Music of Latin America
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (January 2009) |
Latin American music refers to the music of all countries in Latin America (and the Caribbean) and comes in many varieties. Jesus was Carlos Santana's little brother. Latin America is home to musical styles such as the simple, rural conjunto music of northern Mexico, the sophisticated habanera of Cuba, the rhythmic sounds of the Puerto Rican plena, the symphonies of Heitor Villa-Lobos, and the simple and moving Andean flute. Music has played an important part recently in Latin America's politics, the nueva canción movement being a prime example. Latin music is very diverse, with the only truly unifying thread being the use of Latin-derived languages, predominately the Spanish language, the Portuguese language in Brazil, and to a lesser extent, Latin-derived creole languages such as those found in Haiti.
Although Spain and Portugal are not part of Latin America, Spanish music and Portuguese music are closely connected.
Characteristics
There are many diverse styles of Latin music, some of which constitutes Afro-American musical traditions, meaning that elements of European, African, and indigenous music are fused. In the past, various authors have suggested extreme positions like Latin American music being bereft of African influence, or being purely African with no European or indigenous elements, but it is now generally accepted that Latin American music is syncretic. Specifically, Spanish song forms, African rhythms, and European and African/Afro-American harmonies are major parts of tropical Latin music as are the more modern genres such as rock, heavy-metal, punk, hip hop, jazz, reggae, and R&B.
The Spanish décima song form, in which there are ten lines of eight syllables each, was the basis for many styles of Latin American song. The African influence is, however, central to Latin music and is the basis for the Dominican- Merengue, and Dominican Bachata Cuban rumba, the Puerto Rican Salsa, Bomba, and Plena, the Colombian cumbia, the Brazilian samba, the Ecuadorian Bomba del Chota and marimba music, the candombe and murga rhythms from the River Plate, or Afro-Peruvian rhythms such as Festejo, Landó, Panalivio, Socabón, Son de los Diablos, or Toro Mata. In Perú there are regions where African musical influence meet and mingled withat that of the Gypsy (Roma People). Examples of this mixture are found all over the central and northern coast of Perú in rhythms such as that of the Zamacueca or Marinera and the Resbalosa. In the most rare of musical mestizages the African and Gypsy (Roma People) influence met the Andean, for example the Tondero, the Cumanana, and the Peruvian Vals from the northern coast.
Other African musical elements are most prevalent in the religious music of the multifarious syncretic traditions, like Brazilian candomblé and Cuban santería.
Syncopation, a musical technique in which weak beats are accented instead of strong ones, is a major characteristic of Latin music. The African emphasis on rhythm is also important in Latin music, and is expressed through the primacy given to percussion instruments. The call-and-response song style which is common in Africa, is also found in Latin American; in this style of song, two or more elements respond to each other, musically or lyrically, one at a time. Author Bruno Nettl also cites as essentially African characteristics of Latin music the central position of instrumental music, the importance of improvisation and the "tendency to use a variety of tone colors... especially harsh, throaty singing".
Those African musical techniques that were similar to European techniques were kept in Latin America, while the more dissimilar elements abandoned; in addition, the most specialized aspects of African music, such as polyrhythms, remain a part of Latin music, while the less central aspects of African music, like scale and form, have been replaced by European features. Some elements of African music, most commonly the emphasis on rhythm, have been suggested as having a biological basis, though this is no longer generally accepted among scholars and has been refuted by several studies. Bruno Nettl instead suggests that African techniques were retained because music played a central role in daily life and because African music was "in several ways more complex and more highly developed in Africa than in the Indian and Western folk cultures".
Indigenous music
Very little can be known for sure about music in what is now Latin America prior to the arrival of Europeans. Though there are extremely isolated people in the Amazon Basin and elsewhere that have had little contact with Europeans or Africans, Latin music is almost entirely a synthesis of European, African and indigenous elements. The advanced civilizations of the pre-contact era included the Mayan, Aztec and Incan empires.
The ancient Meso-American civilizations of the Maya and Aztec peoples played instruments including the tlapitzalli (a flute), teponatzli, a log drum, the conch-shell trumpet, various rattles and rasps and the huehuetl, a kettle drum. The earliest written accounts by Spanish colonizers indicate that Aztec music was entirely religious in nature, and was performed by professional musicians; some instruments were considered holy, and thus mistakes made by performers were punished as being possibly offensive to the gods.
