A short despcription of Caribbean music styles, with focus on Salsa, Calypso, Steel-pan music, and Reggae.

1. STYLES OF
CARIBBEAN MUSIC

2. MUSICAL INFLUENCES
 Influences from Africa
 syncopations (offbeat accents) and cross-rhythms
 use of percussion
 call and response
 Influences from Europe
 tonal (based in a key) harmonies and melodies
 instruments eg guitar, piano

3. INSTRUMENTS
There are similarities in the types of instruments used
across the Caribbean islands. The most popular
instruments are percussion and drums.
 Percussion instruments include:
 Claves - two short pieces of wood
 Maracas - hand-held shakers
 Cabasa - loops of steel balls wrapped round a cylinder, hand-
held
 Reco-reco or guiro - scrapers
 Tragogo - double-headed bells
 Congas - tall, narrow, single-headed drum
 Bongo - smaller version of the congas
 Djembe - rope-tuned, skin-covered goblet drum
 Tassa - hung from the neck and played using two pieces of
specially selected sticks

5. SALSA
 Salsa is a lively style of dance music with African
and Spanish influences that originated in Cuba.
 It has:
 clave rhythms (usually played by claves), which provide
the rhythmic foundation
 melodic and rhythmic syncopation
 several one or two bar patterns each played by a
different instrument
 much use of Latin percussion eg bongos, congas,
timbales (shallow single-headed drums) and cowbells
 piano often features strongly

6. SALSA
 Salsa also features:
 rhythm section with a front line of two to five horns
 simple harmony based on repeated chord patterns,
often in the minor key
 call and response vocals
 simple melodies followed by coro (improvised sections)
 lyrics of love and everyday life

7. LISTEN TO THE SALSA RHYTHM PLAYED BY
THE CLAVES

8. CALYPSO
 Calypso is particularly associated with carnival. It
has:
 2/2 time with syncopation
 Acoustic and bass guitar or band with trumpets,
saxophones, electric guitars, drum kit and Latin
percussion
 Often uses call and response
 Simple harmony
 Verse and chorus songs
 Topical, witty lyrics - often satirical

9. LISTEN TO A CALYPSO GROOVE

10. STEEL BAND OR PAN MUSIC
Steel band music originated in Trinidad and Tobago
during the 1940s. Steel bands often play calypso
tunes but also play folk, jazz and classical music.

11. STEEL BAND OR PAN MUSIC
 Steel bands are characterised by:
 Steel-pans which were originally made out of oil drums.
 Different sizes of steel-pans including double tenor,
double second, guitar, cello and bass.
 A rhythm section made up of drums and percussion
such as tambourines and maracas and pieces of iron.
 Sticks with ends padded with rubber.
 Long notes played by rolling of sticks.
 Syncopation
 Rhythmical accompaniment patterns referred to as
strumming.

12. LISTEN TO THE ALL STARS STEEL ENSEMBLE
PLAYING THE THEME FROM CATS

13. REGGAE
 Reggae is a slower form of music than ska which
emerged in the 1960s. It is characterized by:
 Electric guitars and drums line-up
 Amplified bass guitar riffs (short repeated patterns)
 An association with Rastafarianism (a religious
movement worshipping Haile Selassie)
 Characteristic rhythmic strum on beat 2 and 4 (off-beat)
 Simple chord sequences
 Verse and chorus form

14. FAMOUS REGGAE SINGER BOB MARLEY

15. LISTEN TO DAMIAN MARLEY’S PERFORMANCE
OF GET UP STAND UP

16. CARIBBEAN MUSIC STYLES
 There are several other styles of Caribbean Music.
Take the time to research the following styles:
 Compas (Haiti)
 Mento (Jamaica)
 Soca (Trinidad)
 Jwé (St. Lucia}
 Pay attention to the instruments, rhythms and make
a list of the styles’ most popular performers.