Caribbean Beat — November/December 2018 (#154)
A calendar of events; music, film, and book reviews; travel features; people profiles, and much more.
A calendar of events; music, film, and book reviews; travel features; people profiles, and much more.
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need to know<br />
How You Say<br />
Talk like a local<br />
at parang time<br />
Trinidad’s distinctive Christmas music, parang, is derived from the folk<br />
music of Venezuela, across the Gulf of Paria <strong>—</strong> complete with Spanish<br />
lyrics. And during parang season, with fiestas and competitions in<br />
full swing, you’ll hear many Spanish words and phrases flying fast and<br />
furious. Here’s some basic parang terminology to get you started.<br />
splingis/shutterstock.com<br />
Parranderos<br />
Parranda<br />
Cuatro<br />
Maracas (or shak-shak)<br />
Güiro (or scratcher)<br />
Guarapo<br />
Estribillo<br />
Despedida<br />
The singers and musicians who go from house<br />
to house, singing in an old Spanish dialect,<br />
sometimes with English sprinkled in<br />
The act of spreading musical cheer<br />
A small four-stringed instrument in the guitar<br />
family, a parang staple<br />
A pair of rattles, usually made from calabash<br />
gourds<br />
A hollow open-ended instrument with a<br />
serrated surface played by rubbing a stick along<br />
the notches to produce a rasping sound<br />
An upbeat song on any topic<br />
A lively number involving calls and responses<br />
from the audience<br />
The final tune, giving thanks for sharing good<br />
times with the host<br />
30 WWW.CARIBBEAN-BEAT.COM
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