Hugh Tracey Alto Kalimba with Internal Mic Pickup 15-key Alto Kalimba

The Hugh Tracey Kalimba is shaped like a small wooden box with a circular hole in the middle (most models). It has thin metal strips or tongues which are the notes (called tines), that are of varying lengths. The tines are plucked downward with your thumbs using your thumbnails. The longer the length of the tine, the lower the pitch of the note. The longest tine, and therefore the lowest note is always in the middle. Unlike other keyboard instruments with the lowest note on the far left, the Hugh Tracey Kalimba notes are tuned in an alternating left-right manner starting from the center note.