About Kalimbanumero

Kalimbanumero teaches the kalimba with numbers. Each tine has a number, and a song is the list of numbers to pluck: no music reading, and you play your first tune in a few minutes. There are 34 songs so far, each with a video, a coloured tab with the words and the thumbs, the letter notes and a printable PDF.

Who makes it

Kalimbanumero is made by Loïc Berthod, a developer and musician who lives in Grône, in Valais, Switzerland. He writes the music program that makes the videos and the tabs, arranges the songs and runs the site. He also makes Pianumero, piano by numbers, and Typiano, the piano on your computer keyboard. You can write to him at contact@kalimbanumero.com.

Why it is free, without ads

Because a first instrument should not cost more than the instrument. Every tab, video and PDF is free, without an account. There are no ads, no tracking company and no social network plugin; the site counts visits itself, without cookies (see the privacy notice). The only thing we may ask is your email, if you want to know when new tabs come out.

How each tab is made and checked

Each song is written note by note for the 17-key kalimba in C, from its traditional melody, moved to C major where needed so that every note is on a tine (no sharps or flats). The same notes make the video, where each number falls onto its tine, the tab on the page, the plain-text tab and the PDF: the four always agree. Before a song goes online, scripts check it: every number is a tine of the kalimba, the words fall on their notes, and its page, video, poster, PDF and share image are all there. If you find a wrong note, write to us: it is corrected everywhere at once.

Why only the public domain

So that everything can be free to print, copy and share, at home or in class. The tunes are traditional, or their composers died long enough ago that their music belongs to everyone. When the words of a song may still be protected, only the tune is given.

Kalimbanumero and Pianumero

Kalimbanumero is the kalimba sister of Pianumero: same maker, same idea of numbers instead of notes, and one account for both. The numbers do not mean quite the same thing: on a kalimba, 1 is always C, the long middle tine; on Pianumero, 1 is the lowest piano key a song uses. When Pianumero has the same song, its page here links to it.

Since when

Kalimbanumero went online on 24 October 2026 with its first 30 songs, after the series “Kalimba by numbers” on Instagram. New songs come about once a month.

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