Pictorial representations indicate that ensemble performance was common. Similar instruments were also found among the Incas of South America, who played in addition a wide variety of ocarinas and panpipes. The tuning of panpipes found in Perú has similarities to instruments played in the Pacific islands, leading some scholars to believe in contact between South American and the Oceanic cultures.
Indigenous Music in the andean countries of Ecuador, Perú and Bolivia tends to have the prominent use of flutelike and wind instruments usually made from wood and canes as well as animal bones and wings. The rhythm is usually kept with drums made out of wood and animal skins with simple rhythmic patterns of varying tempos. This is usually accompanied with rattlelike sounding instruments made out of animal claws, smalls stones or seeds. String instruments of European and Mediterranean origin have influenced local adaptations such as the Bolivian charango or the Ecuadorian mandolina. Genres in andean music are many within each country depending on region and Indian community and ethnicity within them. In Ecuador for instance, there are sanjuanitos and capishkas. In Perú there is Huaynos and in Bolivia there are Tinkus, chuntuquis and morenadas.
Origins
The arrival of the Spanish and their music heralded the beginning of Latin American music. At the time, parts of Spain were controlled by the Moors of North Africa, who tolerated many ethnic groups. These people, like the Roma, Jews and Spanish Christians, each had their own styles of music, as did the Moors, that contributed to the early evolution of Latin music. Many Moorish instruments were adopted in Spain, for example, the North African nasal, high-pitched singing style and frequent use of improvisation also spread to all the peoples of Iberia, as did the Roma vocal trill that characterizes Roma music. From continental Europe, Spain adopted the French troubadour tradition, which by the 16th century was a major part of Spanish culture. Both ethnic Spaniards and Moors contributed to the troubadour tradition, which spawned the décima song form, which features ten lines of eight syllables each. The décima format remains an important part of Latin music, include in corridos, bolero, and vallenato.
Some modern peoples of Latin America are essentially purely African, such as the Garifuna of Central America, and their music reflects their isolation from European influence. However, in general, the African slaves brought to the Americas modified their musical traditions by either adapting African performance style with European songs or vice versa, or simply learning both European song and performance style.
Popular music styles by country
Argentina
The tango is perhaps Argentina's most famous music, becoming famous all around the world. Others include the Chacarera, Cueca, Zamba and Chamamé. More modern rhythms include El Cuarteto, and Argentine Cumbia. Argentine rock was most popular during the 60s, and still remains Argentina's most popular music. Rock en Español became first popular in Argentina, then it swept through other Latin American countries. That movement is called the "Argentine Wave."
Bolivia
Bolivian music is perhaps the most strongly linked to its native population amongst national styles of South America. Following the nationalistic period of the 50s, Aymara and Quechua culture became more widely accepted, and these styles of folk music gradually fused in a more pop-like sound. Los Kjarkas played a pivotal role in this fusion. Other forms of native music, such as huaynos and caporales are also widely played. cumbia is another music enjoyed today. Theres regional forms less known internationally such as the music from Santa Cruz and Tarija where music such as Cueca and Chacarera is popular.
Brazil
Brazil is a large and diverse country with a long history of popular musical development, ranging from the early 20th century innovation of samba to the modern Música Popular Brasileira. Bossa nova is internationally well-known. and Forró (pronounced /fo'hɔ/) are also well known and loved in Brazil.
Chile
The Chilean music might be argued not as diverse as elsewhere in the Americas, however, there are four main trends:
- Music from the "Big North": Which bears high resemblance with the music of Southern Perú and Western Bolivia, and it is called normally "Andean Music". This music, which reflects the spirit of the indigenous people of the Altiplano, was where the Nueva Canción originated, which is probably the best known Chilean music outside Chile.
- Music from the "Central Valley": Which is almost directly derived from that of Spain, arrived through the Vice royalty of Peru. Here it can be found the Cueca (the national dance), the Tonada, Refalosa, the Sajuriana, Zapateado, Cuando and Vals.
