ngoni
Malian stringed instrument
An ngoni is a stringed instrument from West Africa, particularly associated with Malian music.
It has a wooden body covered with animal skin and typically three to five strings, played by plucking.
The ngoni is an ancestor of the American banjo, brought to the Americas through the slave trade.
The griot accompanied his storytelling with the ngoni.
African bridge-harp with twenty-one strings
- djembeHand-struck goblet drum
- calabashGourd used as vessel
- gourdHard-shelled decorative fruit
- stringsThin flexible lines
plucked · bridge · resonator · rawhide · tuning · frets · neck · soundhole
African oral tradition keeper
- MaliWest African country
- West AfricaContinent's western bulge
- huntersPursuers of prey
- ceremoniesFormal observances with ritual
storytelling · heritage · ancestors · Sahel · Bamako · guilds · caste · apprenticeship
Pleasing sequence of notes
- improvisationSpontaneous, unplanned creation
- polyrhythmOverlapping musical beat patterns
- syncopationStressed unexpected beats
- grooveNarrow cut or routine
pulse · ostinato · pentatonic · call-and-response · accompaniment · ensemble · jamming · rhythm
kora
African bridge-harp with twenty-one strings
strings · plucked · bridge · resonator · rawhide · tuning · frets · neck · soundhole · pentatonic
griot
African oral tradition keeper
- MaliWest African country
- West AfricaContinent's western bulge
- huntersPursuers of prey
ceremonies · storytelling · heritage · ancestors · Sahel · Bamako · guilds · caste · apprenticeship · epic
melody
Pleasing sequence of notes
- improvisationSpontaneous, unplanned creation
- polyrhythmOverlapping musical beat patterns
- syncopationStressed unexpected beats
groove · pulse · ostinato · pentatonic · call-and-response · accompaniment · ensemble · jamming · rhythm · plucking
- Sahel musicgriot, kora, djembe, praise songs, talking drum
- West African musicdjembe, kora, griot, talking drum, praise songs
- African drumsdjembe, talking drum, bass drum, hand drum, frame drum
ngonipedal steel guitar
Stringed instrument with pitch-bending pedals
electric guitar · harpsichord · sitar · shamisen · erhu
ngonidrum
Struck percussion cylinder
djembe · synthesizer · electronic keyboard · bass drum · tuba