Flute

Flutes are one of the most common musical instruments in Burkina Faso and accompany many ceremonies, including masked performances. To play this flute a musician holds a finger over the holes at the ends of the arms and blows across the hole at the top. The slender forms and the grains of the wood used make flutes like this extremely fragile, and they often have to be repaired, as was done here, by wrapping hide around vulnerable areas. Flutes are carved as pierced tubes with holes burned with hot pokers through the arms to the hollow center, allowing the musician to change the pitch of sound. Flutes are widely traded in the region and are often passed from one generation to the next. The dark patina on this flute suggests an intensive period of use.