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‹ Mbira songs

0 ¢ · L1 = 261.6 Hz

Mbira have no standard pitch — slide this until it matches the one in your hands.

SongsDeck the Halls
Play a different song (34)

2 more songs need notes this instrument does not have. Changing the tuning brings some of them into reach.

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  1. 5
  2. 4
  3. 3
  4. 2
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 1
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  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 2
  13. 3
  14. 2
  15. 1
  16. 7,
  17. 1
  18. 5
  19. 4
  20. 3
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  22. 1
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  25. 1
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  27. 3
  28. 4
  29. 2
  30. 3
  31. 2
  32. 1
  33. 7,
  34. 1
  35. 2
  36. 3
  37. 4
  38. 2
  39. 3
  40. 4
  41. 5
  42. 2
  43. 3
  44. 4
  45. 5
  46. 6
  47. 7
  48. 1'
  49. 7
  50. 6
  51. 5
  52. 5
  53. 4
  54. 3
  55. 2
  56. 1
  57. 2
  58. 3
  59. 1
  60. 6
  61. 6
  62. 6
  63. 6
  64. 5
  65. 4
  66. 3
  67. 2
  68. 1

Welsh traditional air “Nos Galan”, in print by the 1790s. Public domain.

22 keys · C3–B5 as notated · Approximates Ionian, the plain major scale. The seventh is the note that separates it from Nyamaropa.

Tap a key, or drag along a manual to run through it. On a keyboard the letters on the keys are the ones to press — they run left to right across the board. The manuals are lettered on the keys — L for the upper left manual, B for the bass manual, R for the right manual — and each is numbered outward from the middle of the board, which is how mbira players and every mbira score name them.

MbiraFree · printable · plays in your browser

Deck the Halls — Mbira Tabs

Deck the Halls, written out for the mbira as the key to press for every note and set up above on the Dambatsoko, an octave lower. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the mbira waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes68, 9 pitches
  • RangeB3–C5
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo132 bpm · about 29 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a mbira play Deck the Halls?

1 of the 4 here do. The check is made note by note against what each one can actually sound. Where the tune does not fit as the library writes it, another key or octave is tried, and the table says which; where nothing fits, it names the notes that are missing.

  • Nyamaropa✕ Cannot play itNeeds B3, B4, which it does not have
  • Dambatsoko↕ Plays, movedPlayed an octave lower: C major, B3–C5 · loaded above
  • Katsanzaira✕ Cannot play itNeeds B3, E4, B4, which it does not have
  • Mavembe✕ Cannot play itNeeds B3, D4, E4, A4, B4, which it does not have

Deck the Halls: mbira tabs

The large line is the key to press, by manual and position; the small line under it is the scale degree it sounds. A dash holds the note another beat, an underline is half a beat, and a dot beside a note makes it half as long again. Each line is one phrase.

▶ Play it above

Deck the Halls — mbira tabs (Dambatsoko) · tonalics.com

The 9 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 9 and you can play the whole tune.

  • B67×2
  • L11×11
  • B72×16
  • R13×14
  • L34×9
  • L25×7
  • L46×6
  • L57×2
  • L61×1

What to expect on a mbira

  • It runs from B3 to C5, an octave and a semitone, using 9 different notes. That leaves 11 semitones unused below and 11 above.
  • 87% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, C4 to A4, at note 60.
  • It uses 9 keys across 3 manuals (L, R and B).

About the tune

The tune is the Welsh winter air “Nos Galan” — New Year’s Eve — a dance melody that was sung with improvised verses and a harp answering each line. It was in print by the 1790s, and the English Christmas words were added in 1862.

Welsh traditional air “Nos Galan”, in print by the 1790s. Public domain. The notes follow Paul Hardy’s Xmas Tunebook, 2019 (2024), cross-checked against 2 other transcriptions. More about Deck the Halls →

Deck the Halls on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the guzheng or handpan, which do not have the notes.

More songs for the mbira

All 34 mbira songs · Christmas songs for mbira · The online mbira on its own