BONGO DRUM

also called Bongo, one of a pair of small Afro-Cuban drums played with the fingers, used principally in Latin-American dance music (in which they are usually tuned a fifth apart, as CG). Bongo drums are yoked in pairs, and the two heads (about 5 inches [13 centimetres] and about 7 inches [18 centimetres] across) are nailed or rod tensioned. The drum shells are wooden and open at one end. In Cuban folk music several other drums are also called bongos.