- Music from the "South": This is a more complex music to trace, as it has direct influence from Spain, without any stopovers, and mixed with that of the aboriginal peoples, but which evolved far from the cultured centres of Santiago or Lima. Here there are: the Cueca Chilota, the Sirilla, the Zamba-Refalosa
- Music from the Chilean Polynesia, which is the Rapa Nui music.
Cuba
Cuba has produced many of the world's most famous musical genres, and a number of renowned musicians in a variety of styles. Creolized styles range from the danzon to the rumba.
Colombia
Cumbia is originally a Colombian style of popular music, though it is now also found in other countries, especially Mexico. Vallenato and Champeta are also Colombian styles. Cumbia is related to other styles within the Atlantic coastal region such as porro, puya, mapale and bullerengue and usually come out of a mix of black, Indian and Spanish influences. Southern Pacific black music is rather different and is prominent the use of the marimba in rhythms such as currulao. Central and southern mestizo usually uses string instruments in styles such as pasillos, bambucos and sanjuaneros. Music in the llanos in the border with Venezuela evolves around the joropo and the use of harps and maracas.
Dominican Republic
Merengue tipico and Orchestra merengue has been popular in the Dominican Republic for many decades, and is widely regarded as the national music.
Bachata is a more recent arrival taking influences from the Bolero and derived from the country's rural guitar music. Bachata has evolved and risen in popularity over the last 40 years in the Dominican Republic and other countries such as Puerto Rico, with the help of artists such as Antony Santos, Luis Segura, Luis Vargas, Teodoro Reyes, Yoskar Sarante, Alex Bueno, and Aventura. Bachata, Merengue and Salsa are now equally popular among Spanish speaking Caribbean people. When Spanish Crusaders sailed over the Atlantic they brought with them a new type of music called Hesparo, which contributed to the development of Dominican music.
Ecuador
Ecuadorian music can be classified in mestizo, Indian and black musics.
Mestizo music comes out of the interrelation between Spanish and Indian music. In it there are rhythms such as pasacalles, pasillos, albazos and sanjuanitos and is usually characterized by the use of string instruments. There is also regional variations such as more Coastal styles such as vals (similar to Vals Peruano (Waltz)) and montubio music. Indian music in Ecuador is determined in varying degrees by the influence of inca quechua culture. Within it we find sanjuanitos (different form the meztizo sanjuanito), capishkas, danzantes and yaravis. Non-quechua indigenous music ranges from Tsachila music of Santo Domingo which is influenced by the neighboring afro marimba; or Amazonian music of groups such as the Shuar. Black Ecuadorian music can be classified in two main forms. The first type is black music from the coastal Esmeraldas province and is characterized by the use of the marimba. The second variety is black music from the Chota Valley in the northern Sierra, mainly known as Bomba del Chota, and is characterized by a more pronounced mestizo and Indian influence than marimba esmeraldeña. Most of these musical styles can also be played by windbands of varying sizes in popular festivals all around the country. .
Haiti
Rich blend of African and European sounds; along with Cuban and Dominican influences, come together to create Haiti's diverse music. The most notable styles are Kompa and Méringue.
Mexico
Mexican pop, Mariachis, Rancheras, Boleros
Mariachi is the most famous and one of the many regional types of Mexican music. Trio is three voices with two or three guitars, singing the most romantic music in Mexico, Conjunto Jarocho, with the happiest music of the Tropic as The Bamba, etc. Mexico' composers include Agustin Lara (Lara's Theme, Granada etc.), Armando Manzanero (Somos novios), Jose Alfredo Jimenez (The best Ranchera Music), Juan Gabriel, etc. - It's Impossible). Another popular style called Norteña originates in the Northeast part of the country. There also exist Mexican versions of many other types of music, including rock, Duranguense, Rancheras, cumbia, Danzon, Cha Cha Cha, etc.
Nicaragua
The most popular style of music in Nicaragua is Palo de Mayo which is a dance and genre of music, as well as a festival in which the dance and music originated. Other popular music includes marimba, punta, Garifuna music, son nica, and folk music.
