# Shekere

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Shekere
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Shekere.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shekere
> Source revision: 1355847049
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Percussion instrument from West Africa}}
{{For|the song by Yemi Alade and Angélique Kidjo|Shekere (song)}}
{{Infobox instrument
| name           = Shekere
| names          = 
| image          = shekere.jpg
| image_capt     = Shekere
| background     = percussion
| classification = Percussion
| hornbostel_sachs = idiophone
| hornbostel_sachs_desc = 
| inventors      = 
| developed      = 
| range          = 
| related        = [Afoxé](/source/Afox%C3%A9), [Abwe](/source/Abwe)
| musicians      = [Madeleine Yayodele Nelson](/source/Madeleine_Yayodele_Nelson)
}}

The '''shekere''' {{Audio|LL-Q34311 (yor)-Tunmise123-Shekere.wav|Listen|help=no}} (from [Yoruba](/source/Yoruba_language) Ṣẹ̀kẹ̀rẹ̀)<ref>{{cite book |last=Crowther |first=Samuel Ajayi |author-link=Samuel Ajayi Crowther |title=A vocabulary of the Yoruba language |entry=Ṣẹ́kẹrẹ |page=264 |year=1852 |url=https://archive.org/details/vocabularyofyoru00crow |oclc=1102117470 |access-date=7 June 2022}}</ref> is a [percussion instrument](/source/percussion_instrument) consisting of a dried [gourd](/source/gourd) with beads or cowries woven into a net covering the gourd. There are multiple ways to produce sounds with the instrument. It can be shaken or hit against the hand. The instrument can also rest in the palm of one hand while other hand holds the handle of the gourd. A twisting wrist motion is used so that the gourd moves while beads remain in place causing friction and sound different than when the instrument is simply shaken or struck. The shekere originated in [Yorubaland](/source/Yorubaland) in [West Africa](/source/West_Africa), which comprises the countries of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo.<ref>{{cite web |title=How A Gourd Shekere Is Made |url=https://www.x8drums.com/v/blog/2009/07/how-gourd-shekere-is-made.asp |date=8 July 2014 |access-date=7 June 2022 |website=X8 Drums |language=en |archive-date=30 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530152331/http://www.x8drums.com/v/blog/2009/07/how-gourd-shekere-is-made.asp |url-status=live }}</ref> 

While originating with the [Yoruba people](/source/Yoruba_people), the instrument is common throughout West Africa and Latin America and is central to folk music traditions of many cultures as well as  being utilized within some popular music styles. In Ghana the instrument is referred to as '''axatse'''. In Latin America the instrument is commonly known as '''cabaça'''. Other names for the instrument include '''afuxê''', '''afoxé''', '''cabaca''', '''cabasa''', and '''cabaza''' depending on the language and culture.<ref name="GROVE">{{Cite encyclopedia |last1=Blades |first1=James  |first2= James |last2=Holland|title=Cabaça |author-link1 = James Blades|author-link2 = James Holland (percussionist)|date=2001 |entry=Cabaça [afoxê, afuxê, cabaca, cabasa, cabaza, sekere, shekere]|encyclopedia=Grove Music Online|publisher=[Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press) |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.04498|isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 }}</ref>

The shekere is made from vine gourds that grow on the ground. The shape of the gourd determines the sound of the instrument. A shekere is made by drying the gourd for several months then removing the pulp and seeds. After it is scrubbed, skillful bead work is added as well as colour.

==Varieties==
 
In Cuba, the '''chekeré''', also known as ''aggué'' ([abwe](/source/abwe)), is a large, hollow gourd (~50&nbsp;cm long, approx. {{frac|19|1|2}} in) almost entirely surrounded by a network of cords, to which many coloured beads are attached. Widely used in [Afro-Cuban](/source/Afro-Cuban) sacred and popular music, it may be twisted, shaken or slapped producing a subtle variety of effects; musically, it is more flexible than [maracas](/source/maracas).<ref>{{cite book |title=Cuban Music from A to Z |last=Orovio |first=Helio |author-link=Helio Orovio |page=52 |date=12 March 2004 |publisher=[Duke University Press](/source/Duke_University_Press) |doi=10.2307/j.ctv11smscb |isbn=978-0-8223-8521-9 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Los instrumentos de la música Afrocubana |last=Ortiz |first=Fernando |author-link=Fernando Ortiz Fernández |publisher=Dirección de Cultura del Ministerio de Educación |year=1952 |oclc=603651385 |language=es |volume=2 |page=124}}</ref>

In Brazil, this African gourd rattle is called a '''xequerê'''. It consists of the gourd ([''cabaça''](/source/Calabash)) cut in the middle and then wrapped in a net in which beads or small plastic balls are threaded. The [afoxé](/source/afox%C3%A9) is a similar, smaller instrument.

{{Listen|filename=shekere.ogg|title=Shekere|description=Basic groove on shekere|filesize=600 KB}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0KG5QLRyuU Video of this instrument being played]

{{Authority control}}

Category:Unpitched percussion instruments
Category:West African musical instruments
Category:Bissau-Guinean musical instruments
Category:Brazilian percussion
Category:Burkinabe musical instruments
Category:Cuban musical instruments
Category:Gambian musical instruments
Category:Guinean musical instruments
Category:Ivorian musical instruments
Category:Malian musical instruments
Category:Senegalese musical instruments
Category:Idiophones
Category:Gourd musical instruments

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Shekere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shekere) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shekere?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.