DIY Shekere

[Jim McConkey]

I have been wanting to make a shekere for a long time, and I finally got around to it. I will bring you along on the construction, in case you would like to make one for yourself. They would also make great Christmas presents.

The shekere is a percussion instrument originated with the Yoruba people of western Africa, but is popular in music throughout western Africa and also in Latin America, normally played by shaking or slapping.

Materials Needed:

Gourd – just about any gourd will do, but the ones people specifically grow for bird houses work well. The two gourds here are the same kind, but the one on the left was not dried in the sun and is still unfinished, and the one on the right was and has a shellac coating.This particular gourd was about 9” / 23 cm wide and high. I have easily seen gourds twice as large used. My gourd came from the farm of some local friends, and I eventually gave them the finished instrument. Being Fall here in North America, now is a perfect time to collect some gourds to dry for next year's instruments.

Beads – I used wooden craft beads 10mm by 8 mm drilled with a hole in the short axis. Any kind of craft bead would work, and some like to make multi-color patterns. Certain kinds of nuts work well (Tagua, etc.), and many people have used sea shells, like miniature conch shells as well. Anything hard and small that you can put a string through would work. Get creative! The number of beads will depend on the size of your gourd and how fancy you want to get with the beadwork. From the size and shape of my gourd, I decided on five rows of ten beads each, for a total of 100 beads. I had a bag of 200 and I only used half of those, so I have enough for a second instrument.

String – I had a 300’ (100m) ball of #20 natural polished hemp, of which I used maybe 60 feet (10 m). I chose a color than contrasted with the gourd. I found the hemp a bit lumpy and uneven. Synthetic string might work better and last longer. You obviously want a string small enough to fit through your beads, but heavier than sewing thread.

Tools Needed:

Scissors
Ruler
Hacksaw
Round or bastard file
Sandpaper

Gourd Preparation

1. Dry the gourd, which takes many months or most of a year. You can dry your grourd in a greenhouse or inside, but exposure to the sun will help and will also bleach the gourd and make it lighter and more evenly colored. The gourd I used was dried outside under a clear tarp for most of a year.

2. Sand the outside of the gourd lightly. Gourds can have a paper-like skin which flakes, but it can be easily removed.

3. Cut off the top. This will allow you to shake out the guts and also makes the instrument louder. A hacksaw works well for this, but a sharp knife would probably also work. Dried gourds are not difficult to cut!

4. Finishing the gourd will help preserve it. For this instrument, I used ultra blond shellac, which is nontoxic and actually edible. I think M&Ms are coated with shellac! Once I had applied a few coats to the outer surface, I dumped the remaining shellac down the mouth and swished it around the inside with a gloved hand on the end until all the remaining shellac had been absorbed.

5. Once the shellac has thoroughly dried, give it one final light sanding with fine sandpaper or steel wool to smooth everything out.

[Jim McConkey]

Step 1:

Cut a piece of string about 8-10 times longer than the gourd is high. This gourd was about 9” (23 cm) high and wide, so I used a piece about an armspan (6’ or 2 m) long. Fold in half and place the bight loosely around the gourd’s neck and secure with a square knot. You want it to be loose, not tight. Just let the two ends dangle.

Step 2:

Once you decide on the spacing of your beads, take a similarly sized length of string, bend in half, insert the bight under the neck ring from the top and pass the two ends through it, like shown below, then tighten.

You can slide these knots around the neck ring to space them once all are in place. Yes, it will kind of get to be a mess with all those danging strings, but there is a method to the madness. It should look something like this:

[Jim McConkey]

Step 3:

We are now going to make a fishing net pattern, with beads included. To get started, take one string from each adjacent pair, but no beads, and join them with a simple overhand knot:

If you leave the knots little loose they can still be adjusted for an even appearance. Continue all the way around the gourd until all pairs have formed new pairs, with a triangle at the top:

[Jim McConkey]

Step 4:

Now comes the fun part! Repeat the same process joining strings from the new adjacent pairs, but this time placing one or more beads on each leg before joining them with a simple overhand knot:

As before, continue all the say around, and keep repeating the process for multiple rows. Try to keep the mesh a little on the loose side. You want the beads to slide freely around the body of the gourd. This means the size of the resulting diamonds will vary – smaller near the top and bottom, and larger near the equator of the gourd. If anything, I made the mesh just a little too tight on this one. I would try to keep it looser in the future.

[Jim McConkey]

Step 5:

Once all the beads have been placed, you should be near the bottom of the gourd. Gather all the loose ends and try to get the tension about equal. I finished off with a simple overhand knot.

Once tied, pull the knot tight and trim the ends to a reasonable length:

[Jim McConkey]

Done!

Here is the completed instrument. Other than preparing the gourd, it probably took an hour and a half to two hours to create. I'm sure it goes faster the more you practice!

Now that you have completed your Shekere, have a listen to the wonderful vocal group Sweet Honey in the Rock sing their ode to the Shekere: https://youtu.be/la-gg0srzDc

There are plenty of videos on YouTube giving you an idea of how to play a shekere. The instrument is commonly shaken or twisted, but can also be slapped on the bottom for a punctuating snare effect. Happy Shekere building!