Types of Drums
This goblet-shaped drum from Mali is often called the "healing drum."
Djembe
This massive parade-style percussion music is the heartbeat of Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival.
Samba
These small, handheld percussion instruments (often made of wood) are clicked together, commonly used in traditional Mexican dance.
Castanets
This city is considered the birthplace of Jazz, blending African rhythms with European brass band traditions.
New Orleans
In Middle Eastern drumming, "Doum" refers to the low bass sound, while this word refers to the high, sharp edge sound.
Tek
This friction drum produces a unique squeaking sound when a damp cloth is rubbed against an internal bamboo stick.
Cuica
This Jamaican genre is characterized by a "one-drop" drum beat and a heavy emphasis on beats 2 and 4.
Reggae
This goblet-shaped drum is the primary percussion instrument in Arabic music.
Darbuka
This body of water was the primary route for the "Middle Passage," which forcibly brought African rhythmic traditions to the Americas.
Atlantic Ocean
This term describes the simultaneous use of two or more conflicting rhythms.
Polyrhythms
This large, bass drum provides the heavy "heartbeat" pulse in a Samba Bateria.
Surdo
This Cuban secular dance music involves three drummers, a singer, and dancers, and comes in three styles: Yambú, Guaguancó, and Columbia.
Rumba
This Middle Eastern tambourine features heavy brass cymbals and is known for its intricate finger-tapping techniques.
Riq
While the Djembe is now found everywhere, it originated within this specific empire that once covered modern-day Mali, Guinea, and Senegal.
Mali Empire
This term refers to shifting the rhythmic emphasis to the "off-beats" or "weak beats."
Syncopation
These instruments, invented in Trinidad and Tobago, are made from recycled 55-gallon oil barrels.
Steel Pan
This folk musical style from Veracruz features the jarana, the requinto, and the rhythmic foot-tapping known as zapateado.
Son Jarocho
This "bell-like" instrument, often used in West African and Afro-Cuban music, provides the steady pulse for the rest of the group.
Cowbell
The Cajón (a box drum) became a staple of Afro-Peruvian music because enslaved people were banned from using traditional drums. Which South American country is its primary home?
Peru
This is the Italian term for the speed or pace of a given piece of music.
Tempo
This large, wooden idiophone is a traditional Mexican instrument often played by two or more people with mallets.
Marimba
This 1970s New York City-born genre used "breakbeats" from funk records to create a new rhythmic foundation.
Hip Hop
These three-drum sets (Quinto, Conga, and Tumbadora) are essential to Rumba and Salsa.
Congas
The Steel Pan was invented on this specific southernmost island of the Caribbean, located just off the coast of Venezuela.
Trinidad
This is the most common material used to make the "head" of a traditional acoustic drum.
Animal skin