[The Conversation Africa] Tonewoods are wood species that possess certain desirable properties that make them suitable for making musical instruments, such as woodwind or string instruments - like a flute or a violin. Any good tonewood should be radially cut, which means the lines formed by the year-rings are perfectly parallel on the surface. It must have an even-grain structure, be defect free and not shrink or swell noticeably with environmental changes.