Maintaining and taking care of the mbira

dingiswayo-juma-on-mbira

Tips for mbira maintenance:

1 – Don’t place the instrument in direct sunlight, rain or wetness. Store it preferably in a dry place at room temperature.

2 – Regularly put a little bit of vaseline (petroleum) jelly on the bottom tips of the keys to prevent rust and it will help your fingers play smoothly on the keys.

3 – Handle the instrument carefully, dropping or bumping the instrument may cause the metal keys to shift and get out of tune.

4 – If your instrument does bump and the keys touch each other, you can separate them carefully by putting a flat screwdriver on the side where the keys are touching and with a small hammer gently tap the back of the screwdriver so the key will move back in place.

5 – Regularly check the tuning of your instruments, especially if it dropped / bumped and as a routine check. Read about how to tune your instrument here.

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