Among the Soninké it is called a ganbare, and has three or four strings each with their own name. It is accompanied by two drums held under the arms, called dunduge, to play sunke or "intimate conversation" music, which is a musical genre fairly representative of the Soninké musical heritage and used on various occasions: baptismal ceremonies, circumcisions, excisions, weddings, tabaski and ramadan. The ganbare is also used to accompany sessions of witchdoctors.

The three-stringed lute that the Tuareg call the tehardent is normally played on its own. However, it can be accompanied by percussion gourds to perform the takanba at baptismal ceremonies, weddings and receptions. Played on its own for instrumental music, or accompanied sometimes by a single voice, it is the instrument "par excellence" for themes of love and war, two topics often addressed by Tuareg musicians. The best known musical pieces for the tehardent are the yali (name of a place where the Peul and Tuareg fought), njeru (in honour of the noble Peul living in harmony with the Tuareg), mulay (Cherif name), tangaani (a nostalgic song of love containing the words "the chorus thinks only of what it loves"), and jaba (name of an island rich in burgu grass, where the herds graze after returning from the haussa summer pastures).