This GOURD THUMB PIANO has NINE METAL TINES set onto a beautifully hand carved piano board, this is then attached to a Gourd half shell which acts as a resonating chamber. Thumb pianos are sometimes known as Marimba, Kalimba, Mbira or Lamellophones
As the player strikes a tine with their thumb the vibration produced in turn causes the tine and their neighbours to vibrate resulting in a WONDERFULLY COMPLEX SET OF TONES.
The tines can be tuned by loosening the screws and changing the length of the metal fingers, the thumb pianos have a soothing DEEP RESONANT TONE.
The thumb pianos measure approx. 20cm in diameter with a depth of 10cm | 8 inches diameter with a depth of 4 inches
The main body of the Thumb Piano is made from gourd, a large fleshy fruit with a hard skin that has been died and then hollowed out. Gourds are grown naturally, because of this no two gourds are the same so there will be some design variations, however we think that this adds to the appeal of this fascinating and unique instrument.