Music for steel band: An examination of the various styles which develop specific performance skills

Abstract

The steel band is one of the fastest growing ensembles in university and college settings. There are many types of steel bands and several different approaches to how the ensemble is taught, the styles of music that are taught and the reasons why those styles of music are presented. This document is directed toward instructors and students at institutions that have or intend to have a steel band as a regular rehearsing and performing ensemble. This research work will assist in understanding the styles of steel band music, the various methods by which those styles may be taught and what music performance skills will be exercised and developed by the styles and different presentations. The history of the steel band in Trinidad and the United States will be dealt with briefly. Latter portions of the document discuss the music performance skills that are exercised and developed by steel band experience, the different styles of music that a steel band rehearses and performs, the methods of music presentation possible within a steel band and the different performance skills that each type of presentation will favor. Also included are a glossary of steel band terms and a selected discography of exemplary steel band recordings.