The ngoni (also spelled ngɔni, n'goni, or nkoni) is a traditional string instrument from West Africa. It has a body made of wood or a calabash, with dried animal skin, often from a goat, stretched over it. The ngoni can play fast melodies and is closely related to the akonting and the xalam. It is called a jeli ngoni because it is played by griots during celebrations and special events in traditional songs called fasa s in Mandingo. Another larger type, called the donso ngoni, is thought to have come from the donso, a group of hunters and storytellers in the Wassoulou region. The donso ngoni is mainly used for ceremonies. It has six strings and is often played with singing and the karagnan, a serrated metal tube scraped with a metal stick. The donso ngoni was described by Richard Jobson in the 1620s as the most common instrument in the Gambia. He called it an instrument with a large gourd-shaped body attached to a long neck and six strings. The ngoni has been known since at least 1352, when the Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta saw one in the court of Mansa Musa. It is believed to have evolved into the banjo in North America after enslaved Mandé people were brought there. Battuta also saw the balafon, another instrument. A book by English musician Ramon Goose explains the ngoni's history, tunings, and how to begin playing it.

Kamale ngoni

The smaller kamale ngoni, also called the "young man's harp," is said to have been invented by musician Alata Brulaye during the 1950s and 1960s in Mali. It became popular in the Wassoulou region and helped Wassoulou music grow in popularity during the 1970s and 1990s.

Musicians usually tune the kamale ngoni using pentatonic scales. However, some musicians, like Adama Yalomba, are trying new methods and using heptatonic scales, which influences younger musicians. The kamale ngoni is smaller than the traditional pentatonic donso ngoni and is tuned a fourth higher. The donso ngoni is an earlier version of the kamale ngoni. Both the kamale ngoni and donso ngoni look similar to the Manding kora, but the kora has a much larger range (often up to four octaves) and more strings that are tuned diatonically. In contrast, the kamale ngoni and donso ngoni have ranges of about an octave (or slightly more in the case of the kamale ngoni) and are tuned pentatonically. For many years, both harps used a resonance body made of calabash, not wood like the traditional lute ngoni. This West African harp originally had six strings, but over time, the number of strings increased to eight, ten, twelve, fourteen, sixteen, and eighteen.

Notable players

• Issa Bagayogo
• Cheick Hamala Diabaté, a Grammy-nominated artist who performs internationally and plays the banjo
• Mamah Diabaté, a member of the Rokia Traoré Band
• Adama Dicko, who has performed with Tata Pound and Transglobal Underground
• Dicko Fils
• Mamadou Sidibé, a Malian musician
• Moriba Koïta (died in 2016), who performed with many West African musicians
• Abdoulaye Kone, a member of the Sidi Touré Band
• Andra Kouyaté, who has performed with his brother Bassekou Kouyaté, Rokia Traoré, and Tiken Jah Fakoly
• Bassekou Kouyaté, best known for his band Ngoni ba
• Mamadou Kouyaté, a player of the bass ngoni, who is part of Trio-Da-Kali, has recorded with the Kronos Quartet, and has performed with Roswell Rudd, Toumani Diabaté, and Bassekou Kouyaté, and appeared at The 2013 Proms
• Ko Kan Ko Sata
• Fina Ahimsa, who plays the kamale ngoni
• Siân Pottok, who plays the kamale ngoni
• Yoro Sidibe, who plays the donso ngoni
• Youssoupha Sidibe
• Baba Sissoko
• Justin Adams
• Banzumana Sissoko
• Ramon Goose
• Don Cherry, an American jazz musician
• Leni Stern, an American jazz guitarist who includes the ngoni in her current projects, such as those with the Mike Stern Band
• William Parker
• Joshua Abrams