WORLDMUSIC–LATIN-AMERICANMUSIC-CALYPSO WORLDMUSICGUIDE

The Musical Contexts

World Music Guide to

Calypso
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Music of the Caribbean

Read the descriptions below of different types and
styles (genres) of Caribbean Music. Then, scan the
QR code and see if you can match each of the
extracts to the correct genre of Caribbean Music below.

CALYPSO STEEL BANDS

Carnival music, loud and designed to be Characterised by the main instruments of
played outdoors featuring brass, guitars, Steel Pans made from old oil drums
drums and percussion and vocals with which often “roll” longer notes, giving a
syncopated rhythms and call and response ‘shimmering’ sound, backed with other
percussion instruments and drums,
normally instrumental.
SALSA REGGAE
Fast and lively dance music based on a Slow tempo featuring electric and bass
repeated ‘Clave Rhythm’ featuring a thick, guitars performing ‘riffs’ and vocals with an
Polyrhythmic texture, vocals, brass, guitars, ‘offbeat’ emphasis on beats 2 and 4 of the
percussion, whistles and piano bar

I think Extract 1 sounds like

I think Extract 2 sounds like
I think Extract 3 sounds like
I think Extract 4 sounds like

The Caribbean islands lie in a chain from

the Bahamas in the north to Trinidad and
Tobago in the south. Central in the chain
are the largest islands of Cuba, Haiti, the
Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Puerto
Rico. Most of the Caribbean population
are descendants of West African slaves
and settlers from Europe, India and
China. Match each of the four different

styles of Caribbean music you’re going to explore (on the right) to

their island of origin on the map by drawing appropriate markings.
CALYPSO is the national dance of Trinidad and Tobago. STEEL
BANDS also originated from these islands. SALSA originated from
Cuba and Reggae first had its roots in Jamaica.

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Carnival Music
Imagine you are at a carnival, such as London’s famous “Notting Hill Carnival”. What type of music might
you EXPECT to hear? Note down your ideas in the box below.

CARNIVAL MUSIC – MY IDEAS

In the 1952 St. Thomas carnival, road marches were introduced for the first time. Unfortunately, this
coincided with a particularly rainy seasons and many of the marching musicians got soaked! Many of the
revellers were in colourful paper costumes that were ruined by the heavy rains. However, because of the
singing, the high spirits of the carnival participants were not dampened and one of the musicians, a
Trinidadian Calypso king named “The Duke of Iron”, started to IMPROVISE a song that he had made up on
the spot called Rain, Don’t Stop the Carnival. His singing was contagious and soon everyone in the parade
took up the song and sang it throughout the long procession. Possibly inspired by the marchers and the
Duke of Iron’s famous song, Sonny Rollins, a jazz saxophonist born and bred in New York with parents from
the US Virgin Islands, composed a song called “Don’t Stop the Carnival”.

Scan the QR code and listen to a recording of Don’t

Stop the Carnival following some of the ideas that are
printed on the score of the first three bars of the
piece below and answer the following questions as
you listen.

1. How would you describe the DYNAMICS in Don’t Stop the Carnival?
2. What instrument is performing the solo sections?
3. What other instruments can you hear?
4. How would you describe the RHYTHM performed by the percussion section?
5. What musical device is used between the solo instrument and vocals and other instruments?

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Calypso Rhythms
A distinctive feature of CALYPSO music is a SYNCOPATED RHYTHM. This
features “offbeat” patterns, often three-beat rhythms with two long beats
followed by a short beat.

Perform the following rhythms – “Calypso Carnival” using whatever instruments you
have available to you. If you’re working from home, explore the kitchen for pots, pans,
bowls, mugs and even graters. Learn all of the parts which can be heard separately and
then together by scanning the QR code and then
teach members of your family some of the parts to
perform “Calypso Carnival” together repeating it as many times as
you like. The parts are given below in rhythm grid notation. Start
slowly at first, counting out loud the beats “1 and 2 and 3 and 4
and….”, then try and increase the tempo slightly.

