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Parang is a Caribbean folk music genre with its origins in Trinidad and Tobago. It is closely associated with Christmas festivities, and traditionally has religious (Christian) lyrics, often in Spanish. Modern popular parang music has absorbed various other musical styles, and often features English lyrics and North American cultural influences. The word is derived from the Spanish word parranda, meaning 'merry-making' or 'a group of serenaders'.

Contents 1 Performance 2 Varieties 3 Parang artists 4 Origins and history

Traditional parang music is largely performed around Christmas time, when singers and instrumentalists (collectively known as the parrandero) travel from house to house in the community, often joined by friends and neighbors using whatever instruments are to hand. Popular parang instruments include the cuatro (a four-string small guitar) and maracas (locally known as shak-shaks. Other instruments often used are violin, guitar, claves (locally known as toc-toc), box bass (an indigenous instrument), flute, mandolin, bandolin, caja (a percussive box instrument), and marimbola (an Afro-Venezuelan instrument). In exchange for the entertainment, parranderos are traditionally given food and drink: rum or ponche a creme (a form of alcoholic eggnog).

While traditional house-to-house caroling tradition is still practised by some small groups and larger organized groups, modern parang music has also developed a season of staged performances called parang fiestas, held from October through to January each year, culminating in a national parang competition.

Traditional parang music includes a variety of song types:

• aguinaldo or serenal: relating to the stories of the nativity of Christ, equivalent to the Western concept of a 'carol';
• guarapo: a secular song, often with passages of improvised lyrics where content and length vary according to the skill of the lead singer;
• estribillo: a lively call-and-response style song;
• manzanares: a Venezuelan waltz which celebrates the different aspects of the Manzanare river of Cumana, Venezuela;
• joropo: similar in style to the Spanish waltz;
• galerón;
• picón;
• despedida: a song of farewell and gratitude.

Since the 1950s, parang has become more popularized, giving birth to "soca parang", a fusion of calypso and soca with lyrics in English. While still festive in nature, the lyrics often refer to North American cultural elements such as Santa Claus.

Parang has also been fused with chutney, a form of vocal music indigenous to Trinidad, influenced by Indian rhythms and sometimes sung in Hindi).

Notable parang bands and artists include Daisy Voisin, Henry Perreira, Sharlene Flores, Leon Caldero,Lara Brothers, Los Tocadores, Los Parranderos de UWI, Los Alumnos de San Juan and Del Caribe.

Noted parang-soca artists include Scrunter, Crazy and Big B.

The details of the birth of parang are disputed. One theory is that parang has its origins in the music of Spanish or French Catholic monks, present in Trinidad during the Spanish colonial period. Another theory is that Venezuelans brought the first elements of parang with them when they migrated to Trinidad to work on cocoa farms in the early part of the nineteenth century.

Parang flourished under the British rule from 1814. It absorbed elements of African and French creole and was influenced by the constant interaction between the people of Trinidad and those of Venezuela, where similar musical forms developed in parallel.

Parang remains an important element both of Trinidadian Christmas rituals and of the rituals of other islands and countries, including Grenada, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela. Today, parang is especially vibrant in Trinidad & Tobago communities such as Paramin, Lopinot and Arima.