| In traditional African culture, music has | | | | in different cultures. Mbira may be used for |
| ritual, social, and ceremonial functions | | | | entertainment purpose or for religious |
| along with some solely recreational | | | | ceremonies. Friction sticks, bells, clappers, |
| functions. Musical activities are highly | | | | rattles, cymbals, and sansa are very popular |
| ritualized and are considered to link the | | | | percussion instruments. |
| invisible world with the visible world. | | | | |
| Melodies are generally organized within a | | | | Among the popular African instruments, drums |
| scale of four, five, six, or seven tones. | | | | are an important musical instrument. There |
| Musical instruments in Africa take on | | | | are various parchment-head drums such as |
| sculptural forms that are sacred, elaborate, | | | | kettledrums, cylindrical drums, semi |
| simple, humorous, and serious, or a | | | | cylindrical drums, goblet drums, |
| combination of all. Irrespective of whether | | | | barrel-shaped drums, and hourglass drums with |
| these musical instruments are beaded, carved, | | | | variable-tension heads. Many wind instruments |
| painted, or decorated with skins, they send | | | | are constructed out of horns, tusks, conch |
| messages about the religious beliefs, | | | | shells, or wood. Among wind instruments are |
| artistic styles, and entertainment practices | | | | flutes made of millet, reed, bamboo, or the |
| of the people who made them. | | | | tips of animal horns, and gourds. Panpipes, |
| | | | ocarinas, whistle, oboe, horns that are made |
| Percussion instruments are very popular | | | | from elephant tusks or animal horns, and |
| musical instruments in Africa. Musical | | | | trumpets made of wood, sections of gourd, or |
| instruments of sub-Saharan Africa comprise of | | | | metal tubes, single-reed pipes made from |
| a wide variety of resonant solids such as | | | | millet stalks, and double-reed pipes adopted |
| stamping tubes, the mbira (thumb piano), and | | | | from Arabic culture are among other African |
| the xylophone. Mbira is one of the most | | | | wind instruments. African stringed musical |
| popular melodic instruments in Africa. The | | | | instruments or chordophones include musical |
| mbira is used in different ways by different | | | | bows, zithers, bowed and plucked lutes, |
| cultures and also exists in different forms | | | | arched harps, harp-lutes, and lyres. |