The Music of Latin
America
Socio-Cultural History
Cultural history, as a discipline, at least in its common
definition since the 1970s, often combines the
approaches of anthropology and history to look at
popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations
of historical experience. It examines the records and
narrative descriptions of past knowledge, customs, and
arts of a group of people. Its subject matter
encompasses the continuum of events occurring in
succession leading from the past to the present and
even into the future pertaining to a culture.
Socio-cultural Histories
Pre-Columbian states of the Aztecs and Mayas of
Mesoamerica, and the Incas of the Andes.
Colonialism and Catholicism brought by Iberian
culture (Spanish and Portuguese).
Candomblé, an Afro-Brazilian religion involving
Christianity and West African religious beliefs and
musical practices. Africans who were brought as slaves
and escaped.
Pre Columbian States
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjhIzemLdos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZL7TY9b1HU
A Short History of Latin
American Independence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBw35Ze3bg8
Candomblé
an Afro-Brazilian religion involving Christianity and West African
religious beliefs and musical practices
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr3zQRXzuvY
After the Spanish Conquest
The Spanish introduced violins, guitars, harps, brass
instruments, and woodwinds which mostly replaced
the native instruments. The European instruments
were introduced to be used during Mass but were
quickly adapted to secular events.
Indigenous use of European
Instruments
. Indigenous and mestizo peoples learned to play and
make these instruments often giving them modified
shapes and tunings. In addition to instruments, the
Spanish introduced the concept of musical bands,
which, in the colonial period, generally consisted of
two violins, a harp and various guitars. This grouping
gave rise to a number of folk musical styles in Mexico.
Mestizo Music
Strophic form –– music that stays the same while lyrics
change from stanza to stanza
Copla –– a four octosyllabic-line stanza
Sesquialtera - the combination/juxtaposition of duple
and triple rhythmic patterns, both simultaneously in
different instrumental parts, or sequentially in the
same part; also called hemiola.
Parallel thirds –– the interval from do to mi; or sixths,
do to la
Marinera
Song –dance genre of peru in sesquialtera rhythm
Couples “handkerchief” dance.
European major scale with tonal harmony
Form AABBCC
Light romantic themes sung in Spanish
Marinera Music and Dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFR3dknoJh4
Yaravi
A slow, sad, lyrical Mestizo song genre from Peru.
Not danced; rather, it is used to serenade a lover, for a
serious moment at social gatherings, or to express deep
feelings when one is alone.
Unrequited love, leaving family or home, the absence
of loved ones.
Puñales (daggers)
Mi vida es cual hoja seca
que va rodando en el
mundo que va rodando
en el mundo No tiene
ningun consuelo, no
tiene ningún alago por eso
cuando me quejo mi
alma padece cantando mi
alma se alegra llorando.
My life is a leaf dry
that is rolling in the world
that is rolling in the world
I have no consolation,
has nothing.
so when I complain
my soul singings
my soul rejoices crying.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m0_OmLyFSA
Wayno or Huayno
Andean mestio song-dance genre
Strophic AABB forms
Duple meter varying between and 8th and 16th note
figure and 8th note triplet.
Social couples dance with fast foot tapping, subtle
flirtatious movements, and the use of a handkerchief
waved in the hand.
Closest to indigenous roots of all Peruvian forms
Wayno “Quisiera Olvidarte”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBm17CP6l4g
Huasteco ensemble
A Mexican group hailing from Northern Veracruz and
Tamaulipas state, featuring violin accompanied by two
types of guitars.
Very virtuosic style
Violin, huapanguera (large 8 string guitar), small 5
string jarana
Strummed ambiguously mixing duple and triple
rhythms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niFGuW_Aq2A
Mariachi
an ensemble type originally from Jalisco, Mexico
consisting of two or more violins, vihuela, guitarrón,
two trumpets, and various guitars.
