Kalimba Sheet Music: Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit

Do you love the grunge band Nirvana and want to learn how to play their most famous song, Smells Like Teen Spirit, on your kalimba? Perfect! Thanks to the sheet music and mbira tablatures you’ll discover in this article, you’ll have all the musical resources you need to play this melody on your African instrument.

Don’t wait another second to start learning this Nirvana song on the kalimba.

Set up your kalimba to play Smells Like Teen Spirit

It turns out that Nirvana’s famous hit requires you to adjust your kalimba’s tuning so it matches this melody perfectly. To do that, tune your instrument according to the diagram below:

If you don’t know how to do this, or if you’re not sure what the letters, numbers, and other symbols on the diagram mean, check out our guide to learning how to tune a thumb piano. Everything will be crystal clear once you’ve read this tutorial.

Also, to read the Smells Like Teen Spirit sheet music correctly, you’ll need to understand a few basic music notations, like what parentheses, dots, or asterisks mean. So take a look at how to read kalimba sheet music. You’ll see it’s very easy, because everything has been simplified to be as accessible as possible.

Use a video tutorial of the Nirvana song to help you

Because the song is quite long, it can be helpful to use a video to progress faster. In the tutorial video below, you’ll see exactly which tines to play and in what order. Perfect for improving without wasting time!

Smells Like Teen Spirit dates back to 1991, so it’s very possible younger listeners may not know this masterpiece. That’s why the original music video is available just below.

The sheet music with numbers for sanza for Nirvana's hit

One of the kalimba’s biggest strengths is its easy-to-follow sheet music. Right below, you’ll find the number-based version of Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Study Nirvana's song with a thumb piano sheet music

Although there’s no difference between number-based and letter-based sheet music, the letter format can feel more intuitive for some musicians. That’s why we’ve included the kalimba sheet music for Smells Like Teen Spirit in this format below.

Choose the Nirvana tablature for more detail

Tablatures are music documents made for a single instrument. For the kalimba, they’re a bit harder to read than simplified sheet music, but they’re much more precise. Remember, you read them from bottom to top.

Share the sheet music for Smells Like Teen Spirit using a free PDF file

We believe sharing is essential, especially when it comes to music. You can download the free PDF for Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” including all kalimba sheet music and tablatures. Feel free to send it to your friends so you can compare your performances.

What is Nirvana?

Nirvana is a grunge band, a type of alternative rock, founded in 1987 by Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic in the United States. With a three-member lineup, the drummer position changed six times between 1987 and 1990 before the band ultimately settled on Dave Grohl. With this lineup, Nirvana broke through with Nevermind, which included the iconic tracks "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Come As You Are." With over 30 million copies sold, it’s one of the 32 best-selling albums in the world.

After that album, the media of the time fixated on the band, especially Kurt Cobain’s relationship with singer Courtney Love. It then became known that the couple was using hard drugs heavily, which nearly led to Nirvana’s breakup. In 1992, the band played the Reading Festival in England, then released a final album titled In Utero in 1993. During a European tour in 1994, singer Kurt Cobain, struggling with severe addiction, canceled Nirvana’s shows to enter rehab. He died by suicide with a firearm on April 5, 1994, at his home, bringing Nirvana’s musical journey to an end.

What happened to the members of Nirvana?

After Kurt Cobain’s tragic death, Nirvana co-founder Krist Novoselic stepped away from music until 1995, when he formed a new alternative rock band called Sweet 75. While Dave Grohl was initially expected to be part of the project, they ultimately decided to continue their careers separately. With four additional members, Sweet 75 released an album that didn’t achieve the hoped-for success, and the band dissolved in 2000. Krist Novoselic went on to form another band, Eyes Adrift, in 2002. It met the same fate and disbanded in 2003. Since then, his public appearances have been quite rare.

Meanwhile, drummer Dave Grohl founded the band Foo Fighters after a period of depression, not seeing himself pursuing a solo career. The hard rock group became a massive success, won four Grammy Awards, and is still active today, with more than a dozen albums and a lasting impact on modern rock.

Play the kalimba perfectly with a model designed for professionals

A true monument of alternative rock, the band Nirvana remains a musical touchstone for the grunge movement of the 1990s. Their anthem “Smells Like Teen Spirit” played a huge role in their success, and now you have the opportunity to recreate this melody on your kalimba using the sheet music and tablatures in this blog post. Once you’ve tuned your thumb piano, all that’s left is to practice until you reach your goal.

However, retuning your instrument for each song can be tedious. That’s why chromatic kalimbas exist: they feature dozens of tines, giving you all the notes across multiple octaves, including sharps and flats. With an instrument like that, there’s no need to retune just to change keys. If you’d like to get this type of kalimba, Instruments du Monde recommends a professional-quality 34-tine model crafted from solid phoebe wood that delivers exceptional tone.

Discover this kalimba for professionals by clicking on the image below:

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See the pro kalimba

Relive the best moments of Ridley Scott’s legendary epic by learning the melody from the film Gladiator on the kalimba with the help of our sheet music and tablature. You’ll feel the excitement of the Colosseum as you remember the battles of General Maximus, played by Russell Crowe, in the arena against other gladiators. Or you might be tempted by one of our other sheet music pieces for 21-tine kalimbas.