mbira

plural mbiras

1. entertainmentA thumb piano, a musical instrument having a small sound box fitted with a row of tuned tabs that are plucked with the thumbs, originating among the Shona of southern Africa; any type of plucked lamellophone of the same type as the Shona instrument.

   “All right, let's hear that mbira strut its stuff.” [note plays] “Stop. No. I hate it.” “We should light the studio on fire, man. Record that!” “That's why you're my idea man, Delmonaco. You're not a coward like a certain someone!”

   2019 April 8, Brett Cawley & Robert Maitia, “The Future Is Borax” (11:42 from the start), in American Dad!, season 15, episode 22, spoken by Roger (Seth MacFarlane)

   1 more example

   Typical instruments used for making traditional Sierra Leonean music include bench drums, or gumbe; other drums; a kind of xylophone called the balangi; and a type of piano called the sansa (also known as a kalimba or mbira) that is played with the thumb.

   2007, Suzanne LeVert, Cultures of the World: Sierra Leone, page 109

   Synonyms: finger piano, sanza, thumb piano