A family of musical instruments which have a series of thin tongues or lamellas, each of which is fixed at one end and free at the other. When the free end of a tongue is 'twanged' with a finger or fingernail, it vibrates and produces sound. By arranging tongues of different lengths, different pitches can be achieved.

A large number of lamellophones originate in Africa, where they are known under different names including mbira, sansa, likembe and kalimba. They were reported as early as the 16th century, but there is no doubt they have a much longer history. The Caribbean marímbula is also of this family.