Whilst this shaker is good for a reasonably loud sound, I found its size a little too big and would have preferred a smaller one. Personally, I find that to get a good rhythm, I need to used both hands and I wanted to use just one. When you use just one hand, the 'beads' or 'rice' tend to go to one side or the other and weigh down the shaker at that end so it is quite difficult to get more improvised percussion. However, it does have a good sound when you use both hands, and would probably be good for a band - we are a duo.