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Celebrating the Music of the Turks and Caicos

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Celebrating the Music of the Turks and Caicos

with David Bowen

As part of TCI Education Week 2016 we were pleased to welcome back David Bowen, former Cultural Minister, and local musical legend.

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Mr. Bowen gave an enthralling presentation on the importance of the culture and heritage of the Turks and Caicos Islands, stories about language and introduced the types of musical instruments.
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The children clapped along and thoroughly enjoyed the musical experience.
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The music of Turks and Caicos Islands is best known for its ripsaw music. It is accompanied by an array of instruments, including maracas, triangles, box guitar, conga drums, goat and cow skin drums, accordion, concertina and, most prominently and uniquely, the carpenter saw.
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The saw is scraped with a metal object, such as a screwdriver, to produce a unique sound; this is called ripping the saw. The use of the saw (which is the origin of the term ripsaw) is of uncertain origin, but may be in imitation of the Dominican and Haitian guiro or traditional African instruments like the shekere and djembe. A closely related style called rake and scrape is known in the Bahamas, closely associated with Cat Island, the home of many Turks and Caicos islanders who moved there looking for work in the 1920s, 30s and 40s.