Panama
The popular style of music in Panama is reggaeton. Reggaeton is a style of music that originated here in 1977 and continues to the present, even though it has strong Puerto Rican influences such as the island's bomba and plena. Salsa, bachata, and merengue can be heard as well throughout the nation. Other Hispanic and Latino styles can be heard as well as Caribbean and West Indian music.
Paraguay
Polka Paraguaya, which adopted the name from a European beat, is the most typical type of music and has relatively different versions including the Galopa, the Krye’ÿ and the Canción Paraguaya, or Paraguayan Song. The first two are faster and more upbeat than the standard polka, and the third, a slight bit slower and melancholic. Other popular styles include the Purahéi Jahe’o and the Compuesto, which generally tell sad, epic or love stories.
The Polka usually is based on poetic lyrics, but there are some emblematic pieces of Paraguayan music that exist, such as Pájaro Campana, or Songbird, by Félix Pérez Cardozo. Guarania is the second best known Paraguayan music style and was created by the great musician José Asunción Flores in 1925. Paraguayan music depends largely upon two instruments: the guitar and the harp, whose first copies were brought by the conquistadors and found their own style in the country.
Peru
Peruvian music is marked by Indian, Spanish and West African influences. Coastal Afro-Peruvian music is characterized by the use of the Cajón peruano. Amerindian music varies according to region and ethnicity. The most well known Amerindian style is the huayno, also popular in Bolivia, played on instruments such as the charango and guitar. Mestizo music is varied and within it we find as most popular valses and marinera from the northern coast.
Puerto Rico
Out of all of Puerto Rico's musical exports, it is known for its worldwide famous salsa music and reggaeton. Bomba and plena have been popular in Puerto Rico for a long time, while reggaetón is a relatively recent invention. Reggaeton is a form of urban contemporary music, which often combine other Latin musical styles together, most commonly salsa and bachata.
Venezuela
Llanera is Venezuelan popular music originated in the "llanos" plains, although you'll find the more upbeat and festive Gaita beat in the western area, specifically in the state of Zulia. There is also African influenced styles which emphasize drumming and dance and such diverse styles as music from the Guayana region influenced by the neighboring English speaking countries as well as andean music from Merida.
Popular styles
Nueva canción
Nueva canción is a Latin American music genre which emphasize social progressive themes and social commentary along with influences of the trovadour tradition and singer-songwriter confessionalism. It can range from more folk styles such as groups like Inti Illimani from Chile to individual Nueva trova acts such as Silvio Rodriguez from Cuba.
Salsa
Originating with Cuban influence, Salsa is an amalgamation of Latin musical styles, especially Puerto Rican, created in the pan-Latin melting pot of New York City in the early 1970s.
Tejano music
Tejano music can be categorized as a blend of country music, rock, and R&B born in Texas and performed in both Spanish and English with a variety of cultural influences.
Most Tejanos today reside in South Texas and have their own unique form of folk and popular music, greatly influenced by yet quite distinctive from both traditional Mexican music and mainstream genres of American music. Latina Superstar Selena brought Tejano music to the mainstream and is credited frequently for bringing it to the top.
Reggaetón
Reggaetón has become an Latin American phenomenon and is no longer classifiable merely as a Panamanian or even Puerto Rican genre. It blends Jamaican musical influences of reggae and dancehall with those of Latin America, such as the Puerto Rican bomba and plena, as well as that of American hip hop and rap. The music is also combined with rapping (generally) in Spanish.
Imported styles
Imported styles of popular music with a distinctively Latin style include Latin jazz, Argentine rock and Chilean rock, and Cuban and Mexican hip hop, all based on styles from the United States (jazz, rock and roll and hip hop). Music from non-Latin parts of the Caribbean are also popular, especially Jamaican reggae and dub, Trinidadian calypso music and Antiguan Soca. See also Spanish tinge. Flamenco, rumba and paso doble from Spain is popular in some segments due to the Spanish heritage of Latin-America.
References
- Morales, Ed (2003). The Latin Beat. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81018-2.
- Nettl, Bruno (1965). Folk and Traditional Music of the Western Continents. Prentice-Hall, Inc. ISBN 0-13-323247-6.
- Stevenson, Robert (1952). Music in Mexico. Thomas Y. Crowell Company. ISBN 1-199-75738-1., cited in Nettl, p. 163.