Ngoma:
Various kinds of drums are in use, usally made of wood and covered with cowhide (formerly zebra hide).
Depending on its size, it is either placed on the ground or held between the knees.
In African music the drum is not just a rhythm maker but also, and primarily, a melody instrument (melo-rhythm).
Using various striking techniques, it is possible to create a wide range of timbres.
Different rhythms are superimposed to create those phase-shifted cascades of sound that make up the specialattraction of the music.
Mbira:
A "thumb piano" (lamellaphone) with a sound like a zither. This is Zimbabwe's national instrument.
It is made up of a wooden sound box and a "keyboard" of wedged strips of metal of varios lengths and thickness. To amplify the sound it is often played in a hollow gourd (calabassa).
Karimba (Kalimba):
A member of the Mbira family of instruments. The player plucks the metal strips while covering the lower bore-hole with his little finger so as to vary the timbre.
Chipendani:
A mouth-resonated musical bow, the most widespread string instrument n Africa. Part of the bowstring, either near the tip or toward the middle of the bow, is held diagonally across the mouth. By changing the form and volume of the oral cavity while plucking or striking the string, the player is abel to obtain various sounds and pitches.
Hosho:
Shaker, alternately a frame, string or vessel rattle. This is the most important accompaniment in African music. The resonating body may be a gourd or a dried wild orange filled with pebbles or seeds. Two or more resonating bodies may be connected with rods, wires or string to form hand or foot shakers.
Makwa:
Clappers made of natural materials such as wood, bone, seashell or fruit skins.