Musical Instruments
The güiro is undoubtedly native to the island. It is a hollowed gourd with ridges cut into one side. A wire fork is rhythmically dragged over the ridges to produce an unusual percussion sound. It has found its way into many forms of Latin music.
The Spanish guitar with six strings underwent several changes on the island, owing the lack of native materials and craftsmen to produce authentic instruments. Of the derivatives, namely the requinto, bordonua, tiple, cuatro and tres, only the cuatro and the tres are used with any frequency today. The cuatro has five double strings and produces a unique, rather hollow sound. (A linguistic note: cuatro means “fourth” and refers to the tuning of strings which are a half octave (a fourth) apart.) The tres has three double strings and has a simlar sound to the cuatro.
From Africa came the tambou, a hollowed out tree trunk covered with a taut animal skin, and the maraca, which is a gourd filled with pebbles or dried beans and shaken to produce rolling sound.
Related Travel Information
Early history Puerto Rican Music
The history of the music on the island of Puerto Rico begins with its original inhabitants, the Taínos. While very little of their culture is left, perhaps traces of it can be found in some of the percussion instruments currently in use, particularly in the countryside. Some sporadic attempts have been made to revive this native music, but they are neither sustained nor convincing.
Christopher Columbus arrived to the island in November of 1493, but the indelible mark of Spanish culture wasn't felt until Juan Ponce de León invaded the island in 1508 and established a colony
Culture of Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago are famous as the birthplace of calypso music, as well as the development of the steel pan, which is widely claimed to be the only acoustic musical instrument invented during the 20th century. The diverse cultural and religious background allows for many festivities and ceremonies throughout the year. Other indigenous art forms include soca (a derivate of calypso), Parang (Venezuelan-influenced Christmas music), chutney, and pichakarie (musical forms which blend the music of the Caribbean and India) and the famous Limbo dance.
Puerto Rican Music : Seis
The seis originated in the latter half of the 17th century in the southern part of Spain. The word means six, which may have come from the custom of having six couples perform the dance, though many more couples eventually became quite common. Men and women form separate lines down the hall or in an open place of beaten earth, one group facing the other. The lines would approach and cross each other and at prescribed intervals the dancers would tap out the rhythm with their feet.
The melodies and harmonies are simple, usually performed on the
Music of Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Kitts and Nevis is an island nation in the Caribbean, known for a number of musical celebrations including Carnival (December 24 to January 2). The last week in June features the St Kitts Music Festival, while the week-long Culturama on Nevis lasts from the end of July into early August. These celebrations typically feature parades, street dances and salsa, jazz, soca, calypso and steelpan music.
Traditional music of Saint Kitts and Nevis
The most well-known kind of traditional music is probably seasonal Christmas songs, though there also chanteys and other songs. Music is also a part
Puerto Rican Music : Salsa
Latin music on the island today is most widely represented by salsa, which in English means sauce. The music is of Afro-Caribbean, especially Cuban, origin and the term was probably coined first by Ricardo(Ritchie)Rey and Bobby Cruz.
Salsa appears to have arisen in El Barrio of New York City, where immigrants from the island settled. In the late 1960's, Cubans and Puerto Ricans invented the genre by combining rock music with Puerto Rican plena, Cuban son montuno with chachachá, mambo, rumba, cumbia and Latin jazz. The music was highly rhythmic and eminently danceable. Puerto Ricans in this
