Knowledge Base

Scales, semitones and the kalimba

This article explains how a tuner, a frequency chart and an understanding of major scales can help you change your kalimba's key and keep its notes in tune.

Much of the music we hear uses seven-note major or minor scales. Across an octave, these scales contain five whole-tone steps and two semitone steps. Modern tuners normally use twelve-tone equal temperament: the octave is divided into twelve equal semitones. This should not be confused with historical Pythagorean tuning.

When people pick up an unfamiliar instrument, they often want to play a familiar tune, perhaps a nursery song or the theme from Titanic. Many modern production kalimbas therefore use the major or minor scales familiar in Western music, despite the instrument's African origins.

Major, minor and cents

A diatonic scale contains seven different notes before the octave repeats. C major is C D E F G A B, followed by the next C. The spacing matters: in equal temperament, a whole tone is 200 cents and a semitone is 100 cents. A tuner uses cents to show how far a note is above or below its target.

Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz). With the common reference A4 = 440 Hz, middle C, or C4, is approximately 261.63 Hz. This is often the lowest note on a C major kalimba, although models differ.

C major has no sharps or flats. For notes in this octave, the reference frequencies are:

Above B4 comes C5 at about 523.25 Hz, then D5 at 587.33 Hz, E5 at 659.26 Hz, and so on. Notes repeat in higher and lower octaves, giving melodies a wider range.

The major scale follows this pattern: tone–tone–semitone–tone–tone–tone–semitone. The natural minor scale follows tone–semitone–tone–tone–semitone–tone–tone. “Major” and “minor” mean “larger” and “smaller”.

• Exercise: build the major-scale pattern starting from G. Near the end, you will need F# rather than F: raise F by 100 cents. Starting from A instead requires three sharps, C#, F# and G#.

You can raise any note by 100 or 200 cents, so the same scale pattern can begin on any pitch. Some starting notes simply produce more sharps or flats in the notation.

• Exercise: build a major scale from A-flat. Answer: A-flat, B-flat, C, D-flat, E-flat, F, G. Four notes, A, B, D and E, are lowered by a semitone compared with the unaltered letter names.

You can think of a scale as a musical vocabulary. Using a major scale does not mean a melody must sound cheerful or light-hearted.

What can you play on a major-tuned kalimba? Many melodies whose range and required notes fit the instrument. A different key signature need not prevent you from playing: you can transpose the melody or retune selected tines. However, a melody requiring both a natural note and its sharp or flat may need a chromatic kalimba or a different arrangement.

• Exercise: retune a C major kalimba to the note set of B-flat major. Answer: lower every E and B tine by a semitone, or 100 cents, to E-flat and B-flat.

How do I tune to the required key?

The sharps or flats at the start of a staff form the key signature. Each key signature corresponds to one major key and its relative minor. A key-signature chart helps identify them. Adjust the relevant tines with a tuner: for example, if F# and C# are required, raise every F and C tine by 100 cents. Leave the other notes unchanged. If B-flat and E-flat are required, lower every B and E by 100 cents.

Before learning a melody, check for sharps and flats in the key signature and beside individual notes. They may also appear in letter names, such as F# or Ab. A sharp raises a note by a semitone; a flat lowers it. A natural sign cancels an earlier alteration. Check the whole melody before deciding on a fixed tuning, especially if it uses both altered and natural versions of the same note.

If your kalimba is already in G major and contains F#, check whether the melody needs it or whether it should be lowered to F.

• C major and G major tunings are both common. Their pitch-class sets differ by just one note, F versus F#. Forgetting that difference can make a tune sound wrong.