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)
Bread logo
The panlogo is a traditional ethnic percussion instrument of the Ga people in Ghana, West Africa.
Said to be a precursor to the conga, it is played standing with the drum placed on the ground, much like the conga.
Its wooden shell is hollowed out, and antelope hide is fastened with cords and pegs.
Goat or sheep skin is used for the drumhead, and tuning is done by hammering the pegs.
It is characterized by a deep, rich tone and can produce a wide variety of rhythms and timbres depending on the playing technique.
Each instrument is carved with Adinkra symbols.
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.
Shekere
The shekere is a traditional percussion instrument of the Yoruba people of West Africa.
It is used in many African countries, including the Republic of Mali, Ghana, and Kenya.
The instrument consists of a large hollow gourd encased in a woven net threaded with seeds, beans, beads, or shells.
It can be played in multiple ways: striking the bottom to produce low tones, or shaking it as a shaker.
By playing the bottom and the top simultaneously, performers can produce both the deep bass from the bottom and the shaker’s timbre at the same time.
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.
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.