STUDY GUIDE: MUSIC IN LATIN AMERICA
Music in Latin America is extremely diverse. Centuries of colonial interactions produced a range
of hybrid cultures. European (predominantly Spanish, but in Brazil Portuguese) musical traits are
incorporated with Native technology and expression. Folk versions of the violin and guitar are
widespread, and the musical sound is distinctly mestizo. (Mestizos are Latin American people of
mixed European and Native ancestry or culture.) African musical traits also combined with the
Native during and after the slave era, and unique African American music forms extend
throughout Latin America, primarily on the coasts. Spanish musical influences in Central and
South America are very noticeable, and the mestizo and African American musics stand out as
music of the people; however, the indigenous Amerindian (American Indian) music is little
understood by Westerners.
Mestizo - A relative term referring to people and a social identity involving the blending of
European and Amerindian beliefs and cultural practices. Although in the past used as
a racial category, it now more accurately denotes the variable incorporation of Iberian
(Spanish and Portuguese) and indigenous cultural heritages.
An Andean Mestizo Festival in Paucartambo, Peru
Define the following terms:
Cuzco
Chunchos
Kena
Wayno, or huayno
Orquesta tipica
Sociocultural Heritages
 Who are the Aztecs, the Mayas and the Incas?
 What was the affect of Catholicism and colonialism?
 What is Candomblé
Mestizo Musical Values
What is a marimba?
Where did stringed instruments come from?
What are parallel thirds?
What is strophic form?
What is a copla?
What is the relationship of the guitar to Latin America?
What is sesquialtera, also known as hemiola?
What are some examples of where it can be found in Latin America?
What are the marinera, and yaraví?
What is a Jarocho ensemble? A Huasteco ensemble?
Define the following terms:
Son
Huapanguera
Mariachi
Vihuela
Guitarrón
Conjunto norteños
Charango
Native American Musical Values
Explain the significance of the following:
Aymara and Quechua
Siku
Kena
Pinkillu and tarka
Pitu
Wankara or bombos
Caja
Suyá
Akia
Cacophony
African American musical values
Identify the following terms and definitions:
Marimba playing style
Berimbau
Marímbula
Papai benta
Orixas
Agogó
Atabaques
Surdo
Pandeiro
Tamborím
Reco-reco
Cuíca
Cavaquinho
Deeper Questions
 How might we compare hybrid musical cultures in our country to Latin American?
 Why would different types of flutes be prone for use in Peru?
 How might we catalogue the guitar variants that developed throughout Latin America
from colonial times?
 What examples of sesquialtera might we find in classical music or the popular music of
our culture?
 In what ways might marimba playing be compared to Shona mbira playing?
 Panpipes were prevalent in ancient Greek and Roman societies as they have been in Peru.
What might be the connection, if there is any? Or, are the two traditions unrelated? If so,
why can’t they be related?
 Why and how did West African religion and music bind with Catholicism in Brazil in the
form of candomblé?