Ethiopian musical instruments

thumb|upright=1.2|A sekhem-style sistrum

The masenqo (; Tigrinya: ጭራ-ዋጣ (ዋጣ), also known as masinko or mesenko, is a single-stringed bowed lute commonly found in the musical traditions of Eritrea and Ethiopia. As with the krar, this instrument is used by Ethiopian minstrels called azmaris ("singer" in Amharic). Although it functions in a purely accompaniment capacity in songs, the masenqo requires considerable virtuosity, as azmaris accompany themselves while singing.

The krar (Geʽez: ክራር) is a five-or-six stringed bowl-shaped lyre from Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is tuned to a pentatonic scale. A modern krar may be amplified, much in the same way as an electric guitar or violin. The krar, along with the masenqo and the washint, is one of the most widespread musical instruments in Northern Ethiopia and Eritrea.

The begena, () is a ten-stringed box-lyre instrument from Ethiopia, and is the sole melodic instrument devoted only to the zema, the spiritual part of Ethiopian music.

thumb|right|Kakaki player at the palace of the Ooni of Ife, in Osun state, western Nigeria The kakaki is a three- to four-metre-long metal trumpet used in Hausa, Yoruba, and Nupe traditional ceremonial music. Kakaki is the name used in Chad, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Benin, Niger, and Nigeria.

A kebero () is a double-headed, conical hand drum used in the traditional music of Eritrea, Sudan and Ethiopia. A piece of animal hide is stretched over each end of the instrument, thus forming a membranophone. A large version of the kebero is also used in Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Christian liturgical music, while smaller versions are used in secular celebrations. The kebero is primarily used in weddings, funerals and other ceremonies. The instrument is made from the hollowed out section of a tree trunk and then hard particles are inserted into it. The shell is then covered with two cow

Washint (Amharic: ዋሽንት) is an end-blown wooden flute originally used in Ethiopia. Traditionally, Amharic musicians would pass on their oral history through song accompanied by the washint as well as the krar, which is a six stringed lyre, and the masenqo, a one string fiddle.

The kissar (also spelled kissir), tanbour or gytarah barbaryeh is the traditional Nubian lyre, still in use in Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia. It consists of a body having instead of the traditional tortoise-shell back, a shallow, round bowl of wood, covered with a soundboard of sheepskin, in which are two small round sound-holes. The arms, set through the soundboard at points distant about the third of the diameter from the circumference, have the familiar fan shape. Five gut strings, knotted round the bar and raised from the soundboard by means of a bridge tailpiece similar to that in u