A backgrounder slideshow to prompt discussion with high school students about Caribbean music history and contemporary influence. The workshop was prepared for a UK high school group so contemporary music references are from British music charts.

1. Caribbean
Music Culture
A Brief Introduction
by Marva Jackson Lord
07961 589616
marva@griotsarts.com
http://griotsarts.com
copyright 2008

2. Preface
 This slideshow is a backgrounder sketch I created for an
interactive workshop I was asked to present about
Caribbean music to groups of high school students in
Bridgend, Wales in 2008. Each slide was used to begin
discussion with workshop participants.
I co-facilitated the workshop with drummer Victor
Fredrick, looking at traditional Caribbean
music, instruments and lyrics and how it emerged from an
amalgamation of cultures. Students participated in
conversation about Caribbean music and culture and
the influence in contemporary pop. Victor demonstrated
the rhythms with various percussion instruments, and led
the groups in creating their own rhythms based on the
knowledge they gained during the workshop.
- Marva Jackson Lord

3. Introduction
 Ska, Reggae, Mento and
Calypso music are the first
music forms that I remember
being introduced to by my
mother when I was a child.
Other forms of Caribbean
music include Merengue &
Compas (Haiti), Zouk
(Guadeloupe &
Martinique), Salsa & Son
(Cuba), but the entire list of
varying forms of Caribbean
music is too long to discuss
today. But we aim to give
you a taste of the richness
and diversity of Caribbean
music culture.

4. What do you listen to? Caribbean
music influence in today’s Pop
 When we listen to the top songs on radio such as BBC 1 many of
the styles we hear by artists such as Michael Buble, Black Eyed
Peas, Jay-Z, and others have been influenced by Caribbean roots.
Jazz is a major influence in several Caribbean music forms. Two top
songs which have been on the BBC Singles chart have been by
Estelle/American Boy and Sam Sparro/Black and Gold. These two
songs have something in common with some of the music forms we
will be touching on today. They both are Jazz-influenced songs.
 Over the past couple of years the BBC music chart has been
dominated by Welsh singer Duffy and in her vocal one can hear
Soul, African American R&B and Blues, which are also influences in
Caribbean music.
 African American Jazz, Blues and R&B were important influences
on the development of Ska and Reggae. Over the years, elements
of Jazz have also been incorporated into Latin-Caribbean music
forms from islands such as Cuba and other parts of South America.
 Leona Lewis, chart topping star catapults out of XFactor to win the
hearts of music fans world wide. Her musical connection is also
both Welsh and Jamaican. Her vocal style has become a standard
type of contemporary pop.

5. Ska
Have any of you ever heard Ska music?
Do you know of the bands Madness and UB40?
 Madness - a legendary British Pop/Ska band from
Camden, London, that formed in 1976. Still performing
today with their almost original lineup, they were one of
the leading bands worldwide during the 1970s 2 Tone ska
revival, and were particularly successful in the 1980s.
Memorable song: One Step Beyond.
 UB40 - a British Reggae band formed in 1978 in
Birmingham. They also continue to perform with their
original members and have had over 50 songs on
charts, internationally and in the UK. Memorable songs:
Red Red Wine, Mr. Fixit (written by one of Reggae’s first
artists, Winston Francis, also based in Britain)

6. Reggae Roots
 To discuss Reggae, we
must start with Ska. Ska
music was declared
Jamaica's National Sound
by the government for
Jamaica’s independence
from Britain's colonial
empire in 1962. But Ska
music actually originated in
Jamaica in the 1950's. Chris
Blackwell and Millie Small
made Ska music
internationally famous with
My Boy Lollipop, which was
recorded in Britain for
Blackwell's new record
label Island Records.
Basically Ska music built
Island Records which went
on to promote the likes of
reggae icon Bob
Marley, rock legend Stevie
Winwood, jazz genius
Courtney Pine, among
others.

7. Ska – Key elements
 1. Mento, a Jamaican calypso from the 1800's
2. Jonkanoo, a precursor of Mento
3. Early Rastafarian drumming, called Burru drumming Again
plantation owners had banned the use of the drum by Africans
in the Caribbean and the US because Africans used drums as
a form of communication. Burru drumming was the only
African drumming style allowed on the Jamaican plantations
as used to help African slaves keep time while working.
4. Early African-American music, 1940's Jazz and 1950's
Rhythm and Blues (R&B) Caribbean peoples, in particular
Jamaicans, have had a long relationship with AfricanAmericans since the early days of slavery in the Americas. In
the early 1900's Jamaican minstrels would travel through the
Southern United States performing their own blues styles for
local audiences. Most history books don't contain this
information but there is documentation in early newspapers
and in the works of current publications like the Jamaica
Journal that confirms this.

8. Ska - Instruments
 Guitar
 Bass guitar
 Trumpet
 Trombone
 Saxophone
 Piano
 Drums
 Organ

9. Mento
 Mento is sometimes referred
to as Jamaican calypso. It is
Jamaica’s folk music – a
combination of African and
European musical styles and
is one of the main influences
on Reggae music.
 The main instruments are
acoustic
guitar, banjo, drums, and
‘rhumba box’
 Popular in the 1950s. Today
tradition kept alive by
groups such as the Jolly
Boys.