Feelings of nationalism spurred the glorification of
Mexican peasants around the time of the revolution
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9KQbbheFcM
Musica Norteña
Consists of diatonic accordion, bajo sexto,
double bass and drums. Another important
music style is musica, from northern Mexico,
which has been the basis for such sub-genres as
musica de banda.
arose in the 1830s and 40s in the Rio Grande
region, in the southern Texas. Influenced by
both Bohemian music and immigrant miners,
its rhythm was derived from European polkas,
which were popular during the 1800s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa5yF3CO5Gs
Jarocho ensemble
a musical group from the rural,
southern coastal region of Veracruz
state. It includes a large diatonic harp, a
4-string guitar (requinto), and one or
more jaranas (a small guitar with 8
strings).
It represents a fusion of indigenous (primarily
Huastecan), Spanish, and African musical
elements, reflecting the population which
evolved in the region from Spanish colonial
times. Lyrics include humorous verses and
subjects such as love, nature, sailors, and cattle
breeding that still reflect life in colonial and
19th century Mexico.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2o3ZIKGCms
Mestizo Instruments
Marimba
wooden keyed xylophone, originally from Africa, widely
popular in Latin America, still played on the Pacific coast
of Columbia and Ecuador
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1URbjNc3VQ
Vihuela
a small five-string guitar variant with a convex back,
used for percussive strumming
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egEDifTfZ_4
Guitarrón
a large acoustic bass guitar with a convex back.
Not originally derived from the guitar but from bajo de
una
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOyRkpksbqw
Charango
Andean ten-string guitar variant smaller than the guitar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok1lbX8MrME
Harp
In Latin America, harps are widely but sparsely
distributed, except in certain regions where the harp
traditions are very strong. Such important centres
include Mexico, Andes, Venezuela and Paraguay. They
are derived from the Baroque harps that were brought
from Spain during the colonial period.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPPRvPdNugw
requinto & jaranas
Requinto – smaller guitar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWQKSKZ5oi
Jaranas – 8 string guitar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTxi1Vl8X8s
Native American Musical Values
Suyá
Amazonian Indian group with a vocal music culture,
maintain a collective style of musical performance at feasts.
They have a repertoire of songs (ngre), which blends unison
voices.
they also maintain a repertoire of individually owned songs
(akia), which are “shout songs” performed by a numerous of
individuals simultaneously juxtaposed. While the resultant
sound creates a mixed texture that may be called cacophony
in the West, it reflects different conception of the
relationship of an individual to the community, the
environment, and the cosmos.
http://www.folkways.si.edu/anthology-ofbrazilian-indian-music-karaja-javahe-krahotukuna-juruna-suya-trumaishukarramae/american-indianworld/album/smithsonian
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQCE4DofORw
Pre-Columbian Instruments
Prior to the arrival of the Spanish, indigenous music
was played with rattles, drums, flutes and conch-shell
horns as part of religious celebrations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDTSSEOy3qw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVinnWp1Pck
Other Native Instruments
Teponaztli and tunkul (slit drums),
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYvjyNGbqn8
huehuetl (single-headed drum) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaq2o_OE5mc
siku (panpipes), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1lTXhXTasA
El Condor Pasa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_gSydN_BYM
Other Aerophones
flutes: kena (end-notched) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFUK9KA4zRQ
tarka (duct); http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNg6YUyBm5k
wakrapuku (horn trumpet) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eup9VVp1WGI
Listening Examples
Chunchos of Paucartambo
Two wooden transverse flutes, snare/bass drums
This dance tune is played by two flutes in a loose
heterophonic texture. The melody consists of two
parts, a short A part (lasting about 6 seconds), and a B
part (lasting about four seconds) played twice. The
drums repeat a simple rhythmic accompaniment
throughout the performance.
Cultural Context
The Qhapac chuncho represent the people of the
Amazon. They are the guardians of the Virgin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NIEvua81jk
Qollas Despedida
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ6USle6iTk
Currulao
Many African musical principles are maintained in
African American communities of Latin America:
cyclical forms, call-and-response, interlocking melodic
and percussion parts, and an appreciation of
overlapping textures. Many African instruments are
employed, featured in the currulao.
