Religious music in Barbados

The Western classical music and other music play a significant role in Anglican Church services in Barbados; religion and folk music are closely interrelated in the everyday lives of most Barbadians. The basis for religious folk music is Anglican hymn, a kind of praise song mostly sung on Sundays, a day when Christian Barbadians come together with the family members to sing and praise God and ask for strength for the next week’s work.

The Pentecostal music has become a part of a Barbadian religious and musical tradition since 1920’s. The music plays a role in Pentecostal ceremonies, and is provided by emotional and ad hoc performances accompanied tambourines. In addition to the Anglican and Pentecostal traditions, Rastafarian music has widely spread to the island in more present years alongside the African American musical forms, especially gospel, and the spiritual Baptist religion, which is derived from the Trinidadian Shango cult that spread to Barbados in 1960’s.