Mende religious song

Ethnomusicological sound recording made by Cootje van Oven. Mende religious song of praise, accompanied by three shegbureh and one kongoma. The meaning of the song is: "If one is faithful and asks, God will always help". A kongoma and shegbureh are being played in the photograph (not these). The shegbureh, apparently is always played by women, is a stalked gourd surrounded by a network of beads or buttons (occasionally shells) on strings. The end of the strings is held in one hand, the stalk of the gourd in the other. Rhythmic movements of the gourd produce the desired rattle of the beads or buttons against the gourd. The kongoma is a wooden box with a sound hole over which a few metal blades (usually hacksaw blades) are fixed. The blades are plucked with the fingers of one hand while the side of the box is hit with the other hand or sometimes with a tin.

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Further Information

• Type: Sound Recording, Musical instruments
• Object: Mende religious song
• Materials: No Data / Other
• Culture Group: Mende
• Dimensions: No Data
• Production Date: 1966.12.21
• Associated Places: Potoru - Chief s compound, Barri Chiefdom, Pujehun District [Place recorded]
• Associated People: Cootje van Oven [Sound Recordist]; Herb Clark [Sound Recordist]; Thain-Hawa Thando [Shegbureh]; Hawa Suareh [Shegbureh]; Nos Klumah [Shegbureh]
• Museum: Cootje Van Oven Collection
• Accession Number: CVO:255

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