Caribbean Music - 1076 Words

CARIBBEAN MUSIC Introduction: Caribbean music originated from the Caribbean Islands, also known as the West Indies, and is a mixture of West African and European predominantly Spanish influences. The music has its origin when West African slaves were brought to Caribbean Island. They composed music with the help of percussion instruments like drums, bells and shakers. The music had unique musical style elements with special tempo-setting rhythms created by claves or bells, multi-layered and syncopated rhythms and songs which were in the form of call-and-response formats. The European influence came through the usage of guitar, Spanish dance styles along with the use of Western European type of harmony. There are different types of†¦show more content†¦Calypso rhythms were first sung by the African slaves who were brought to work in Trinidad and they were forbidden to talk to each other. This music form was the only way of communication for them. Banana Boat Song is one of the most popular, internationally known calypso songs. While, Soca was a modern form of calypso with a high speed beat, rapso was considered to be a fusion of American rap music with soca which was created to narrate the everyday experiences of people. Though there are varied forms of Caribbean music, roots reggae has gained the most amount of popularity across the globe owing to the contributions of the legendary, Boy Marley (1945-1981), a Jamaican singer, guitarist, songwriter who was successful in initiating the roots reggae music and make it world famous. He formed a group called the Wailers which was one of the main reasons for roots reggae to gain widespread popularity. He started his career as a musician in 1961 when he formed his group, Rudeboys, which he renamed as The Wailing Wailers. This name was rechristened as The Wailers and their first composition was in the ska style. By the end of the decade, The Wailers became very well-known for their Caribbean music however, were not known in the international arena. They gained immense popularity and became world famous with their album, Catch A Fire. This led to reggae form of Caribbean music joining the family of internationally acclaimedShow MoreRelatedMusic in the Caribbean1264 Words   |  6 PagesMusic is â€Å"The art of arranging sounds in time so as to produce a continuous, unified, and evocative composition, as through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre† ( Farlex, Inc 2013). Caribbean music has its own unique history, is very diverse with each island having its own unique genre of music. With so many different types of music out there and different performing artists these artists are looking for ways to make money by becoming popular. Music in the Caribbean was first developed by the NeoRead More Degradation of Women in Caribbean Music Essay1748 Words   |  7 Pagesattention, playing on their sense of eroticism. The sections titled â€Å"Music, Sex, Sexism† and â€Å"Woman Rising† within Peter Manuel’s text: Caribbean Currents, dive into the many issues surrounding gender within music as well as female portrayal specifically in calypso. Observations can be made simply by reading through the textual comparisons. Many aspects of this subject area allude to the fact that the issue of gender portrayal in music can be construed differently depending on who the critical listenerRead MoreMusic in the Caribbean3392 Words   |  14 Pagesï » ¿ Music in the Caribbean The genre of Caribbean Music encompasses a diverse variety of musical styles and traditions from islands that are located in the Caribbean Sea and it represents something that is simple, exotic yet rich and wonderful. 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