Kora
Kòra
🌍 Gambia · Senegal · Guinea · Mali
The griot's 21-string harp — melodies cascading like water over smooth stone
Lin says:
I'm Lin and I love the kora! This extraordinary West African instrument is part harp, part lute, and all heart. It's played by griots — the hereditary storytellers and historians of Mande culture. The gourd body is half a calabash (a gourd) covered with cow skin, and those 21 strings produce the most breathtaking music — like rainfall on a still lake. Kora music has been compared to the beauty of Bach!
Quick Facts
Strings
21 strings in 2 rows
Body
Calabash gourd + cowhide
Tradition
Played by griots (jelis)
Origin
Gambia / Mande peoples
Discover the Kora
The kora has 21 strings arranged in two parallel rows — the player holds it with both thumbs and index fingers, plucking the strings alternately in a cascading, harp-like waterfall of sound.
Instrument Type
String
Known As
Kòra
📷 Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC licence)
For Educators
Music is a universal language! Use this page to spark classroom discussions about culture, history, and how music connects communities around the world.
Did You Know?
The kora is a relatively young instrument — it was developed around 300 years ago, though its cultural role draws on much older griot traditions stretching back millennia.
Master kora player Toumani Diabaté was born into a griot family with 71 generations of kora players — making his family line one of the longest unbroken musical dynasties on Earth.
A kora is not bought in a shop — it is traditionally built by the player or gifted within the family. The instrument is as personal as a name.
What Makes the Kora Special?
Instrument of Griots
The kora is played by jelis (griots) — hereditary praise-singers and oral historians who hold the collective memory of entire civilisations. A jeli is part musician, part historian, part diplomat.
Two Hands, Two Melodies
Each thumb plucks a separate interlocking melody — the left hand plays the "kumbengo" (repeated ostinato) while the right improvises above it. It's like two musicians playing at once.
Sound Like Water
Western musicians often describe kora music as resembling running water or the technique of Bach's keyboard prelude in C major — complex, cascading arpeggios of great emotional depth.
Keep Exploring the World!
Music is the heartbeat of every culture. Discover more incredible instruments and the countries where they are played.