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Hokema Kalimba B17 with Chord Magnets |weplaywelltogether

How to play the Chord Magnets on the Hokema B17 Kalimba

Over the past winter, Peter Hokema (founder of Hokema kalimbas) made a charming video in on a snowy day in Germany demonstrating how to use the chord magnets to mark chords on the B17 Kalimba to more easily find the chords to play on groups of tines to accompany melodies.

We translated Peter's instructions into English and shot our own version to share on Youtube. Now that it's ready, we're now in the height of summer. We thought you'd love to receive it anyway so that watching the snow might cool you off during the hottest summer months here in North America.

The Hokema B17 Kalimba

Kalimbas are metal-tined instruments which originated in southern Africa and which can be found there in countless variations. Our Kalimba B17 C-major made by Hokema Kalimbas is meticulously hand-crafted out of solid American black cherry wood. The surfaces is treated and polished with natural oils and waxes. The B17 is ideal for improvisation and intuitive playing. 

The B17 comes with a collection of tiny different colored magnets. These are designed to be placed at the top of the instrument in order to mark different chords for ease of playing to easily and quickly visualize where the chords begin and end. You can place the magnets anywhere that makes sense to you, depending on the song you're playing. 

Hokema B17 Kalimba

  • 7 Tines precisely tuned to c-major suitable for playing countless popular tunes. 
  • The B17 c-major is ideal for improvisation and intuitive playing. 
  • Solid resonance corpus of American cherry wood
  • A large number of well know songs can be played
  • Ergonomically formed tines for easy playing with the thumb
  • size 6.9"x 7"x 1.6" 

**Scale C-major: c d e f g a h C D E F G A H C

A C-major scale consist of  7 notes. The 17 note Kalimba has 2 sets of C with an octave in-between plus another C an octave higher.

**Want the versatility of 17-notes but not feeling the vibe of the C-Major scale so much? Grab the Hokema kalimba tuning tool and re-tune the B17 to ANY scale you want! 

We also recommend our new Kalimba 17 softbag in order to adequately protect the B17 when the instrument is stored or transported.  

  Hokema B17 Kalimba Soft Bag

  • Bag reinforced with fiberglass
  • Fully padded on the inside
  • Adjustable shoulder-strap
  • Protect your sensual perfectly
  • Lightweight and durable
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