The kalimba - also known as the thumb piano - is a melodic percussion instrument based on an ancient instrument that originated in Africa: the mbira. The kalimba is part of the lamellophone, or lingaphone family of instruments since it's played by striking small metal plates (lamella in Latin), also known as tongues (lingua in Latin). These tongues can be made from metal or even wood but in the case of the kalimba, a tuned set of metal tongues is played with the thumbs. The lowest notes (the longest tongues) are positioned in the middle, surrounded by increasingly shorter, higher pitched tongues on either side. The number of tongues of a kalimba can differ but most will come with seventeen notes and smaller models can have as few as five notes. Kalimbas with a resonance box are louder than kalimbas without, and you can actually amplify the sound of a kalimba, making it louder, by holding it against any resonant surface like a table, the body of a guitar, a door, a drum, pretty much anything that will resonate. These days, you can even find kalimbas fitted with a pickup so that the instrument can simply be plugged into an amplifier. There is no standard kalimba tuning, but generally kalimbas are diatonically tuned. The much larger marimbula that can also found under this category, is much like a kalimba but actually originates in the Caribbean - more specifically Cuba and Jamaica. The kalimba is played by holding it securely in both hands and playing with both thumbs, while the marimbula is an instrument you actually sit behind. And, while the kalimba is great for playing counter melodies, the deep-sounding marimbula is usually used to play simple bass lines to accompany the melody.
