Study Hub

Study Guides

This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.

Back to Study HubBrowse Year 10 Music Guides

Year 10 - Music

Calypso, mento and soca

Rhythms and conventions of Latin and Caribbean music

Unit Summary

No unit description is available for this selection yet.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to describe the core features of calypso, mento and soca and can complete a short calypso creative task.

Key Notes

  • Calypso and mento are important musical styles from the Caribbean that have their roots in colonial history.
  • While they have some similar features, there are big differences in lyrics, origins and instrumentation.
  • Soca is a repetitive, catchy upbeat style that developed from calypso in the 1970s as a form of dance music.
  • All three styles use some similar syncopated rhythms.
  • Steel pans are a key part of the culture of Trinidad and Tobago, and often perform calypso as well as other styles.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • Calypso: Calypso is a style of music from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean.
  • Mento: Mento is a Jamaican style of music with many similarities to calypso.
  • Soca: Soca (short for 'soul of Calypso') is an upbeat style that developed out of Calypso in the 1970s. It is often heard at carnival and used for dancing.
  • Steel pans: Steel pans are pitched percussion instruments from Trinidad and Tobago. They come in different sizes/pitches and are often used in large bands.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Calypso, mento and soca are different versions of the same musical style.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain the lesson in two key points.

Calypso and mento are important musical styles from the Caribbean that have their roots in colonial history. While they have some similar features, there are big differences in lyrics, origins and instrumentation.

2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'Calypso'

Calypso is a style of music from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean.

3. Correct this common mistake.

Mistake: Calypso, mento and soca are different versions of the same musical style. Correction: Although they have superficial similarities, these are all distinct styles with different features and histories. Soca is strongly linked to calypso and can be seen as an offshoot of that style, but mento is a completely separate tradition.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 10 Music guide library.