Easy-to-Play Gospel Songbook for Kalimba: Play by Number. Sheet Music for Beginners

You have never played music before or cannot read sheet music, and yet you want to play inspiring hymns, famous religious folk songs, and spirituals? Don’t worry! You will begin to play right away. Many spiritual “sorrow songs” are slow and melancholic and are ideally suitable for kalimba.

I made my pictured sheet music as simple as possible.

You’ll play by number-coded circles. No musical staff or notes. The easy-to-play songs and melodies were adapted especially for beginners.

You will be able to begin to play right away if the keys of your instrument have number notations. Most kalimbas already have them.

My sheet music is universal and suitable for 10-17 note kalimbas.

Each of the modern kalimbas usually has engraved numbers and letters representing the name of the notes. The low notes are in the center of the kalimba. The notes become higher as you move away from the center. The order of the notes alternates from right to left, going outward as you move up the scale.

Taking “C D E F G A B C”, “C” is on the right side, and then you will find “D”

on the left.

The standard 17-note kalimba contains 3 octaves:

1. a full 2nd small octave,

2. a 3rd small octave, and

3. 3 notes from the 4th small octave.

The 2nd small octave goes from C4 to C5 and is depicted in my sheet music as simple numbers. The notes from the 3rd small octave have numbers with one dot above each number. The 3 notes in the 4th minor octave - C6, D6, and E6 - are depicted by numbers with two dots above them.

I also put one or two dots above the numbers in the sheet music if they use an octave other than the main kalimba octave. The dots will help you to begin to play immediately.

Note: songs have been transposed for a diatonic range. Some melodies might be changed and simplified.

Updates:

I appreciate your feedback, which helped us identify and correct all of the typos. Thank you for bringing them to my attention.

This e-book includes 45 hymns and gospel songs:

Amazing Grace
Babylon’s Falling
Christ Was Born on Christmas Day
Elijah Rock
Every Time I Feel the Spirit
Go, Tell It on the Mountain
God Is So Good
Great Big Stars
Great Day
Holy, Holy, Holy
I’ve Got Joy Joy
I’ve Got Peace Like a River
Jesus Loves Me
Jesus Walked This Lonesome Valley
Joy to the World! The Lord is Come!
Just As I Am
Kumbaya, My Lord
Michael Row the Boat Ashore
Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen
Praise Him, All You Little Children
Shall We Gather at the River
Silent Night, Holy Night
Sinner Man
Soldier of the Cross
Somebody’s Knockin’ at Your Door
Swing Love, Sweet Chariot
The Little Light of Mine
There’s a Meeting Here Tonight
We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder
We Are Marching (Siyahamba)
We Shall Overcome
When the Saints Go Marching In
Who Built the Ark?