Already playing Mbira? Get some help choosing your next step
If you've learned some songs, parts, or variations and you’re looking for direction, you're not alone. This page is here to help you go deeper with intention.
A lot of mbira players reach a strange point.
You know enough to feel that the music is deep. You may already have parts in your hands. You may have favourite songs, favourite players, favourite patterns. You may already have more material available than you could work through in a lifetime.
And yet: you still don't know what to do next.
That is not because you are failing.
It is because most people are not given a clear map through the music once they move beyond the very beginning.
This page is for that moment.
The main ways players get stuck
I know some songs, but I don't know how they connect
You may be ready for Song Structure and Improvisation.
I want more traditional material from Zimbabwean players
You may be ready for Traditional Songs and Variations.
I have lots of material, but no real pathway through it
You may need a more intentional route through either:
traditional songs and variations
or structure and improvisation
I learned in position notation and I'm unsure where that takes me
You may want the Position Notation Path.
I want someone to guide me directly
You may want to Work With Me.
Choose your next direction
Traditional Songs and Variations
If what you love most is the music as it comes through Zimbabwean players - their parts, styles, and song worlds - this is a powerful path deeper.
Button: Traditional Songs and Variations
Song Structure and Improvisation
If you want to understand how the music fits together, how songs connect, and how to make valid improvisational choices, this is your path.
Button: Song Structure and Improvisation
Position Notation Path
If you learned through position notation and want to keep going without being forced into a notation change before you're ready, this path is for you.
Button: Position Notation Path
Work With Me
If you want a human being to help you get unstuck, guide you more personally, or challenge you more directly, you can work with me.
Button: Work With Me
A simple suggested route if you're unsure
If you're not sure what your best next move is, a strong default is:
choose one song or one small family of songs
decide whether your next focus is:
traditional material and variation
or song structure and improvisation
follow that route for a while instead of browsing randomly
return later and add the other route in parallel
For many players, the most powerful route is not choosing one forever, but letting both deepen one another over time.
Traditional material gives you roots. Structural understanding gives you wings.
Closing
You do not need to keep drifting through the material hoping the next thing will magically reveal the path.
A path exists. You just need the right one for the stage you're in now.
Buttons
Traditional Songs and Variations
Song Structure and Improvisation
Work With Me
Traditional Songs and Variations
For learners drawn to Zimbabwean players, repertoire, style, and variations from the source.
This path is for people who want to go deeper into the music by learning songs, parts, and player-specific approaches that have lived in the tradition. It is a route into the beauty, depth, and character of the music as it is carried in real hands.
For many players, this material feels precious - and it is.
Song Structure and Improvisation
For learners drawn to creative freedom and deeper insight into the structures that connect traditional parts.
This path is for people who want to understand how songs fit together, how valid improvisation works, how one pattern can unlock many others, and how to move from collecting fragments to feeling the deeper coherence of the music.
This is not about replacing tradition with theory. It is about understanding the music well enough that your choices become freer, stronger, and more musical.
Choose your path
Start Learning
If you're new to mbira and want a clear, rewarding first step.
Already Play?
If you already play mbira but don't know what your best next step is.
Traditional Songs and Variations
If you're most drawn to Zimbabwean players, archive material, and deeper repertoire.
Song Structure and Improvisation
If you want to understand how this music fits together and learn to make valid improvisational choices.
Position Notation Path
If you learned through position notation and want a route that respects your journey.
Work With Me
If you'd like direct guidance, live lessons, or a more personalised route.
Whatever stage you're at, you do not have to figure this out alone. Start with the path that feels closest, and the others will be waiting for you when you're ready.