In African music an mbira is a (what?) piano?
Mbira Mbira The mbira (pronounced "UM-beer-ra" , IPA "(ə)mˈbɪərə") is an African musical instrument consisting of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and plucking the tines with the thumbs. The mbira is usually classified as part of the lamellaphone family and part of the idiophone family of musical instruments. Members of this broad family of instruments are known by a wide variety of names. The mbira is also known as "marímbula" and "kalimba" in the Caribbean Islands. Both Joseph H. Howard, owner of the largest collection
Mbira all mbira dzavadzimu. Mbira music, like much of the sub-Saharan African music traditions is based on cross-rhythm. An example from the kushaura part of the traditional mbira piece "Nhema Musasa" is given by David Peñalosa, who observes that the left hand plays the ostinato "bass line," while the right hand plays the upper melody. The composite melody is an embellishment of the 3:2 cross-rhythm (also known as a hemiola). Tunings vary from family to family referring to relative interval relationships and not to absolute pitches. The most common tuning is Nyamaropa, similar to the western Mixolydian mode. Names may also