Bitancor, Cantila, Quitara

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF AFRICA

A. IDIOPHONES

These are percussion

instruments that are
either struck with a
mallet or against one
another.
BALAFON
- a West
African
Xylophone. It
is a pitched
percussion instrument with bars
made from logs or bamboo.
RATTLES
- Rattles are made of
seashells, tin, basketry,
animal hoofs, horn, wood,
metal bells, cocoons, palm
kernels, or tortoise shells. These rattling
vessels may range from single to several
objects that are either joined or
suspended in such a way as they hit
each other.
AGOGO

 The Agogo is a single bell or multiple bells that

had its origins in traditional Yoruba music and
also in the samba baterias (percussion)
ensembles. The agogo may be called “the
oldest samba instrument based on West
African Yoruba single or double bells.” It has
the highest pitch of any of the bateria
instruments.
ATINGTING KON

These are slit gongs used to communicate

between villages. They were carved out of wood
to resemble ancestors and had a “slit opening” at
the bottom. In certain cases, their sound could
carry for miles through the forest and even across
water to neighbouring islands. A series of gong
“languages” were composed of beats and
pauses, making it possible to send highly specific
messages.
SLIT DRUM

The slit drum is a hollow percussion instrument.

Although known as a drum, it is not a
true drum but is an idiophone. It is usually carved
or constructed from bamboo or wood into a box
with one or more slits in the top. Most slit drums
have one slit, though two and three slits (cut into
the shape of an “H”) occur. If the resultant
tongues are different in width or thicknesses,
the drum will produce two different pitches.
DJEMBE
The West African Djembe (pronounced zhem-bay) is one of
the best-known African drums is. It is shaped like a large
goblet and played with bare hands. The body is carved
from a hollowed trunk and is covered in goat skin. Log
drums come in different shapes and sizes as well: tubular
drums, bowl-shaped drums, and friction drums. Some
have one head, others have two heads. The bigger the
drum, the lower the tone or pitch. The more tension in the
drum head, the higher the tone produced. These drums
are played using hands or sticks or both; and sometimes
have rattling metal and jingles attached to the outside or
seeds and beads placed inside the drum. They are
sometimes held under the armpit or with a sling.
SHEKERE

The Shekere is a type of gourd and shell

megaphone from West Africa, consisting of
a dried gourd with beads woven into a net
covering the gourd. The Agbe is another
gourd drum with cowrie shells usually
strung with white cotton thread. The Axatse
is a small gourd, held by the neck and
placed between hand and leg.
RASP

A rasp, or scraper, is a hand

percussion instrument whose
sound is produced by scraping the
notches on a piece of wood
(sometimes elaborately carved)
with a stick, creating a series of
rattling effects.
B. MEMBRANOPHONES
Membranophones are instruments which have vibrating
animal membranes usedin drums. Their shapes may be
conical, cylindrical, barrel, hour-glass, globular, orkettle,
and are played with sticks, hands, or a combination of
both. African drumsare usually carved from a single
wooden log, and may also be made from
ceramics,gourds, tin cans, and oil drums. Examples of
these are found in the different
localities – entenga (Ganda), dundun (Yoruba), atumpan
(Akan), and ngoma (Shona), while some are constructed
with wooden staves and hoops.
BODY PERCUSSION

Africans frequently use their bodies as

musicalinstruments. Aside from their
voices, where many of them are superb
singers,the body also serves as a drum
as people clap their hands, slap their
thighs,pound their upper arms or
chests, or shuffle their feet.
TALKING DRUM

The talking drum is used to send messages to

announce births, deaths, marriages, sporting
events, dances, initiation, or war. Sometimes it
may also contain gossip or jokes. It is believed
that the drums can carry direct messages to the
spirits after the death of a loved one. However,
learning to play messages on drums is extremely
difficult, resulting in its waning popularity. An
example of the talking drum is the luna.
C. LAMELLAPHONE

One of the most popular African

percussion instruments is the
lamellaphone, which is a set of plucked
tongues or keys mounted on a sound
board. It is known by different names
according to the regions such as mbira,
karimba, kisaanj, and likembe.
MBIRA

