The mbira is an idiophone consisting of a number of keys fastened over a bridge to a hardwood soundboard. The soundboard is held with both hands by the musician and the keys are plucked with the thumbs and sometimes the index fingers. Mbira music is one of the most ancient and popular forms of music found throughout black Africa and constitutes a contribution of unique richness to the world's music.

While mbira players have been accorded much prestige in Africa, their art has rarely received the attention and the appreciation that it deserves in the West. Too often the mbira has been viewed in ethnocentric terms as a miniature version of a Western instrument (i.e., finger piano), and regarded as far less significant than, in fact, it is. In contrast to the existent stereotypes, mbira music with its varied styles of vocal accompaniment represents a highly developed musical system with an integrity of its own.

In some African cultures, the mbira is a ritual object with deep symbolic meaning and plays a vital role in the society. Among the Shona people of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, for instance, the mbira is used for ancestral worship and bridges the world of the living with that of departed relatives.
(Paul F. Berliner "The Soul Of Mbira")

Recommended mbira-site:

www.dandemutande.com/

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recommended book

A Dissertation
submitted to the
Faculty of Wesleyan
University in partial
fulfillment of the
requirements for the
Doctor of Philosophy
in Music, Middletown,
Connecticut, 1974