The chekeré (also chequeré or aggüe) is a hollowed gourd covered with a net strung with beads or seeds. It comes from the Yoruba of West Africa and is widely used in Cuba in sacred and popular Afro-Cuban music.
A dried gourd is hollowed out and covered with a knotted net of beads or seeds; in Cuba it is about 50 cm long. The player shakes it, so the beads hit the gourd, and strikes the base with the palm. You can also rest the gourd in one hand and twist it by the neck with the other: the gourd then turns under the beads, giving a scraping sound. Large, hard seeds give a dry, bright tone.
The chekeré comes from Yorubaland, which covers parts of Nigeria, Benin and Togo; its Yoruba name is ṣẹ̀kẹ̀rẹ̀. Priests and initiates used it to invite prosperity and drive away sorrow.
In Cuba the chekeré is usually played as a trio of three sizes. According to the Cuban encyclopedia EcuRed they are called salidor (small), segundo (medium) and caja (large), or from low to high caja, mula and cachimbo. This ensemble is also called toque de güiro: it accompanies the songs and dances for each Orisha and has a festive character. After the batá drums, the chekerés are the most important instruments of santería.
In rumba and conga a single chekeré marks the pulse, a role once played by other rattles.