“Calypso Carnival”
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
A X X X X X X
B X X X X X X X X X X X X
C X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
Calypso rhythms are often made up of a number of SYNCOPATED patterns, such as parts A and B in the
grid above. Listen to four more solo syncopated Calypso rhythms and see if you can match each pattern
with the correct rhythm from the box below (we’ve added some “fruits” to help you!) Each solo rhythm
will be repeated four times.

Extract 1 best matches rhythm

Extract 2 best matches rhythm
Extract 3 best matches rhythm
Extract 4 best matches rhythm

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Exploring St. Thomas

Scan the QR code below and listen to another piece of CALYPSO, also by Sonny
Rollins called St. Thomas following the score of the opening below as you
listen. The piece begins with a short introduction establishing the
SYNCOPATED CALYPSO RHYTHM which continues throughout the piece. Also
listen for how Sonny Rollins IMPROVISES on the saxophone once the melody
has been performed in its “original” state as shown below.

St Thomas

Learning about Added Note Chords

St. Thomas uses a range of chords, shown above the stave on the
score above. Many of these are ADDED NOTE CHORDS. Added note
chords are simply DIATONIC TRIADS that have at least one extra note added to them.

1. Added 6th Chords – see if you can work out the missing notes in the following added 6 th chords
CHORD BASIC TRIAD ADDED NOTES FULL CHORD

C6 C _ G + the 6th note above C

C _ G _
F6 F _ _ + the 6th note above F
F _ _ _
+ the 6th note above C
C6/G C _ _
Bass note is G
G C E _

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Listen to the sound of ADDED SIXTH

CHORDS now by scanning the QR code to
the left. They’re demonstrated in the
order of the table on the last page.

2. Added 7th Chords – see if you can work out the missing notes in the following added 7 th chords
CHORD BASIC TRIAD ADDED NOTES FULL CHORD

C7 _ _ _ + the 7th note above C

_ _ _ _
Dm7 _ _ _ + the 7th note above D
_ _ _ _
Em7 _ _ _ + the 7th note above E
_ _ _ _
G7 _ _ _ +
_ _ _ _
A7 _ _ _ +
_ _ _ _
Bb7 _ _ _ +
_ _ _ _
th
+ the 7 note above Ab

Abm7(#5) Ab Cb Eb G
#5 = sharpen the fifth of the Ab Cb E Gb
chord so Eb becomes E

Listen to the sound of ADDED SEVENTH

CHORDS now by scanning the QR code to
the left. They’re demonstrated in the
order in the table above.

3. Added 9th Chords – see if you can work out the missing notes in the following added 9 th chord
CHORD BASIC TRIAD ADDED NOTES FULL CHORD
+ the 9th note above C
C9/E _ _ _
Bass note is E
_ _ _ _

4. Diminished 7th Chords – these chords are like seventh chords only the note seven notes above the root
of the chord is flattened by one semitone. Diminished chords are often written with a small circle e.g. F#o7

CHORD BASIC TRIAD ADDED NOTES FULL CHORD

F#7 + the 7 note above F#

th

F# A# C# E# F# A# C# E#
+ the 7th note above F#
F#o7 F# A# C# flattened by one SEMITONE
E
F# A# C# E

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Listen to the sound of ADDED NINTH and DIMINISHED SEVENTH

CHORDS now by scanning the QR code to the left. They’re
demonstrated in the order in the table on the previous page.

If you’ve got a keyboard or piano, try performing some of these chords now so that you
can hear the sound of them. If you haven’t and have access to free online music software
or programmes such as music sequencers, try putting the notes in and playing the chord
so that you can hear the sound of it.

Listen to two versions of St. Thomas by

scanning the QR codes to the left. The first
uses only “simple” chords – basic triads. The
second uses added note chords including those
you’ve been learning about. Which version do
you prefer?

