Creolization English- Speaking Caribbean

 Our culture is a mixture of Indian, European, African, Asian, and Hindu cultures, its elements are common to most of the islands. The Caribbean Culture comes from the migrations generated during the history of colonization of the Caribbean countries, which have contributed to shaping a Caribbean identity. The culture of the Caribbean is the result of the relationships between the different peoples and civilizations that are interrelated as a result of migration. The Caribbean islands that speak the English language are those that were colonized by Great Britain, many of which had an agricultural economy, for which they needed large numbers of slaves that were brought from Africa. After the colonization ended, much of the workforce was replaced from African slaves to workers from China or India on some of these islands. All this mix of cultures has resulted in a new culture, the culture of the Caribbean, and in this writing, we will address the culture of the English-speaking Caribbean. The Caribbean islands that make up the group of English-speaking countries:

  • Anguilla
  • Antigua and Bermuda
  • Barbados
  • Cayman Islands
  • Jamaica
  • Grenada
  • Montserrat
  • Saint Kitts and Nevis
  • The Bahamas
  • The British Virgin Islands
  • Trinidad and Tobago
In the book "Tour de Force: A Musical Journey of the Caribbean" creolization in the Anglophone Caribbean is presented, and examples can be seen in the culture of different Islands.

1- Barbados

An example of creolization in the culture of Barbados can be found in the article " A life in music by Sherie Holder-Olutayo" which talks about the composer, arranger, and musician Roger Gittens, who has among his compositions pieces such as calypso, jazz, gospel, and choral music, which are examples of the cultural mix.

                                                        Source:  (A Life in Music, 2010)

The music of Barbados has been internationalized mainly thanks to the artist Rihanna, who has become an international pop star, but in her songs, she introduces the various rhythms of the Caribbean.

Next, we show a video of Rihanna where you can see the mix of Caribbean rhythms. I chose this video because it features the artist Rihanna that in this song introduces a mix of genres like
  • Reggae, 
  • R&B/Soul, 
  • Pop, 
  • UK R&B 

Source: (RihannaVEVO, 2011)

2 - Bahamas

An instrument that shows the mixture of Europe with African cultures in the Caribbean is the concertina that we present in the photo below.

                                            Source: (Concertina | Musical Instrument, n.d.)
This instrument is an aerophone that creates sound by vibrating the air, it can be found used in rhythms such as:

  • Bachata and merengue in the Dominican Republic
  • ripsaw in Turks and Caicos
  • rake and scape in The Bahamas

In the book "Tour de Force: A Musical Journey of the Caribbean" the author presents a form of typical Bahamian music product of the development of the culture of the island is presented. Goombay is a form of music that uses a drum to create it, this drum is a membranophone made of goatskin and played with the hands. In the article Funky Nassau: Roots, Routes, and Representation in Bahamian Popular Music a description of this music is presented and how it is interpreted in the Bahamas islands and in the festival that takes place in the Junkanoo country. You can then listen to this rhythm in the video presented.

Source: (Bahamas - Dance the Goombay - World Sound Tour Music, n.d.) 


 
3 - Trinidad and Tobago

Below is a picture of the Carnival celebration. In the article  https://www.ncctt.org/new/index.php/carnival-history/history-of-carnival.html,  information on the history of Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago is presented.


Source: (LinkedIn & Twitter, n.d.)


Below you can see a video that shows the culture in Trinidad and Tobago and how to play one of their instruments the Steelpan. In this video you can hear the different sounds and the musical range that the Steelpan instrument can generate, an instrument from Trinidad and Tobago created as a sign of rebellion by slaves against Europeans who tried to silence non-European cultural expressions, banning the drum African.
Steelpan is capable of emitting an orchestral sound, the pan is flexible enough to contribute to the range of sounds.

  • High Tenor D4 - G6
  • Lower Tenor C4 - E6
  • Double Tenor F3 - Bb5
  • Double Second F#3 - C#6
  • Double Guitar C#3 - G#4
  • Triple Cello B2 - Bb4
  • Four Cello Bb2 - C#5
  • Quadraphonic B2 - Bb-5
  • Tenor Bass F2 - C4
  • Six Bass A1 - D3
  • Nine Bass G1 - C4

 Source: (Trinidad All Stars - Curry Tabanca, n.d.)



References

A life in music. (2010, August 24). Www.nationnews.com. https://www.nationnews.com/2010/08/24/a-life-in-music/

Bahamas - Dance the Goombay - World Sound Tour Music. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. Retrieved May 27, 2022, from https://youtu.be/L0s3MpGQgFE

Concertina | musical instrument. (n.d.). Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/concertina

History of Carnival. (n.d.). Www.ncctt.org. https://www.ncctt.org/new/index.php/carnival-history/history-of-carnival.html

Home. (2020). Ttconnect.gov.tt. https://www.ttconnect.gov.tt/gortt/portal/ttconnect/

LinkedIn, & Twitter. (n.d.). Save the Date: Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago, March 2019. TripSavvy. https://www.tripsavvy.com/trinidad-and-tobago-carnival-dates-1488746

RihannaVEVO. (2011). Rihanna - Man Down. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEhy-RXkNo0

Shannon Dudley. (2016). Funky Nassau: Roots, Routes, and Representation in Bahamian Popular Music. Ethnomusicology, 60(3), 508. https://doi.org/10.5406/ethnomusicology.60.3.0508

Trinidad All Stars - Curry Tabanca. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. Retrieved May 27, 2022, from https://youtu.be/uYqAX9vCUrk



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