The thumb piano or finger xylophone is of African

origin and is used throughout the continent. It
consists of a wooden board with attached
staggered metal tines (a series of wooden,
metal, or rattan tongues), plus an additional
resonator to increase its volume. It is played by
holding the instrument in the hands and plucking
the tines with the thumbs, producing a soft
plucked sound.
D. CHORDOPHONES

Chordophones are instruments

which produce sounds from the
vibration of strings. These
include bows, harps, lutes,
zithers, and lyres of various
sizes.
MUSICAL BOW
The musical bow is the ancestor of all string
instruments. It is the oldest and one of the most
widely-used string instruments of Africa. It
consists of a single string attached to each end
of a curved stick, similar to a bow and arrow. The
string is either plucked or struck with another
stick, producing a percussive yet delicate sound.
The earth bow, the mouth bow, and the
resonator-bow are the principal types of musical
bows.
LUTE

The lute, originating from the Arabic states, is

shaped like the modern guitar and played in
similar fashion. It has a resonating body, a neck,
and one or more strings which stretch across the
length of its body and neck. The player tunes the
strings by tightening or loosening the pegs at the
top of the lute’s neck. West African plucked lutes
include the konting, khalam and the nkoni.
KORA

The kora is Africa's most sophisticated harp,

while also having features similar to a lute. Its
body is made from a gourd or calabash. A
support for the bridge is set across the opening
and covered with a skin that is held in place with
studs. The leather rings around the neck are
used to tighten the 21 strings that give the
instrument a range of over three octaves. The
kora is held upright and played with the fingers.
ZITHER

The zither is a stringed instrument

with varying sizes and shapes whose strings
are stretched along its body. Among the
types of African zither are the raft or Inanga
zither from Burundi, the tubular or Valiha
zither from Malagasy, and the harp
or Mvet zither from Cameroon.
ZEZE

The zeze is an African fiddle played with a

bow, a small wooden stick, or plucked with
the fingers. It has one or two strings, made
of steel or bicycle brake wire. It is from Sub-
Saharan Africa. It is also known by the
names tzetze and dzendze, izeze and
endingidi ; andon Madagascar is called
lokanga (orlokango) voatavo.
E. AEROPHONES

Aerophones are instruments which are

produced initially by trapped vibrating air
columns or which enclose a body of
vibrating air. Flutes in various sizes and
shapes, horns, panpipes, whistle types,
gourd and shell megaphones, oboe,
clarinet, animal horn and wooden trumpets
fall under this category.
FLUTES

Flutes are widely used

throughout Africa and either
vertical orside-blown. They are
usually fashioned from a single
tube closed at one endand
blown like a bottle.
PANPIPES

Panpipes consist of cane pipes of

different lengths tied in a row or in
a bundle held together by wax or
cord, and generally closed at the
bottom. They are blown across the
top, each providing a different note.
HORNS
Horns and trumpets, found almost everywhere in
Africa, are commonly made from elephant tusks
and animal horns. With their varied attractive
shapes, these instruments are end-blown or side-
blown and range in size from the small signal
whistle of the southern cattle herders to the large
ivory horns of the tribal chiefs of the interior. One
trumpet variety, the wooden trumpet, may
be simple or artistically carved, sometimes
resembling a crocodile’s head
KUDU HORN
REED PIPES

There are single-reed pipes made from hollow

guinea corn orsorghum stems, where the reed is
a flap partially cut from the stem near one end. It
is the vibration of this reed that causes the air
within the hollow instrument to vibrate, thus
creating the sound.
WHISTLES

Whistles found throughout the continent may be

made of wood or other materials. Short pieces of
horn serve as whistles, often with a short tube
inserted into the mouth piece. Clay can be
molded into whistles of many shape sand forms
and then baked. Pottery whistles are sometimes
shaped in the form of a head, similar to the Aztec
whistles of Central America and Mexico.
TRUMPET

African trumpets are made of wood,

metal, animal horns, elephant
tusks, and gourds with skins from
snakes, zebras, leopards, crocodiles
and animal hide as ornaments to
the instrument