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Fill in the missing words to revise your learning on Calypso

music choosing from the words in the box below. Scan the QR code below to listen to a
traditional piece of Calypso Music as you work.

Calypso is originally the national dance of and is

particularly associated with social gatherings such as . Calypso music
is normally in 4/4 metre and uses and
rhythms. Instruments used in Calypso music include both and
guitars, with trumpets, saxophones, bass guitar, drum kit, vocals and
percussion instruments. A key feature of Calypso music is
where a “lead” instrumental player of vocalist is ‘echoed’ by the
rest of the group. The melody of Calypso music is often based on a traditional theme but a
soloist often uses this as a basis for
to give a ‘freer’ performance. They dynamics are normally
as this music is designed to be performed outdoors and to a large audience and
the harmonies are often enriched with chords such as added
sixths, sevenths and ninths and diminished seventh chords. The texture of Calypso music is
often based on a melody, bass line, chords and “filled out” with complex percussion
rhythms.

Added NoteImprovisationAcoustic

Syncopation Electric Trinidad and Tobago

Call and Response Loud Carnival

Thick Offbeat Latin-American

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Anytime you need a Calypso

Sing and perform “Anytime you

Need a Calypso” – the QR code
above links to a video of the song and the music is given below. Perform the melody
line on whatever instruments you have available or add the ostinatos below. You can also try performing this “as a
round” as modelled on the video.

This Calypso song can be accompanied by using the chords of D, G, A7 and D to each line.
This Bass OSTINATO can also be used to accompany the song

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Teacher’s Notes, Discussion and Answers

Music of the Caribbean – Page 2 (CALYPSOA1.mp3 – Caribbean Music Quiz – 4 linked extracts)
1. Extract 1 - Reggae
2. Extract 2 – Steel Bands
3. Extract 3 – Calypso
4. Extract 4 – Salsa

Carnival Music – Page 3

Pupils may EXPECT to hear music that has LOUD DYNAMICS as the music is designed to be performed
outdoors at a social gathering/celebration, “catchy” rhythms as the music is designed to be danced or
paraded to, memorable melodies making the music “appealing” to dance, sing and clap to and to get the
audience involved in.

Listening to “Don’t Stop the Carnival”: (CALYPSOA2.mp3) – Don’t Stop the Carnival – Sonny Rollins
1. Loud – Forte -f
2. Saxophone
3. Bass and Electric Guitars, Vocalists/Singers, Drums, Latin-American Percussion
4. Offbeat/Syncopated and Repetitive
5. Call and Response (Question and Answer)

Calypso Rhythms – Page 4

CALYPSOA3.mp3 – Calypso Rhythms
CALYPSOA4.mp3 – Calypso Rhythm Quiz
1. D
2. A
3. C
4. B

Exploring “St. Thomas Pages 5-7

CALYPSOA5.mp3 – St. Thomas – Sonny Rollins
CALYPSOA6.mp3 – Added 6th Chords Examples
CALYPSOA7.mp3 – Added 7th Chords Examples
CALYPSOA8.mp3
– Added 9th and Diminished 7th Chords Examples
CALYPSOA9.mp3
– St. Thomas Simple Chords
CALYPSOA10.mp3 – St. Thomas Added Note Chords

Pit Stop (CALYPSOA11.mp3) Lord Relator - Nora

Trinidad and Tobago; Carnival; Syncopation; Offbeat; Electric; Acoustic; Latin-American; Call and Response;
Improvisation; Loud; Added Note; Thick.

Anytime you Need a Calypso

CALYPSOA12.mp3 – Anytime you need a Calypso Song Melody Example
CALYPSOA13.mp3 – Anytime you need a Calypso Sound Melody as a Round Example
CALYPSOA14.mp3 – Anytime you need a Calypso Ostinato
CALYPSOA15.mp3
– Anytime you need a Calypso Percussion Ostinato

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