| Classification | Percussion |
|---|---|
| Inventor(s) | Lesser Antilles |
The shak-shak (or chak-chak) is a kind of Antillean musical instrument, similar to maracas. They are played in Barbados, Montserrat, Grenada and elsewhere in the Caribbean. Their uses include Montserratian string bands and the Barbadian crop over festival.
The word shak-shak is also spelled as chak-chak, shack-shack, xaque-xaque (in Brazil), and chacha (in Cuba). In the Greater Antilles, it is also known as a maraca, a term that has its roots in the Guarani word mbaraca. However, in the Antillean islands of Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada, St. Vincent, Barbados, St. Lucia and Martinique, the term maraca is not used to describe the music but is rather associated with Cuban, Venezuelan and American music.