The word shaker describes various percussive musical instruments used for creating rhythm in music. They are called shakers because the method of creating the sound involves shaking them – moving them back and forth in the air rather than striking them. Most may also be struck for a greater accent on certain beats. Shakers are often used in rock and other popular styles to provide the ride pattern along with or substituting for the ride cymbal.

Types of shaker

A shaker may comprise a container, partially full of small loose objects such as beans, which create the percussive sounds as they collide with each other, the inside surface, or other fixed objects inside the container – as in a

rainstick A rainstick is a long, hollow tube partially filled with small pebbles, rice or beans that has small pins or thorns arranged helically on its inside surface. When the stick is upended, the pebbles fall to the other end of the tube, bouncing o ...

caxixi A caxixi () is a percussion instrument consisting of a closed basket with a flat bottom filled with seeds or other small particles. The round bottom is traditionally cut from a dried gourd. The caxixi is an indirectly struck idiophone. Like the ...

egg shaker An egg shaker or ganzá is a hand percussion instrument, in the idiophone category, that makes a noise when shaken. Functionally it is similar to a maraca. Typically the outer casing or container is ovoidal or egg-shaped. It is partially full ...

Types of shaker

See also