Instrumentation of music in Barbados

The Barbadian folk culture is home to different musical instruments imported from Africa, Great Britain or other Caribbean islands. The most central instrument group in Barbadian culture is the drumming instruments. These include the numerous drums like the pump and the tum tum made from a hollowed-out tree trunk, the side snare drum and a double-headed bass drum of tuk, bones, rook jaw, triangle, cymbals, bottles filled with water, and xylophones. The rattles are also well known and they include the Pan-Antillean shak-shak and the calabash, de shot and rattle. The recent imported folk drum instruments include the conga and bongo from Puerto Rico, Dominica Republic and Cuba, and the tambourine.

The thread and the wind instruments play a significant role in Barbadian folk culture, especially the bow-fiddle, banjo and acoustic guitar; with more modern groups making use of an electric and bass guitar. The shukster is a distinctive instrument, made by stretching a guitar thread between two sides of a house. The traditional Barbadian wind instruments are largely metal made from locally found materials. Barbadian villagers burned finger holes, for example on bamboo tubes and made trumpets out of its conch shells while pipes are made from pumpkin vines. Several modern groups use harmonica, accordion, alto and tenor saxophone, trumpet and trombone.