10. Reggae
 Reggae music grew out of Ska, with many differences in lyrical
content, vocal styles, instruments used, type of
rhythms, drumming variations. Since the early 1960s, there
have been many different types of reggae including:
1. Rocksteady - some see this as a separate type of music
bridging Reggae and Ska - The Maytals
2. Roots Reggae – Burning Spear, Bob Marley, Mikey Dread
(producer of The Clash, just passed away earlier this year);
Rastafarian influence - slower drum
3. Lover’s Rock - distinctly British style of Reggae- Maxi Priest
4. Dub – Dennis Bovell – produced the Boomtown Rats (Bob
Geldof); Sly & Robbie – famous production team; Dub poetry
offshoot grew out of reggae scene in Jamaica – Benjamin
Zephaniah
5. Dancehall or some used to call it Raggamuffin (but now
there are different varieties of dancehall reggae)
Offshoots: Dancehall reggae influence on American Hip Hop
(Missy Elliot, Busta Rhymes); British Grime; also has derivative
forms called Trip Hop, Drum and Bass, RaggaSoca

11. Reggae - Instruments
Bass
Drums
Guitar
Organ
Brass
Melodica

12. Calypso
 What do you know of Carnival?
Carnival has become a massive event wordlwide. In Wales there is
the Cardiff Carnival, in London, the Nottinghill Carnival, based on
the original Calypso festive tradition is one of the world’s largest.
Every summer Cardiff has a similar festival put on by SWICA.
 Calypso (and it’s popular offshoot Soca) is native to Trinidad but
spread throughout the Caribbean, and today each island has its
own slightly differing kaiso tradition (Kaiso is another early term for
Calypso), and the first known calypsonian was a chantwell (singer)
named Gros Jean in the late 18th century. Soca (a more
‘accessible’ form of calypso) developed in the 1960s. Calypso
began as a posh European type of masquerade ball, which took
place just after Christmas and ends on Pancake Tuesday. Today
there are newer forms fused with Hip Hop, and other music which
are popular today. There is even a rumoured connection between
calypso and early New Orleans jazz, which is very possible because
of the fact that Trinidadians migrated in great numbers to New
Orleans in the 1800s. Calypso and Soca performers who are
legends today include Calypso Rose, Shadow, Byron Lee and the
Dragonaires, Harry Belafonte(had first hit Day-O in 1956), The Mighty
Sparrow and many more.

13. Calypso – Roots
 Calypso is based on several
components:
1. Extempo, Calypso lyrics
based on the West African praise
singer (a traditional recorder of
the community’s history – similar
to the role of the Welsh
Cyfarwydd or keeper of a Welsh
people’s history in olden days)
2. French, Irish and English folk
music forms and instruments
3. African rhythms and
melodies
4. French creole lyrics
5. Venezuelan dance
6. Steel drum, a new acoustic
instrument developed in the 20th
century
7. Asian rhythms of the tabla
drums

14. Calypso - Instruments
Main instruments of
calypso include:
Steel drum
Guitar
Saxophone
Trumpet
Percussion
Keyboard
Flute
Shakers or rattles

15. Son /Salsa
 Son is the root of most Salsa – Cuban music dates
back to the 1500’s and includes African, European
and Native American influences. One of the most
popular remains Son.
 Son/Salsa has had, and continues to have, an
incredible impact on popular music, and includes
Spanish melody, African Arara and Bantu
percussion, French creole rhythms, Areito song
and dance of Native American people called the
Taino (one of the original people who lived in the
Caribbean - Cuba, Jamaica, Santo
Domingo, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas - at the
time Christopher Columbus arrived). Son & Salsa
artists: Teodora and Micaela Ginez - founders of
Son, Rita Montaner, Trio Oriental, Havana
Orchestra, Arsenio Reodriguez, Beny More, Celia
Cruz, Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, Ruben
Blades, and many others.

16. Son - Instruments
 Bongos A pair of round drums held in the knees and struck with the
hand.
Botijuela A bottle used to store oil that was used as a bass in
original Son bands. Later replaced by the double bass
Claves A pair of cylindrical wooden sticks which when struck
together produce a metallic sound. They keep the rhythm in the
music.
Conga Drum A skinned.drum played with the palms.
Cowbell Played by holding in one hand and striking with a stick.
The Guiro A carved gourd played by scraping it with a stick.
Marimbula A finger piano brought to Cuba by slaves from Santo
Domingo.
The Quijada An African musical instrument made from animal
jawbone.
The Timbales A pair of skinned drums played with a pair of sticks.
Guitar and Tres Guitar (type of Spanish guitar); Trumpet and
maracas might also be included.

17. Zouk
 Zouk began in the 1980s, comes from the French
islands of Guadeloupe and
Martinique, encouraged by the French
government’s cultural agenda.
 Roots in Compas music from Haiti, Bal granmoun
dances and Cadence dance and music from
Dominica; mazurka and biguine, French and
American pop, and Kadans, Gwo ka and other
indigenous styles
 Zouk means "party" or "festival" in creole language
of French with English and African influences
 In Africa, it is popular in francophone
countries, while on the African islands of Cape
Verde they have developed their own type of zouk.
In Europe it is particularly popular in France, and in
North America Quebec-Canada and the US
Louisiana.
 Best known band: Kassav

18. Caribbean Music - Dance
 In each form of these African-rooted
musics, dance is an important element and
you can find information to help you learn
about some of these styles on Youtube.com
 Each form was popularized through dance
parties in homes or dancehalls, community
festivals, clubs or other places where large
groups could gather to share their love of
the music and exchange stories through
song about their lives
 Each music form has left a permanent
impact not only on the popular music of
today but on the very essence of the culture
we share in our day to day lives

19. CARNIVALS
Interested ? Get in
touch and get
involved in Wales!
Interactive, inclusive
and celebratory..
WINNER OF
MAS making
(Carnival design
and creation)
Drumming
(Caribbean and
African rhythms)
Dancing
(Processional dance for the road)
Note: The original workshop
provided an opportunity to highlight a
local event that could be accessible
to the workshop participants. More
slides could be added including more
information about local or accessible
Caribbean events.
I am not affiliated with SWICA –
Marva Jackson Lord