What instruments are originally from Africa?

10 Instruments You Didn’t Know Were From Africa

  • Akoting. Found in Senegal, Gambia and Guinea Bisau (all in West Africa), the akoting is believed to have given birth to the modern-day banjo.
  • Mbira.
  • Kora.
  • Balafon.
  • Ekwe.
  • Udu.
  • Algaita.
  • Marimba.

Where did the xalam come from?

The xalam is the most common stringed musical instrument in Gambia. Griots of many ethnic groups play it, including the Wolof, Serer, Mandinka, Fulbe, and Tukulor. It probably came from the Bamana of Mali through several different paths.

What two instruments were brought from Africa?

African musical instruments include a wide range of drums, slit gongs, rattles and double bells, different types of harps, and harp-like instruments such as the Kora and the ngoni, as well as fiddles, many kinds of xylophone and lamellophone such as the mbira, and different types of wind instrument like flutes and …

What is the oldest instrument in Africa?

The bolon is one of the oldest of the West African stringed instruments and was originally associated with the hunting and warrior traditions.

What is the most popular African instrument?

Most widely spread and played instruments in Africa are the drum, the xylophone, the mbira, rattles and shakers.

What is an African griot?

Griot, Mande jeli or jali, Wolof gewel, West African troubadour-historian. The griot profession is hereditary and has long been a part of West African culture. In addition to serving as the primary storytellers of their people, griots have also served as advisers and diplomats.

What is a Khalam?

Xalam (in Serer, or khalam in Wolof) is a traditional stringed musical instrument from West Africa with 1-5 strings.

Did music come from Africa?

Major and minor migrations of African peoples brought musical styles and instruments to new areas. The single and double iron bells, which probably originated in Kwa-speaking West Africa, spread to western Central Africa with Iron Age Bantu-speaking peoples and from there to Zimbabwe and the Zambezi River valley.

What are the 5 most important features of African music?

Aerophones (wind)

  • Flutes (bamboo, horn)
  • Ocarinas.
  • Panpipes.
  • Horns from animal tusks.
  • Trumpets wood or metal.
  • Pipes being single or double reeds.
  • Whistle.

Is the marimba African?

Marimba is one of many African names for the xylophone, and, because African instruments bearing this name frequently have a tuned calabash resonator for each wooden bar, some ethnomusicologists use the name marimba to distinguish gourd-resonated from other xylophones. …

Where did the xalam musical instrument come from?

Xalam, also spelled khalam, is the Wolof name for a traditional stringed musical instrument from West Africa. The xalam is thought to have originated from modern-day Mali, but some believe that, in antiquity, the instrument may have originated from Ancient Egypt.

What kind of instrument is a xalam membranophone?

The xalam, in its standard form, is a simple lute chordophone with one to five strings. The wooden body (soundbox) membranophone of the instrument is oval-shaped and covered with the hide of cattle.

What are the strings of a Xalam made of?

The strings of the xalam are typically made of two or three tightly wound strands of low-gauge nylon fishing line; these strings are fixed to the instrument’s wooden neck by long and narrow leather strips and to its wooden bridge by cotton strings. By moving these strips, the instrument’s tune can be adjusted.

Who is the person who plays the xalam?

In Wolof, who plays the xalam is called a xalamkat (a word composed of the verbal form of xalam, meaning “to play the xalam”, and the agentive suffix -kat, thus meaning “one who xalams”). In Mande, this is ngonifola or konting fola . In Hausa, this is mai gurmi or mai kontigi .