Africa – Land of Rich Musical Instruments

Africa is a continent with the wide variety of culture and community. There is around 3000 different tribes in Africa and around 800 to 1000 different languages. Instrument is an inherent part of social structure and life of African people. The art of using the different instruments and music has been passed from one generation to another. Their music and songs is a process of recording the history that is passed from the one generation to another. The instruments that are used by the people of Africa have developed over the thousands of years.

Following are the detail of some common instruments that are used in the Africa to express joy and love:-

Djembe
Djembe is a hand held drum that has originated from the area of Guinea. It is generally played by the single person with the bare hands. The instrument is up to three feet high with the fourteen inch wide head. The head of the drum is made up of shaved skin of goat and its shell is made of hardwood such as hare or lenge. The skin is stretched over the drum head by the help of metal rings and chord that are used to tighten the skin. It is truly an amazing musical instrument and an experienced drummer can produce up to 36 different tunes from this instrument. Djembe Drum is particularly played within a group of drummers and each drum is set for the different tone. 

Kora
The instrument Kora has basically originated from the West Africa and is now played in almost all parts of the region. It is made up of big calabash cut in half and to make a resonator, it is covered with the cow skin. It has a notched bridge that is similar to the guitar and played through the hands. Normally, bass notes are produced by the left hand and melody tune through the right hand.

Shakers
Shakers are made through a seed pod of tree that is found throughout the Africa. It is an outstanding shaker in its natural form and it is thought that it has been in use since the rhythm began. It is believed that shakers are used to add the extra spice in the music of Africa and it has developed over the years. However, still it is made up of the natural materials. In West Africa, an extremely popular shaker that is also known as the shekere is made through the dried gourd with the beads rush into a net wrapped on the gourd. 

Africa is really rich in its traditional music and different instruments and the history of Africa is incomplete without these traditional music instruments. Avail these unique instruments at the number of online stores available!!