Beautiful hand-made percussion instrument constructed of a dried hollow gourd covered with a net that is woven with white beads. The shekere (SHAY-kuh-ray) is found in various forms of West African musical genres, both traditional and contemporary, and is also a mainstay in certain genres of Afro-Cuban and Brazilian music. It can be played by shaking, tapping, or by rubbing or pulling on the net with the hands, and the effect is sonically similar to maracas or other shaker instruments.