Music of South America
SOUTH AMERICA
SOUTH AMERICA
INSTRUMENTS OF SOUTH AMERICA
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Guiro: wooden instrument with notches on which a stick
is rubbed to produce the sounds.
Bongos: cuban instrument composed of two small
drums of different size.
Claves: wooden cylinders. One is held along the thumb
with the tip of the other fingers as support. This way, the
hollow par formed by the hand and the instrument act
as resonator and this cylinder is hit with another cylinder
in the other hand.
Maracas: generally made of dried animal skin stitched
together or hollow wood, they are filled with grains or
small pebbles, then fastened to wooden handles. They
are shaken to produce the sounds.
Cencerros: cowbell hit with a stick
TIME TO WRITE…
Compare and contrast popular South American
instruments with what we commonly use in the
United States
 Pay extra attention to the percussion section
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ARGENTINA
The music style Argentina is known for is the
tango, which developed in Buenos Aires
 The golden age of the tango in Argentina
reflected the golden age of Jazz and Swing
 Argentine rock became popular in the 1980s
and remains the most popular music in the
country today
 Time to write: Compare and contrast the tango
with swing dancing. How about rock?
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BELIZE
The music of Belize was heavily influenced by
European imperialism, which brought Polkas,
waltzes, quadrilles, and schottisches
 Africans brought instruments and percussionbased music
 Brukdown evolved from the music and dance of
loggers, especially a form known as buru.
 Punta and Punta rock-jazz-hiphop are the most
popular dances in Garifuna culture, performed
around holidays and at parties and other social
events.
 Time to write: Compare and contrast Belize dance
styles with what you see on contemporary music
videos
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BOLIVIA
Bolivian music is perhaps the most stronglylinked to its native population among the
national styles of South America
 After the nationalistic period of the 1950s,
their folk music evolved into a more pop-like
sound
 Huayños
 Caporales
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BRAZIL
The music of Brazil encompasses various
regional music styles influenced by African,
European and American forms
 In the beginning of the 20th century, there was
a movement for creating an authentically
Brazilian music, with less influences of the
European culture
 Capoeira, maracatu
 Samba
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CHILE
Many musical genres are native to Chile; one of
the most popular was the Cumbia
 The national dance of Chile is the Cueca
 Rapa Nui developed from Polynesian influence
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NUEVA CANCIÓN
A musical style that appeared in the 1960s and
attempted to bring back folk music traditions.
 It was soon used by revolutionaries and had
intensely political lyrics.
 Nueva canción musicians often faced censorship,
exile, forceful disappearances and even torture.
 The 1973 Chilean coup d'état involved many
musicians being killed or exiled.
 In the 1990s, democracy returned to Chile and
musicians began playing this style again
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CUBA
Mostly of European (Spanish) and African origin
 Has been perhaps the most popular form of world
music since the introduction of recording
technology
 Many slaves and Spanish came to Cuba, bringing
their dance and music styles along, including the
waltz (first closed dance), fandango, and paso
doble
 The bolero is one of the most famous Cuban
musical styles
 Zapateo: a Cuban dance performed with tapping
feet, generally by men
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CUBA
The son is said to be the most important genre
of Cuban music, and the least studied. The son
is to Cuba what the Tango is to Argentina. It is
a fusion between European and African styles.
The son gave way to the cha-cha-cha and the
salsa, among many others.
 Rumba is a music of Cuban origin, but entirely
African in style, using only voice, percussion
and dance
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TIME TO WRITE…
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Write about the connection between music and
dance. Write about specific American and
Latin American dances we have seen so far.
How do changes in instrumentation change
body movement? Tempo? Rhythm? Lyrics?
COLOMBIA
Colombian music can be divided into four musical
zones: the Atlantic coast, the Pacific coast, the
Andean region and Los Llanos.
 Atlantic music features rhythms such as the
cumbia, porros and mapalé.
 Pacific coast features predominately drums and is
tinged with Spanish influence.
 Andean has been strongly influenced by Spanish
rhythms and instruments. Typical forms include
the bambuco, and torbellino
 Los Llanos is usually accompanied by a harp,
a cuatro (a type of four-string guitar) and maracas
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TIME TO WRITE…
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Think about how much of Latin America is split
up by regions. What regions do we have in the
US? How do the regions change our music?
What geographical differences influence our
genres of music, including the demographic of
people living in any place?
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Merengue típico (dance) and Orchestra
merengue have been popular in the Dominican
Republic for many decades
 Bachata is a more recent arrival, taking
influences from the bolero and derived from
the country's rural guitar music
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ECUADOR
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Traditional Ecuadorian music can be classified as
mestizo, Indian and black music
Mestizo music evolved from the interrelation between
Spanish and Indian music and is usually played by string
instruments
Indian music in Ecuador is determined in varying
degrees by the influence of quichua culture
Black Ecuadorian music can be classified into two main
forms; coastal Esmeraldas province (characterized by
the marimba) and the Chota Valley in the northern
Sierra (characterized by a more-pronounced mestizo
and Indian influence)
National Song
EL SALVADOR
Salvadorian music may be compared with
the Colombian style of music known as cumbia.
 Popular styles in modern El Salvador
are salsa, Bachata and Reggaeton
 Punta is also popular
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TIME TO WRITE…
Where have you seen/heard Latin influenced
dancing/music the most? Can you think of
examples of US music that has been influenced
by Latin music? Write about these artists,
shows, songs, etc.
 Write about the difference between “Ballroom”
Latin and native Latin dancing
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GUATEMALA
Diverse styles of music are played all over the
country, even in the remotest corners. The
marimba is the national instrument
 In recent decades, Guatemala has produced a
variety of popular performers, such as pop
vocalists, Guatemalan rock bands, heavy metal
groups, big bands, tropical salsa and merengue
bands, hip hop and reggaeton crews, disk-jockeys,
trios, and mariachi bands.
 In 2006, the last Rock station on FM went away
and there was no longer support from the media.
As a result many musicians started working in
underground movements and self-producing
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YOUR TURN TO PRESENT
In pairs, research your assigned country. Get
ready to present information on its musical
culture.
 Be sure to include the most popular music
today, and the historical significance of genres
past. Also include the differences between
culturally produced music and popular mass
produced music.
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 1:
Guyana
 2: Haiti
 3: Honduras
 4: Mexico
 5: Nicaragua
 6: Panama
 7:
Paraguay
 8: Peru
 9: Puerto Rico
 10: Venezuela
 11: Uruguay
PRESENT YOUR OWN
YOUR TURN TO PRESENT