FIDDLE, TAMBOURINE
HERITAGE ALIVE
Trinidad Guardian
January 1, 2000
Page 7
In
Trinidad, it is known as the violin, and it is played by a
violinist. In Tobago, this stringed
instrument, emitting soft soothing notes and usually played in Chamber music,
is called the fiddle. The person who
plays it, a fiddler.
The
tambourine, made from the wood of the Latan tree and the skin of the goat,
together with the fiddle, are the two main forms of indigenous music in Tobago.
The
fiddle, the tambourine and a triangular piece of steel were the essential
instruments in a music band. Sure,
there are other types of bands using other types instruments, but according to
cultural enthusiast, Henry James, the fiddle and tambourine are Tobago's
indigenous instruments.
A typical
music band of consisted of three tambourines, one cutter, one roller and the
boom or base, one fiddle and one steel.
James,
whose father was a masquerader, and his grandmother a reel and jig dancer, has
himself played the tambourine, and has seen it in many settings.
It
has been used mainly for ceremonial occasions, for example the reel dance,
weddings, and christenings and for thanksgiving and healing purposes.
Among
those who kept fiddle music alive in Tobago was Rufus Briggs. He died many years ago. An old fiddler who is still alive is one
known as "Mr. George" of Pembroke.
Up to a few years ago, he played with the popular string band group Ole
Time Jammers, but he has retired from playing.
James does not remember many women having been involved in playing the
fiddle, but believes one is now in Miami.
Today,
most fiddlers have passed away and James certain that were it not for the
Heritage Festival, these traditional instruments would not have been
preserved. As a matter of fact, they
were "dying out at one time because institutions were not paying much
attention to them."
It
was in 1984, at a Conference of Culture held at Mt Irvine Bay Hotel and
organised by the Tobago House of Assembly, that certain writers mentioned the
importance and the value of the tambourine.
The Tobago Heritage Festival started in 1987, and from then, every
village featured the tambourine even more.
At
present, there are two groups, Unity and the Professionals, who play the fiddle
and the tambourine. Most of the players
are young people. More and more
emphasis is being placed on the young people to preserve the art form. The speechband is a popular feature of
Tobago's culture and a major medium for keeping the fiddle in use and the
fiddler in business.
The
fiddler plays a lively rhythm, stopping every now and then, for a speechband
character to deliver his speech. The
speechband reintroduces the fiddler at the end of each 'verse' with the words
"Drag yuh bow Mr. Fiddler."
James
recalls that in the same manner that students learn the piano at classes,
"classes in playing the fiddle were introduced, in 1995." It is still not considered to be
"violin" classes as in Trinidad, but as "fiddle playing" in
the style traditional of Tobago's culture and it continues to remain associated
with Tobago's heritage.
Shortly
after this year's Heritage Festival, members of the Baptist religion engaged
two tambourine bands to play for its reel dance. During the festival, a bride and groom had the pleasure of the
fiddle being played at their wedding dance.
As
for the future of the fiddle and tambourine, James believes it would be a good
idea if the Divisions of Culture and Community Development, and even the Tobago
Heritage Committees, organise training sessions for people to learn to play and
make the instruments.
Today,
there are only a few older folks who know how to make the tambourine. He believes the older tambourine players
should teach the young ones the technique of making and playing the tambourine
in order to keep the tradition alive.
The
Tobago tambourines, however, is distinctly different from that used by the
Latin Americans, which has little metal discs attached that make a tingling
sound. In Morocco, the tambourine is
even larger than those in Tobago.
In
Tobago, the tambourine is used mainly for rituals and is played differently.
The
person who uses the cutter instrument sits, so the echo from the lead
tambourine would be heard, as well as the one causing most of the
movements. The fiddle is used with the
tambourine at all times.
James
insists Africans also had a fiddler who played one-string instruments like the
Chinese. However, it is possible the
three-stringed instrument used in Tobago was manufactured by the British.
Even
the dances which one sees during the Heritage Festival are said to be of
British origin.
One
may experience dancing by tambourine music, by taking part in the village of
Moriah's Ole Time Wedding during the Heritage Festival. The brushback dance (one step forward, two
steps backwards) is a delight to see and experience as the wedding procession
leaves the church.