Garifuna music
Encyclopedia
Garifuna music is quite different from the music of the rest of Central America
. The most famous form is punta
. Its associated musical style, which has the dancers move their hips from right to left in a circular motion. An evolved form of traditional music, still usually played using traditional instruments, punta has seen some modernization and electrification in the 1970s; this is called punta rock
. Traditional punta dancing is consciously competitive. Artists like Pen Cayetano
helped innovate modern punta rock by adding guitar
s to the traditional music, and paved the way for later artists like Andy Palacio
, Children of the Most High and Black Coral
. Punta was popular across the region, especially in Belize, by the mid-1980s, culminating in the release of Punta Rockers in 1987, a compilation featuring many of the genre's biggest stars.
Other forms of Garifuna music and dance include :hungu-hungu, combination, wanaragua, abaimahani, matamuerte, laremuna wadaguman, gunjai, sambai, charikanari, eremuna egi, paranda, berusu, punta rock, teremuna ligilisi, arumahani, and Mali-amalihani. Punta is the most popular dance in Garifuna culture. It is performed around holidays, as well as at parties and other social events. Punta
lyrics are usually composed by the women. Chumba and hunguhungu
are a circular dance in a three beat rhythm, which is often combined with punta. There are other songs typical to each gender, women having eremwu eu
and abaimajani, rhythmic a cappella
songs, and laremuna wadaguman, men's work song
s. Chumba and hunguhungu
, a circular dance in a three beat rhythm, which is often combined with punta.
Garifuna drum
s play a very important role in Garifuna music. There are primarily two types of drums used:
1. The Primero (tenor drum)
2. The Segunda (bass drum)
These drums are typically made of hollowed out hardwood such as mahogany or mayflower. With the skins coming from the peccary (wild bush pig), deer, or sheep.
Also used in combination with the drums are the sisera. These shakers are made from the dried fruit of the gourd tree, filled with seeds, then fitted with hardwood handles.
Paranda music developed soon after the Garifunas arrival in Central America. The music is instrumental and percussion
-based. The music was barely recorded until the 1990s, when Ivan Duran
of Stonetree Records began the Paranda Project.
In contemporary Belize
there has been a resurgence of Garifuna music, popularized by musicians such as Andy Palacio
, Mohobub Flores, & Adrian Martinez. These musicians have taken many aspects from traditional Garifuna music forms and fused them with more modern sounds. Described as a mixture of punta rock and paranda. One great example is Andy Palacio
's album Watina, and Umalali: The Garifuna Women's Project, both released on the Belizean record label Stonetree Records.
In the Garifuna culture, there is another dance called Dugu. This dance is a ritual done for a death in the family to pay their respect to their loved ones. In 2001, Garifuna music was proclaimed one of the masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity
by UNESCO
, along with Garifuna language
and dance.
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
. The most famous form is punta
Punta
Punta is a Garifuna music and dance style performed at celebrations and festive occasions. Contemporary punta, including Belizean punta rock, arose in the last thirty years of the twentieth century in Belize, Honduras and Guatemala. It also has a following in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Southern Mexico...
. Its associated musical style, which has the dancers move their hips from right to left in a circular motion. An evolved form of traditional music, still usually played using traditional instruments, punta has seen some modernization and electrification in the 1970s; this is called punta rock
Punta rock
Punta rock or Belizean punta is a form of the traditional punta rhythm of the Garifuna people of Honduras, Belize and Guatemala.Punta rock is distinctive from traditional punta in that the language and concepts are more adapted to the general Belizean identity...
. Traditional punta dancing is consciously competitive. Artists like Pen Cayetano
Pen Cayetano
Delvin "Pen" Cayetano is a Belizean artist and musician living in Germany 1990-2009. He and his German wife Ingrid returned to Dangriga in July 2009 and they openend the Pen Cayetano Studio Gallery 1...
helped innovate modern punta rock by adding guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s to the traditional music, and paved the way for later artists like Andy Palacio
Andy Palacio
Andy Vivian Palacio was a Belizean Punta musician and government official. He was also a leading activist for the Garínagu and their culture.-Biography:...
, Children of the Most High and Black Coral
Black coral
Black corals are a group of deep water, tree-like corals related to sea anemones. They are also found in rare dark shallow water areas such as New Zealand's Milford Sound where they can be viewed from an underwater observatory. They normally occur in the tropics...
. Punta was popular across the region, especially in Belize, by the mid-1980s, culminating in the release of Punta Rockers in 1987, a compilation featuring many of the genre's biggest stars.
