History
| String instrument | |
|---|---|
| Classification | String instrument (plucked.) |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 321.32 (Composite chordophone) |
| Playing range | |
| (a standard tuned banjar) | |
| Related instruments | |
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Documented music in Antigua and Barbuda began only with the discovery of Antigua, then populated by Arawak and Caribs, by Christopher Columbus in 1493. The islands' early music, however, remains little studied. In the 1780s, documentation exists for African workers participating in outdoor dances accompanied by the banjar (later bangoe, perhaps related to the banjo) and toombah (later tum tum), a drum decorated with shell and tin jingles. By the 1840s, sophisticated subscription balls were common, held biweekly with European-derived quadrilles accompanied by fiddle, tambourine and triangle.
Colonial era churches and missionary activity displaced and otherwise influenced the music of the African slaves, who adopted elements of European-derived religious music. The brass bands of the Salvation Army are an important example. In the mid- to late 19th century, a number of Portuguese indentured workers came to Antigua, bringing with them their styles of music. When most of the Portuguese left in the 1880s, Lebanese music was brought to the island by immigrants from that country.
Read more about this topic: Music Of Antigua And Barbuda
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