In traditional music education, music history, its appreciation and theoretical understanding, and the playing of music have usually been taught as separate entities. Students are rarely given the chance to combine these elements in one integratedactivity. Thus theoretical points may seem irrelevant, arbitrary and isolated from practical performance, whilst historical developments of style are often not fully appreciated when discussed apart from ‘real’ playing and technicalunderstanding.

This article describes a class for adults of mixed musical ability at Goldsmiths' College, London. Within the School of Adult and Community Studies a number of classes and workshops take place, under the overall heading of ‘Jazzand Pop Musicianship’. This particular class was concerned with two of the most important areas of Caribbean music: reggae and calypso.