Ṣẹ̀kẹ̀rẹ̀ — Beaded gourd rattle
Category: Instruments
A dried gourd covered in a woven net of beads, shaken and struck as a percussion instrument.
Ṣẹ̀kẹ̀rẹ̀ is a staple of traditional Yorùbá ensembles and modern Afrobeat/highlife bands alike.
A ṣẹ̀kẹ̀rẹ̀ is made from a dried, hollowed calabash gourd wrapped in a net of strung beads or seeds — a player shakes it, twists it, or strikes it against the palm to get different percussive textures from the same instrument.
It appears in traditional ensembles alongside drums like the gángan, and in contemporary Afrobeat, highlife, and jùjú music, making it one of the more recognisable through-lines connecting older Yorùbá musical traditions to today's popular genres.
Example: Obìnrin náà ń mì ṣẹ̀kẹ̀rẹ̀ ní àkókò orin. — "The woman is shaking the sekere in time with the music."
Related words:
- Gángan — The talking drum, often played alongside a ṣẹ̀kẹ̀rẹ̀
- Jùjú — A Yorùbá popular music genre that often features it