Summary of ethnic musical instruments originating in Africa
How much do you know about African musical instruments?
Starting with popular folk instruments like the asalat (asalato) and the kalimba, even the djembe—well-loved as a hand-played percussion instrument—originated in Africa.
But Africa is home to many, many more traditional instruments.
In this article, we’ll introduce a wide range of African folk instruments all at once—from relatively well-known ones like the ones mentioned above to those rarely seen in Japan.
If you enjoy music with an exotic vibe, or if you’d like to try playing folk instruments yourself, be sure to take a look.
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Summary of traditional musical instruments originating in Africa (11–20)
Sakara
The sakara is a single-headed drum used by the Hausa people of northern Nigeria in Africa.
Similar in size to a tambourine or the Okinawan percussion instrument barank, it is relatively small among African drum-type instruments.
The player holds it in one hand, damping the drumhead with the fingers of that hand to change the timbre, while striking it with a stick held in the other hand.
The frame is made of fired clay and is donut-shaped.
Wedges placed at intervals around the body of the instrument are used to adjust the tension of the skin.
talking drum
As its name suggests, a talking drum originally refers to drums and drumming techniques used for communication.
Today, by extension, it refers to drums whose pitch can be changed by adjusting the tension of cords fixed around the drumhead.
Some have drumheads on both sides of the shell, while others have only one, but in either case they are played by striking with bare hands or with a distinctive curved stick.
A single drum can produce a wide range of pitches, and it also allows for a pitch-bending technique where the pitch of a note is altered after it is struck, enabling highly flexible and distinctive beats.
balafon
The balafon is a xylophone used by the Gwan people of West Africa at occasions such as weddings, funerals, and other ceremonies.
It features wooden bars fixed onto a wooden frame, with gourds underneath that act as resonators.
In traditional balafons, the insides are covered with a thin membrane made from spider webs or bat wings.
This is intended to vibrate and produce a distinctive buzzing sound through the mirliton effect.
The instrument is considered a root of Western instruments like the xylophone and marimba.
It is also an instrument traditionally performed only by hereditary professional musicians known as griots.
boron
The bolon is a harp-like string instrument played in West Africa, including countries such as Mali and Guinea.
Its body is made from a gourd and covered on top with animal skin that still has hair.
The player sits on this body to perform.
Three strings are stretched along a wooden stick that serves as the neck, and a metal rattle-like attachment may be added to the tip of the neck.
There is a hole in the body, and by striking the body it can also be used as a percussion instrument, integrating both string and percussion functions.
The harp section has a relatively low pitch, characterized by a boomy “bon-bon” timbre.
Ortu
The orutu is a bowed string instrument of the Luo people in Kenya, played in Kenya, Uganda, and elsewhere.
It is small enough to be supported with one hand and is characterized by having only a single string.
The cylindrical body is covered with skin, the neck is a round rod, and there is no fingerboard.
Unusually for a string instrument, it is played with the bottom of the instrument braced against the abdomen and held horizontally.
It is often used to accompany singing, providing obbligato lines between the melody and vocals in sync with the fine rhythms known as the benga beat.
Ekontin
The ekonting is a guitar-shaped string instrument beloved by the Jola people living in Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau in West Africa.
Its body is made from a gourd covered with animal skin.
It features a long, stick-like neck, and its two strings are of different lengths: the longer string plays the melody, while the shorter string provides ornamental notes.
It is also considered the origin of the American banjo.
It is said that West Africans who were brought to America as enslaved people created string instruments based on the ekonting.
In conclusion
We’ve introduced a wide array of traditional instruments originating in Africa.
From relatively popular ones like the asalat and kalimba to instruments that are barely known in Japan, you’ve had a chance to hear a variety of sounds.
Some can even be found at local music stores, so why not take this opportunity to start playing whichever instrument caught your interest?