Harmony is a home for the folk songs of Guyana. We take songs from the printed page of the songbook and make them playable, so anyone can hear how they go, sing them, and learn what they mean.
Why Harmony
The name means two things. In music, harmony is different notes sounding together. In life, it is people living together. Guyana's folk songs do both: they were made up and passed on in yards, villages and schoolrooms, and they belong to everyone who grew up with them, wherever they live now.
The songs show a Guyanese identity that is shared. That is what this site is for.
What you'll find on each song page
- The score, transcribed from the songbook, with the note being played lit up as the song goes.
- A band you can mix. Drop any instrument out or turn it up, slow the tempo down to learn it, or loop it.
- The words in Creolese, lit up syllable by syllable so you can sing along.
- The story behind the song: what the Creolese means, where the song comes from, who recorded it, and what it might be saying between the lines, with sources you can check.
Two ways to hear every song
Each song is played two ways, and each way is a playlist you can listen to from start to finish.
- The yard band: fife, bhoom and kittle drums, shak-shak, hand claps and a bottle and spoon, the sound of the masquerade band.
- Village style: one voice calls, the group answers, and a hand drum, guitar and bhoom keep the two-beat lilt underneath.
How the songs are made
From the page
Each melody is transcribed from a Guyanese songbook. The main source for many of these songs is One Hundred Folk Songs of Guyana, compiled by Lynette Dolphin (1996).
Arranged for the site
The drum, guitar, shaker and voice parts are new arrangements written in the style of each tradition, such as the yard band of the masquerade and village singing. Where an arrangement follows the shape of a well-known recording, the song's page says so. No recording is copied.
Played in your browser
On a song page, every sound is made on your own device as you press play. The music player plays recordings of those same pages, so you can listen to the whole Songbook while you read. No outside recordings are used anywhere on the site.
Traditional songs only
We publish songs that are traditional, with no known composer. Before a song goes up we check the songbook for a named writer. Some much-loved songs that people think of as folk songs were written by known composers, and we leave those out of the playable collection out of respect for their work.
Help us get it right
Folk songs change from village to village. If you sang a different verse, know another story behind a song, or spot a mistake, we would like to hear from you. Corrections are added to the song's page.