How The West Indian Music Relate To The West Indian Culture?

My friend who married a Guyanese introduced me to the West Indian community in Maryland, which is made up of people from Suriname, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. This community was formed so people could interact with people from their own country, enjoy their music, and culture. The dholak was originated in South Asia; it is the most utilized drums in the folk music of India. The dholak is a double headed drum with the bass head on one side and the treble head on the other side. The instrument has a traditional lacing and turnbuckle tuning, depending if it’s used for a traditional or modern music style. The coating on the dholak is made up of a mixture of tar, clay and sane, which helps to lower the pitch and create a well-defined tone. Throughout the world, the dholak has been played in films, pre-wedding festivities, chutney music and local Indian music of Jamaica, Suriname, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago, where it was brought by immigrant to the United States. My ultimate goal was to learn how the West Indian culture and Hindu religion relates to the dholak. In order to accomplish this goal, I needed to listen, learn and ask questions.

The first step I took was to learn about their religion and culture; I visited the temple (church) where most of the people interact and worship. The West Indian community is made up of mostly Hindus. Hinduism is the main religion in India where they worship many forms of gods and believe that after you die, you return to life in a different form. While visiting the temple, I learned that within this community, they all share the same values and beliefs. Their mission is to continuously grow, have adults and youths participate in the community and raise money to have events to celebrate their...

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...ure and the Hindu religion. Played in temples, events and religion holidays the dholak continues to bring joy to members of the West Indian community and inspiration for the younger generation. Indian music has been redefined throughout the years, so it’s important to revive it and preserve it. Lal revives the Indian music by re-singing old music and adding a different beat when playing the dholak. The West Indian community has helped revive Indian music by singing live with the dholak. Members preserve the Indian music by oral traditional, which meant that the lyrics of the song are unchangeable. Singing the original song with traditional instrument will help preserve the Indian music. The dholak has related to the West Indian culture and the Hindu religion by adding entertainment to their culture and helping integrate the religion songs into traditional music.