Other forms of Garifuna music and dance include :hungu-hungu, combination, wanaragua, abaimahani, matamuerte, laremuna wadaguman, gunjai, sambai, charikanari, eremuna egi, paranda, berusu, punta rock, teremuna ligilisi, arumahani, and Mali-amalihani. Punta is the most popular dance in Garifuna culture. It is performed around holidays, as well as at parties and other social events. Punta
Punta
Punta is a Garifuna music and dance style performed at celebrations and festive occasions. Contemporary punta, including Belizean punta rock, arose in the last thirty years of the twentieth century in Belize, Honduras and Guatemala. It also has a following in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Southern Mexico...
lyrics are usually composed by the women. Chumba and hunguhungu
Hunguhungu
Hunguhungu or fedu is a form of traditional swaying circular dance performed by the women of the Garifuna people of Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala. The music for the dance is composed of rhythmic themes performed by three drummers with alternating call-and-response chanting, and displays...
are a circular dance in a three beat rhythm, which is often combined with punta. There are other songs typical to each gender, women having eremwu eu
Eremwu eu
Eremwu eu is a work song sung by women as they make cassava bread, as part of the Garifuna music tradition of Honduras.- External links :* http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/afburns/afrotrop/Garifuna.htm...
and abaimajani, rhythmic a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
songs, and laremuna wadaguman, men's work song
Work song
A work song is a piece of music closely connected to a specific form of work, either sung while conducting a task or a song linked to a task or trade which might be a connected narrative, description, or protest song....
s. Chumba and hunguhungu
Hunguhungu
Hunguhungu or fedu is a form of traditional swaying circular dance performed by the women of the Garifuna people of Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala. The music for the dance is composed of rhythmic themes performed by three drummers with alternating call-and-response chanting, and displays...
, a circular dance in a three beat rhythm, which is often combined with punta.
Garifuna drum
Garifuna drum
The garifuna drum is a membranophone percussion from the Garifuna culture in Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. The garifuna drums play a very important role in garifuna music. There are two types of drums used, Primero and Segunda . These drums are made of hollowed out hardwood such as mahogany or...
s play a very important role in Garifuna music. There are primarily two types of drums used:
1. The Primero (tenor drum)
2. The Segunda (bass drum)
These drums are typically made of hollowed out hardwood such as mahogany or mayflower. With the skins coming from the peccary (wild bush pig), deer, or sheep.
Also used in combination with the drums are the sisera. These shakers are made from the dried fruit of the gourd tree, filled with seeds, then fitted with hardwood handles.
Paranda music developed soon after the Garifunas arrival in Central America. The music is instrumental and percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
-based. The music was barely recorded until the 1990s, when Ivan Duran
Ivan Duran
Award-winning music producer and musician Ivan Duran is the founder and director of Stonetree Records, based in Benque Viejo del Carmen in Belize, Stonetree is one of the region’s leading independent record labels and music recording studios...
of Stonetree Records began the Paranda Project.
In contemporary Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
there has been a resurgence of Garifuna music, popularized by musicians such as Andy Palacio
Andy Palacio
Andy Vivian Palacio was a Belizean Punta musician and government official. He was also a leading activist for the Garínagu and their culture.-Biography:...
, Mohobub Flores, & Adrian Martinez. These musicians have taken many aspects from traditional Garifuna music forms and fused them with more modern sounds. Described as a mixture of punta rock and paranda. One great example is Andy Palacio
Andy Palacio
Andy Vivian Palacio was a Belizean Punta musician and government official. He was also a leading activist for the Garínagu and their culture.-Biography:...
's album Watina, and Umalali: The Garifuna Women's Project, both released on the Belizean record label Stonetree Records.
In the Garifuna culture, there is another dance called Dugu. This dance is a ritual done for a death in the family to pay their respect to their loved ones. In 2001, Garifuna music was proclaimed one of the masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity
Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity
The Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity was made by the Director-General of UNESCO starting in 2001 to raise awareness on intangible cultural heritage and encourage local communities to protect them and the local people who sustain these forms of cultural...
by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
, along with Garifuna language
Garifuna language
Garifuna is an Arawakan language spoken in Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize by the Garifuna people. The language is also spoken to a lesser extent in Nicaragua's Mosquito Coast. Historically it was referred to as Carib or Black Carib and Igñeri by Europeans. Garifuna has a vocabulary split between...
and dance.