Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
How Would You Like To Make
A Shekere?
A shekere (pronounced shay-kuh-ray) is a hollowed out gourd with beads, shells, or stones around it. The beads are held in place by what looks like a net. How do you play it? By holding the neck of the gourd in one hand and banging on the base of the gourd with the other hand. This not only shakes the beads: it also produces a low sound from inside the gourd. You can twist and shake them. Besides sounding good, they're very visible!
My interest in shekeres was only a few weeks old when I went searching for something plastic that would resemble the shape of a gourd. To my surprise, I found real African gourds in a local discount store.
I bought the biggest one there (13 inches across), painted it, did some more shopping for beads and string, and when the project was finished...
it looked like this!
Here's a closer look.
A second try, with a 10-inch gourd,
came out like this.
Now... would you like to make one?
The Ingredient List
The Neck Ring
The Zig-Zag Lines
The Tail
(This web site details the specific approach I use to make shekeres.
A more general approach can be found at How To Make A Shekere.)
Copyright 1999 Steve Mugglin
Permission is given to make not-for-profit copies.
