2 D
Playing the Sansula 2.0 50 4 C Holdaway
Mark
A A
2 G3
F
C Minor Pentatonic Tuning - DancingDDragon
1
E
C
C Minor Pentatonic Sansula Tuning Blue
This tuning plays music that is rich, strong, and solidly

melancholy... unless you work to tilt the instrument into an
alternate mode.
4 5 7-
The recording starts in an alternate mode - F - which is 1 F 7- G 3- 5
D
neither major nor minor, and has more of an inquisitive 5 Eb
feel. Next, it goes solidly into C minor for the heart of the C Bb 4 B
song, before turning upward to the relative major Eb for the 3- G
1
fadeout. Eb F
C
Listen to a song in C
Minor Pentatonic Tuning
Your Sansula and

Kalimba Journey
What do you want to do?
The journey is yours.
You have the tools you need to create your

own music on the sansula. I hope you are
enjoying the creative process.
You also have a set of seven alternative

tunings. If you feel the standard Am tuning
is too confining, you will be able to pick a
new direction from among the alternatives.
If you write your own music, you might

want to create a sansula tuning that works
most perfectly with your song. I think
there are hundreds to thousands of cool
and interesting tunings waiting to be dis-
covered, just for this 9-note sansula.
As your kalimba skills grow, you will prob-

ably outgrow the 9-note sansula format,
even if you do explore alternative tunings.
A modest step up in complexity is the

Hokema B11 kalimba, in standard G major
tuning, or one of several B11 exotic tun-
ings.
A more African experience can be had with

the African-tuned karimba. As the karimba
can be retuned to A minor and still express
African musical sensibilities, it can thus be
tuned to complement the sansula’s A minor
tuning.
Best to you, and welcome, as you begin

your own kalimba journey. May you find
much enjoyment along the way!
About Kalimba Magic

Kalimba Magic is a business dedicated to the proposition that
the kalimba is a real instrument capable of amazing music. Ka-
limba Magic has the broadest collection of kalimbas for sale in
the world. The videos on the Kalimba Magic YouTube channel
have had several million views.
We specialize in creating instructional guides and resources to

help you get the most out of your kalimba. Our website has the
best info on playing your kalimba and keeping it sounding good.
To help you get the most out of your kalimba, we have created
26 hardcopy kalimba books and 41 ebooks, most based on our ingenious and flexible kalimba
tablature, which shows you exactly which tines to play to accomplish each song.
Kalimba Magic has been selling high quality kalimbas, kalimba books, and kalimba music on-
line, and repairing, retuning, and reinvigorating your tired old kalimbas, since 2005.
About Mark Holdaway

Mark has been playing kalimba since 1986 when he met a strang-
er who played the Hugh Tracey Alto kalimba really well. Mark
chased after the memory of that man’s most excellent playing for
the next 10 years, but since then has been following his own path.
Mark is a talented multi-instrumentalist and accompanist,

playing guitar, bass, mandolins, recorder, marimba, percussion,
kalimbas, karimbas, sansulas, and mbiras.
Mark enjoys exploring new kalimba tunings, learning and

understanding traditional African music, writing music and
books, improvising, teaching, performing... and dancing. Mark Holdaway
Kalimba Wizard
Mark has lived in Tucson since 1995, where he is an active member of the folk and world music
scene. Since finishing his career as a radio astronomer in 2006, Mark has devoted himself full
time to his business, Kalimba Magic. For fun, Mark loves to hike in the deserts, canyons and
mountains of southern Arizona and New Mexico. And he always takes a few kalimbas with him.
Mark’s mission is to spread the history, magic, pride, and joy of the kalimba around the world.
Playing the Sansula 2.0

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What are the different models of the sansula described in the document?

What are the different models of the sansula described in the document?

What are some of the techniques described for playing the sansula?

What are some of the techniques described for playing the sansula?

Playing the Sansula 2.

Why is the Hokema sansula a fantastic kalimba?

- Its tines are beautifully smooth

The most important thing: this instrument is set up to simply

This is perfect for music to accompany meditation, relaxation,

The instruction in this book is for the standard

Different Sorts of Sansulas

Sansula models shown on the bottom row, from left to right:

Sansula Playing Techniques

The thumb nail helps create a clear sounding

Sansula Playing Techniques

E Sometimes you will need to break this stable

Sansula Playing Techniques

I use a stack of paper to reduce frame clatter.

Two Thumbs and a Finger

A disadvantage of the four-finger technique

If you have difficulty holding the sansula, the

Thumb Nail Care

Tuning Your Sansula

Listen to Songs on this Download

Kalimba Tablature - A Powerful Notation Method

About Reading Tablature

We use kalimba tablature in this book to indicate

Upper-Row Tablature Tines are Shaded

Generally, you play the left-side tines with the left

The Sansula’s Big Trick - exchanging E and F

The sansula, in its standard A minor

The second measure (at the top) is very

first note has changed, from E to F.

After you play measure 1 four times,

E But here is the big trick: it is really

The Sansula in Standard A minor tun-

The Sansula’s Big Trick - expanded

Going Up? Or Coming Down?

Measure 1 and measure 2 both use the

The right-side notes don’t change, but

Reversing those left notes do not

In case you forgot, this icon means:

Repeat The right thumb makes a three-note

The first measure makes a “down-up-

The second half shifts the starting

This piece demonstrates that interest-

Lower Notes - Upper Notes

Repeat The second phrase uses all four of the

E Check it out! The first phrase uses only

Chords and Arpeggios

The lower-row notes play an Am9 (A

In measure 1, we play A on the lower

Repeating the Cycle - Entering The Trance

Two Thumbs Play at the Same Time

It seems that almost anything you play

This tablature presents some two-note

It is easy to play two notes simultane-

But in measure 2, the E-B, the C-A,

A “Two Against Three” Pattern

Then put the two thumbs’ patterns to-