The agogo is held in one hand and struck with a wooden or metal stick with the other hand. The hand holding the agogo controls the tone by touching the bells with the fingers. When struck the bells ring a high and a low note. Say “a- go- go” to imagine the sound.
The agogo usually accompanies drums and is played for both social dance and ceremonies such as welcoming a visit from an important person. Agogo’ is a Yoruba (Nigerian) word meaning ‘bell’ – ‘ago’ means ‘time’- ‘agogo’ is a word that sounds like the sound of the instrument, think of the double bell sounding ‘a go go’.
