Do you like this piece of music? What thoughts have crossed your mind?
What emotions did you feel while listening? 
Was it amusement, joy, relaxation, anticipation, sadness, dreaminess, triumph, anxiety, scariness, annoyance, defiance, enthusiasm, inner warmth?
None of the above? 🙂 

The kora is a stringed instrument used extensively in West Africa. A kora typically has 21 strings, which are played by plucking with the fingers. It combines features of the lute and harp.

The kora is built from a large calabash, cut in half and covered with cow skin to make a resonator with a long hardwood neck. The skin is supported by two handles that run underneath it. 

Kora players usually come from families and tribes who are traditional historians, genealogists and storytellers and pass their skills on to their descendants. Though played in Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Senegal and Burkina Faso, the instrument was first discovered in the Gambia.*

Being part of the oral tradition of West Africa, music for the kora was not written until the 20th century.


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* The Gambia is one of a very small number of countries for which the definite article is commonly used in its English-language name.

I don't like this piece of music because in my opinion it's a little bit boring. Even though I don't like it, it reminds me a lot of my favorite kids' movie, Moana. Christine Synodinou

I don't like the music of the kora because it's very boring for me. I think it's a very ancient instrument. Jim Pappas

The kora is a stringed instrument and it has 21 strings. Yes, I do like it. I can feel the softness, the sadness, the calmness and the tranquility. It reminds me of the sea. Lida Dimopoulos