5 World Instruments You Need to Check Out

​The summertime is a perfect season to explore new types of music, preferably firsthand. Whether at a concert or through a recording, take a look at these five instruments that you’ve perhaps never heard of before!

1. Didgeridoo: This instrument hails from Australia. It is a wind instrument used by the indigenous peoples of this land down under. It works in a way similar to producing brass sounds; by buzzing your lips together in order to create a tone. The faster the buzz the higher the tone, but in the didgeridoo’s case, you will hear predominantly low tones, take a listen!

2. Sitar: The sitar is an Indian stringed instrument. It is played similarly to a guitar, but also has strings that aren’t meant to be plucked. Instead, they are there just to provide sympathetic vibration. The sitar can also utilize microtones, or intervals smaller than the ones found in the traditional diatonic scale we learn in music lessons.

3. Tabla: This instrument is also from India, but is a percussion instrument. Hitting different parts of the instrument with different parts of your hands and fingers will yield drastically different sounds. Tablas usually come in pairs. Check out both of these instruments in this video, you may have to fast forward to witness the tablas!

4. Oud: The oud is a Middle Eastern instrument, found in countries such as Iran. It is a cousin to the guitar and lute, and sounds similar, although the sound and playing style can easily be distinguished from the other two instruments.

5. Mbira: This is instrument is part of many African cultures. Made from metal strips attached to wood, the sound is produced when one of the strips is plucked with a finger. The metal strips are tuned to different pitches.