A listing of percussion instruments includes some names unfamiliar to the lay person. Here are a few definitions:

Bongos. Pair of small Cuban drums, bucket-shaped, and played with thumbs and fingers.

Cabaza afuche. Afro-Brazilian rattle with external beads, originally a rough-surfaced tree gourd with handle and network of small beads threaded together. In modern form a wodden cylinder with a covering of dimpled metal and steel beads.

Claves. Round sticks of wood (Cuban)  7 to 8 inches long. One stick held in the left hand is beaten with the stick in the right hand.

Congas. Afro-Cuban drums played with bare hands.

Crotales. A rattle similar to castanets, wooden or metal and struck together. In modern percussionist's terminology small cymbals, also known as antique cymbals.

Maracas. Made from a pair of dried Cuban grourds, with beans or beads inside and shaken by hand to produce a rattling effect.

Timbales. Pair of single-head cylindrical drums, generally played with drumsticks.