Written by Ambre Montespan - Updated on May 8, 2026
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Did you enjoy the soundtrack to Ridley Scott’s film Gladiator, especially one of its main themes, “Now We Are Free”? Want to learn how to play it on your kalimba? Look no further: with the sheet music and tablature further down in this article, you’ll be able to play this iconic track from the epic starring Russell Crowe.
Step into the Colosseum arena with the fallen general Maximus, and let’s dive into the sheet music right away.
Tune your kalimba to play the melody from Gladiator
It turns out the official sheet music for the song “Now We Are Free” from the movie Gladiator is written in A major. So you’ll need to tune your thumb piano accordingly to play this melody. It’s not difficult at all, and if you’re not sure how to do it, we’ve created a free tutorial that teaches you how to tune your kalimba differently. Simply follow the instructions to apply the tuning shown below, which corresponds to an A major tuning for a 21-tine instrument.
Next, it’s a great idea to refresh your memory so you can read kalimba sheet music. For example, in the tablature you’re about to discover, there are multiple ties that you need to know how to interpret if you want to play “Now We Are Free” correctly. So take the time to consult this guide on reading sheet music for thumb pianos. This will ensure that you understand all the musical documents in this article.
Watch a tutorial for Now We Are Free on the thumb piano
If you want to progress quickly, there’s nothing like watching a video that shows you exactly which keys to press and in what order. That’s exactly what this tutorial for the music from Gladiator provides.
For comparison, you can find the original song from the movie just below:
The numbered sheet music for Mbira from Gladiator
Kalimba sheet music sometimes comes in the form of a series of numbers. Each number corresponds to a musical note that you will need to play on the instrument. This is a simplified format that’s very quick to learn. Here it is for the song from the movie Gladiator.
Try a version with letters from the score for “Now We Are Free”
Very similar to the sheet music with numbers discussed above, you’ll find the exact same melody, but this time using a letter-based notation system.
Improve your skills with the Gladiator kalimba tablature
A favorite resource for kalimba enthusiasts and pros alike, tablature can seriously level up your playing by showing you the exact placement of the notes you need. You’ll find the tablature for Ridley Scott’s epic set in the world of gladiators below:
Save Gladiator music sheets as PDF files
Sharing quality musical resources is important to us. That’s why you can download the Gladiator sheet music and kalimba tablature as a convenient PDF. Feel free to share it with your musician friends and compare your performances.
Who sings the song Now We Are Free from the movie Gladiator?
In the song “Now We Are Free,” you can hear the female voice of Australian artist Lisa Gerrard, born on April 12, 1961, in Melbourne. This singer is particularly renowned for her unique vocal technique, including a range spanning three octaves. She began her musical career in 1981 by founding the band Dead Can Dance, with whom she produced several albums, but she has been pursuing a solo career since 1995. In 1999, she began performing and composing for various feature films. She achieved huge success with “Now We Are Free” from Gladiator, which was released in 2000. Since then, Lisa Gerrard has continued to produce albums, contribute to film soundtracks, and regularly tour Australia and Europe.
You may be wondering what language Lisa Gerrard uses in the song “Now We Are Free”? Don’t try to match the lyrics to any known or official language—it’s simply a language invented by Lisa Gerrard herself, which she frequently uses in her work. Since the age of 12, the artist has been developing this unique language, which is composed of Latin, Hebrew, and other words that have been completely imagined.
Who composed the music for Gladiator?
The Gladiator soundtrack features 17 tracks, all composed by Hans Zimmer, Klaus Badelt, and Lisa Gerrard—though the latter two are less prominent than the renowned Hans Zimmer. The most famous track, “Now We Are Free,” is the work of all three artists, while the other songs involved only one or two of them. When the Gladiator soundtrack was released, it won a prestigious Golden Globe for Best Original Score and was nominated for several other awards.
Hans Zimmer, currently recognized as one of the world’s top film composers, specializes in creating music for films, television series, and video games. He has scored movies such as The Lion King, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Interstellar, and he continues to write music every year for major releases.
Get yourself a beautiful 21-tine kalimba to play the music from Gladiator
More than 20 years after its theatrical release, Gladiator has become a cult film, thanks in part to its exceptional soundtrack. “Now We Are Free” plays at key moments in the movie and left a lasting impression on audiences, who especially fell in love with Lisa Gerrard’s voice. You now have all the musical resources you need to play this beautiful melody on your kalimba.
However, if you don’t have a 21-key instrument, there’s no point in hoping to play this song correctly. You’ll need a model with that number of keys, giving you a lower range than a more traditional 17-key instrument. The Instruments du Monde store offers a durable 21-note plexiglass kalimba that’s ideal for playing the Gladiator melody.
Get your 21-note plexiglass kalimba now by clicking on the link below:
Did Walt Disney animation shape your childhood? Then learn to play one of the most beautiful songs from Aladdin with our kalimba sheet music for “A Whole New World,” which plays when the hero takes Jasmine to see the world on his magic carpet. And that’s just one of our many other sheet music pieces for 21-note mbira.