The currulao is a popular communal dance of Ecuador
and Colombia’’s Pacific coast, wherein men and
women court.
marimba, drums, shakers
One musician plays a 6-8 rhythm on a
drum known as a "cununo”. The Currulao
rhythm is created by both striking the skin
of the drum with the one's hand and
tapping the side of the drum with a small
stick.
The second musician keeps time on a shaker known in
parts of Colombia as a "guasá"(goo-ah-SAH) or
"guache"(goo-AH-cheh), which is typically a hollow
cylinder made of metal, wooden, or guadua bamboo,
filled with light seeds, rice is sometimes used in homemade guasás.
But the main instrument of the currulao style is
perhaps the Colombian marimba, a wooden xilophone
which resembles the African balafon also for the style
of playing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjV1tFsNilg&list=R
D6VEbvmomLNI
Urban popular music
Rumba-guaguanco
Cuban genre, performed by a lead singer accompanied
by drums and rhythm sticks. There are two main
sections, an initial verse and chorus section followed by
a call-and-response section.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJVT_5swkhA
Cuban Son
Cuban genre with similar two-part format. The
ensemble, comprising tres (a small guitar), piano, bass,
trumpets and other wind, and Cuban percussion had
international impact in the 1940s and 1950s. Basis of
modern salsa style.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsKQalDu4VU
Samba
Urban Brazilian African-derived genre connected with
Carnival. The huge percussion section, which includes
surdo (bass drum), agogo, tamborim (small hand-held
drum), pandeiro (tambourine), reco-reco (metal spring
scraper), and cuica (friction drum), plays interlocking
parts. Sung in call-and-response style.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbORVE2P2hg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQLvGghaDbE
Bossa nova
Brazilian guitar-based style maintains syncopated
accompaniment patterns of samba but includes more
elaborate harmonic schemes. Understated vocal style
and sophisticated texts appealed to a middle- and
upper-class audience.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FolEno814Gk
Cumbia
Afro-Colombian-derived genre traditionally played with
either a side-blown reed instrument (pito) or vertical
duct flute (gaita). By the 1960s, cumbia was performed
by accordions or urban dance bands throughout Latin
America and southern Texas. Characterized by
interlocking rhythmic parts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l5yTrmo4eU
Chicha
Also known as cumbia andina. An example of the
amalgamation of widely disparate musical resources
within an urban popular style and of the use of music
to construct and express social identity by children of
Andean migrants to Lima. The ensemble includes
electric guitars, bass, organ/synthesizer, and percussion
(guiro and Cuban timbales). Chicha paints a musical
portrait of these children, mixing Andean elements
(wayno), urban popular music (cumbia), and Western
rock (instrumentation).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uglIDVuQA9w
Summary
The Latin American continent encompasses many
different types of societies, each with their own musical
traditions.
Mestizo cultures—the mixing of Spanish or Portuguese
and Native Latin American lifeways—have become a
common denominator influencing many forms of
Latin American music.
In each country or region, different combinations of
European and Native influences occurred, with one or
the other being more or less predominant.
Scales and Rhythms
Mestizo music is characterized by European scales and
harmonies; strophic song forms (the melody of each
verse is the same, but the words change), and complex
rhythms created by playing duple (2 or 4 beat) and
triple (3 beat) rhythms sequentially and simultaneously.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhSKk-cvblc
Instruments
The guitar—in many variants—is the most common
stringed instrument, along with violin, harp, and
mandolin. Various types of indigenous flutes, panpipes
and drums are still performed. Brass band instruments
were introduced in the 19th century, accordions in the
early 20th century, and electric guitars and keyboards
in the second half of the 20th century.
Native American Esthetics
Native American musical performances tend to be
group events, without focusing on individual
musicians. Most musical performances are tied to
specific rituals.
African Influence
Afro-Latin American music is a combination of
African, European, and Native influences. In
instrumentation, composition, and performance, AfroBrazilian music and performance traditions like the
currulao of the Pacific coast of Colombia exhibit strong
influences from African heritage.
Next Week
Music of the Caribbean