kora
West African strings
A kora is a West African stringed instrument with a large calabash resonator covered in cowhide, a long neck, and typically 21 strings.
Played by griot musicians in the Mandinka tradition, it produces a sound somewhere between a harp and a lute: The kora player's fingers danced across the strings.
The instrument accompanies storytelling, praise songs, and ceremonial occasions.
Thin flexible lines
- gourdHard-shelled decorative fruit
- calabashGourd used as vessel
- bridgeStructure spanning an obstacle
- nylonSynthetic textile polymer
resonator · neck · soundhole · pluck · strum · fretless · acoustic · handcrafted
African oral tradition keeper
- playerGame participant
- improvisationSpontaneous, unplanned creation
- melodyPleasing sequence of notes
- polyrhythmOverlapping musical beat patterns
accompaniment · recital · virtuoso · soloist · ensemble · ornamentation · phrasing · repertoire
strings
Thin flexible lines
nylon · resonator · neck · soundhole · pluck · strum · fretless · acoustic · handcrafted · cowhide
griot
African oral tradition keeper
- playerGame participant
- improvisationSpontaneous, unplanned creation
- melodyPleasing sequence of notes
polyrhythm · accompaniment · recital · virtuoso · soloist · ensemble · ornamentation · phrasing · repertoire · call-and-response
Mali
West African country
West Africa · heritage · ancestry · lineage · ceremonies · rituals · folklore · legends · elders · clan
kalimba
Thumb-plucked tine instrument
- AfricaEgypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania
- ancient weaponssword, swords, shield, shields, bow
- bladesblade, edge, knife, razor blade, cutting edge
- stringed instrumentsguitar, lyre, lute, mandolin, harp
- African MusicAfrobeat, highlife, afrobeat, Afro-pop, African rhythms
- African traditionsinitiation ceremonies, naming ceremony, ancestral worship, rites of passage, tribal chiefs
koraelectric guitar
Amplified stringed instrument
synthesizer · classical guitar · concert harp · violin · piano
korasynthesizer
Electronic sound-generating instrument
electric guitar · drum machine · electronic keyboard · sampler · theremin