AFRICAN TRADITIONAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

AFRFICAN TRADITIONAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

African traditional musical instruments originated from Africa. They are locally made by craftsmen and blacksmiths. Some instruments exist in many parts of the country and they are known by various names. These instruments are mainly of the Yoruba, Hausas, Igbos and few from other areas. They are categorized under four classes, namely membranophone, idiophone, chordophones and aerophone.

CLASSES OF AFRICAN TRADITIONAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT

1. Membranophone: these are the instruments made of animal skins stretched over a hallow shaped wood. They are mostly called drums, e.g, gudugudu, bembem, bata, gangan, kerikeri, akuba etc.
2. Chordophone: these instruments produce sounds by the vibration of a stretched strings. These strings can be plucked or bowed e.g Ure, Lute or Goje, Zither, Molo etc.
3. Idiophone: the bodies of these instruments vibrate when struck, scraped or shaken to produce sound e.g xylophone, thumb piano (agidigbo), rattle (sekere), gong, ekwe (slit drum), wood block, udugu etc
4. Aerophone: these are blowing instruments, they produce sound by the vibration of a column of air, e.g Upe, Algaita, Opi, Kakaki, takai flute etc.