An ocarina is a “vessel flute” that appears in many parts of the world, but is especially central to music in South America’s Andean mountains. There are many variations, but generally an ocarina is has a small space that traps air, a mouthpiece that enables a musician to blow into the enclosed space, and a number of finger holes for the musician to use to change the tone.
COUNTRY: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
KEY GENRES: Many Andean genres
The siku (sometimes called the “zampoña”) is one of the traditional panpipes of the Andes mountains. Because villages in the Andes were traditionally very difficult to reach from one another, members of isolated Andean communities developed their own local variants of siku, including their own tuning and way of playing.
COUNTRY: Bolivia, Peru
KEY GENRES: Many Andean genres
FEATURED ON: Niño Colla (AATW: Latin America), Tambobambino (AATW: Latin America)
A tambora is a bass drum that appears in various forms in various parts of Latin America. It is usually a double-headed drum, sometimes carried and sometimes fixed on a stand, sometimes with cymbals attached to provide for varying types of sound.
COUNTRY: Colombia, Dominican Republic, Peru
KEY GENRES: Cumbia, Merengue, Vallenato
The quijada is a jawbone of a donkey used as a percussion instrument in Mexico and Peru. The musician holds half of the jawbone in one hand and hits the other with a stick, causing the teeth to rattle. The instrument first appeared in Peru among African slaves but became important in both African and indigenous communities. Today it’s still a staple instrument in Afro-Peruvian music, and is essential to Mexico’s son jaorhco
COUNTRY: Mexico, Peru
KEY GENRES: Afro-Peruvian, Son Jaorhco
FEATURED ON: La Guacamaya (AATW: Latin America)
There really is no “Amazonian” genre of music–the Amazon is the second longest river in the world and a substantial diversity of people live along its banks and in the forests around it–however, most of the indigenous people who live near the Amazon, make music that finds similar inspiration in nature. For example, the Ticuma, the most populous indigenous group in the Amazon region, celebrate life events with days of dancing accompanied by locally made flutes, rattles made of seeds and a long hollowed log-drum called a “maguaré.” The Yanomami are not known to have a tradition of using instruments to accompany their singing, but since outside visitors introduced flutes they have started making wind instruments out of bamboo or animal bones. Mongabay.com introduces us to the Amazon and some of the people that live around it.
COUNTRY: Brazil, Colombia, Peru
KEY INSTRUMENTS: A capella, hand drums, Flutes
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A cajita is a functional little instrument fashioned from a small box–traditionally a wooden donation box one might find in a church–that a percussionist strikes with a stick and opens and closes to manipulate the sound. Daria of MakingMulticulturalMusic.wordpress.com tells us more.
COUNTRY: Peru
The quena is a traditional bamboo or wooden flute used in many kinds of music found in the Andean mountains. A common quena has six finger holes and one hole for the thumb. The musician controls the airflow with both his or her mouth and fingers, creating a naturally rich tone.
COUNTRY: Andes (Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela)
KEY GENRES: Cumbia (Andean Cumbia), Nueva Cancion
FEATURED ON: Niño Colla (AATW: Latin America), Tambobambino (AATW: Latin America)
The charango, a small, high pitched Bolivian/Andean stringed instrument that traditionally was made from the shell of an armadillo, is a staple instrument of Andean music. The charango first appeared in South America in the 1800s, though its exact origin is unclear. Was it a descendant of the vihuela, which the Spanish brought with them when they colonized? Did indigenous musicians who had learned to play Spanish vihuelas and guitars create such a small instrument in order to be able to hide it when Spanish authorities prohibited them from performing their own music? Whatever its origins, the charango’s bright sound has become a characteristic of several Andean genres, like Andean Cumbia, Huayno and Pasillo
COUNTRY: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
KEY GENRES: Cumbia (Andean Cumbia), Huayno, Pasillo
FEATURED ON: Niño Colla (AATW: Latin America), Tambobambino (AATW: Latin America)
Festejo, a word derived from the Spanish “fiesta,” is a form of celebratory Afro-Peruvian music. Festejo lyrics often provide historical accounts of the Afro-Peruvian population’s emancipation from slavery or celebrate some other type of popular liberation. The festejo dance is lively and witty, featuring gyrating hips and intricate footwork known as zapateado.
COUNTRY: Peru
KEY INSTRUMENTS: Bongo, Cajita, Cajon, Congas, Quijada
SONG ON AATW: LATIN AMERICA CD: Citron
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Huayno is a genre of music and dance that originated with and is still popular among Quechua-speaking people in Peru’s Andes Mountains. According to Coyote Crossing’s huayno overview, the genre distinguishes itself from other Latin musics in that its rhythm stresses the first beat and follows that with two short beats.
In class we a Peruvian huayno song, called “Tribulchay.” Watch Hugo Carrillo’s exuberant performance of “Tribulchay” and try to listen for the music’s rhythmic first beat/two short beats. If you want to learn more, get your hands on Jon Cohen’s documentary, “Dancing with the Incas,” but if you just want a quick listen, enjoy Javier Lizares on YouTube playing an Andean stringed instrument known as the charango.
COUNTRY: Ecuador, Peru and other Andean countries
KEY INSTRUMENTS: Accordion, Charango, Guitar, Harp, Quena, Mandolin, Saxophone, Siku (panpipe), Violin
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