Welcome to Mbira.Online

Introduction

Mbira.Online was created by Andy Fowler and Forward Kwenda to serve the global mbira community.

Visitors enjoy 100s of inspirational mbira videos and learning resources; and our ever-growing team of Zimbabwean mbira masters earn an income.

Check out the tips below to get the most out of your time here, and scroll down for your free introductory resources.

Main Navigation

Access these options at the top of every page>>

• Mbira.Online brings the world’s top mbira masters together into one searchable video archive.

• New videos and song packs are added every month, with major/recent updates announced on the Home page.

• Visit the News page for a full list of updates since we began in 2020, and see what’s new since your last visit.

• Select the Mbira Song Library to browse all mbira songs by name, difficulty, song structure, or perform an advanced search.

• Choose Advanced Search to quickly find anything else you’re looking for: musicians, songs by tuning, interviews, courses, and much more.

• Click the tags at the bottom of any result to navigate between related content.

• Choose Mbira Learning Resources for mbira courses, 1:1 video lessons, and to attend one of our popular mbira camps.

• The Shop offers mbira instruments, buying advice, and funky mbira t-shirts/apparel (profits go back into this site).

• Inside the Community heading, Gold Subscribers enter the Members Area to access their comprehensive resource libraries and community features…

• And new visitors are invited to Join Us to help support more Zimbabwean musicians, and enjoy even more inspiring mbira content.

  
  

Video + Notation

• Every musician brings something different to Mbira.Online. Some play basic Kushaura and/or Kutsinhira parts for a song, while others share their own improvisations.

• Note that Forward Kwenda often offers a Combined video where he brings two earlier examples together (and at times plays something entirely new). He then presents his own Forward Kwenda Style Kushaura, Kutsinhira, and Full improvisations. Again, these names may not reflect exactly what happens - Forward says that every time he touches the instrument he steps out of the way, opening a doorway for the universe to come through him - and it’s beautiful.

• Click any musician’s name on the Advanced Search page to see all of their material (try Forward’s name above).

• Visit the ’⭐️⭐️⭐️’ mbira song diffculties page for help finding material at your preferred level.

• Time codes beneath a video show which sections have been notated, what level they are, and which mbira song pack the corresponding notation can be found in*.

• If you’re viewing on a smart-phone and can’t see the video names, please tilt your device.

• For authenticity, our musicians play instruments in their preferred tunings.

• To play along with your mbira, use the ’Transpose’ Google Chrome Plugin. It’s free, enables you to isolate, loop, transpose, and change the speed of our videos, and takes less than two minutes to install. Highly recommended!

• Finally, Google Chrome provides the best site performance. Please upgrade your browser if you have any issues with page loading or video streaming.

*Gold Subscribers can make requests for new notation any time, this means that the notation for a video can sometimes be published up in a few different song packs - Sorry! We recommend downloading all of the song packs for a song you’d like to work on (remember to check those fist six song packs at the top of your library too). Then, working backwards from any song pack, the artist and song name will help you find the corresponding post. The video name and time code will help you find the corresponding video and time segment.

Free Introductory Resources

• Learn Mbira offers a detailed introduction (40+ pages) to the mbira instrument, and the notation system that we use here.

• You’ll learn variations for the traditional songs Tadzungaira and Nhemamusasa, get valuable improvisation skills in your hands, and discover the fascinating fractal world of mbira music.

• Once you’ve got your download, you can work through it with the accompanying material in this Mbira Video Course (also free).

• Choose our Nhemamusasa Masterclass - Song Pack Sample if you’re already familiar with the accessible ‘pitch notation’ (seven-note system) that we use, and want a small sample of the type of content our subscribers access.

• We’ve also put together a free Mbira Essentials pack, containing ‘everything you wish you’d had when you first started playing mbira’.

• It’s been updated a few times over the years. Today it’s filled with things like play-along hosho tracks (two styles, each at three speeds), handy illustrations (mbira notes/octaves/7 main chord progressions - with helpful advice), printable blank tab, and lots more!