Steel Band Workshop - 26 September

'Today, West Lodge had a steel band come and play. They played in the main assembly and then each class had their own session with them. They each had a very important part in the band.  They said that the Steel drum originated from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. Two of the musicians came from there the other one came from Antigua. And to finish it all off we had a conga line. I enjoyed the steel band very much.'

Folarin A - Year 6

'Today, a steel band came to play some music to us. The songs included,”Match of the day, ”Who let the dogs out?”, ”Beat again” by J.L.S., “What is my name?” by Rihanna, and the original “La Bamba”.

The steel drums were founded in Trinidad and Tobago. A man called Simon, found an oil drum. He hit it and it made a sound. He said that he would make some music and sure enough, he did and made songs and became famous.

The base steel drum takes 2 weeks to make, so does the rhythm drum but the Tenor drum takes 3. The cost of the base drum is about £400, the rhythm drum is £350 and the Tenor is £500.

The steel drums are not very old. They have been around for 81 years, since 1940. The steel band workshop have been playing together for about 4 years but the Tenor player called Junior, has been playing for longer. He has his own band.'

Christopher S - Year 6