TonalicsJOURNALOpen Tuner
β€Ή Mbira songs

0 Β’ Β· L1 = 261.6 Hz

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

SongsYankee Doodle
Play a different song (33)

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

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Traditional, sung in the American colonies before the Revolution (18th century). Public domain. Written an octave up, so its low notes fit a 17-key.

22 keys Β· C3–B5 as notated Β· 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 β€” they run left to right across the board. The manuals are lettered on the keys β€” L for the upper left manual, B for the bass manual, R for the right manual β€” and each is numbered outward from the middle of the board, which is how mbira players and every mbira score name them.

MbiraFree Β· printable Β· plays in your browser

Yankee Doodle β€” Mbira Tabs

Yankee Doodle, written out for the mbira as the key to press for every note and set up above on the Dambatsoko. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time β€” the mbira waits for you β€” or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes28, 7 pitches
  • RangeG4–F5
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo120 bpm Β· about 16 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a mbira play Yankee Doodle?

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.

  • Nyamaropaβœ• Cannot play itNeeds B4, which it does not have
  • Dambatsokoβœ“ Plays as writtenIn C major, G4–F5 Β· loaded above
  • Katsanzairaβœ• Cannot play itNeeds B4, E5, which it does not have
  • Mavembeβœ• Cannot play itNeeds A4, B4, D5, E5, which it does not have

Yankee Doodle: 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.

β–Ά Play it above

Yankee Doodle β€” mbira tabs (Dambatsoko) Β· tonalics.com

The 7 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 7 and you can play the whole tune.

  • L25Γ—2
  • L46Γ—1
  • L57Γ—3
  • L61Γ—11
  • L72Γ—5
  • R43Γ—5
  • R54Γ—1

What to expect on a mbira

  • It runs from G4 to F5, a minor seventh, using 7 different notes. That leaves 19 semitones unused below and 6 above.
  • 78% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, D5 to G4, at note 8.
  • It uses 7 keys across 2 manuals (L and R).

About the tune

The tune was already old when British troops sang it to mock colonial militia before the American Revolution; the colonists took it up as their own, and it has been a patriotic song ever since. It is the state song of Connecticut.

Traditional, sung in the American colonies before the Revolution (18th century). Public domain. Written an octave up, so its low notes fit a 17-key. More about Yankee Doodle β†’

Yankee Doodle 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 Β· Christmas songs for mbira Β· The online mbira on its own