Search results
moderndrummer.com
Congas, guitar, shekere, claves, bongos, and pandeiro
- Traditional Instruments Latin music’s tendencies of combining local traditional instruments with borrowed musical styles lead to unique combinations of sound. Congas, guitar, shekere, claves, bongos, and pandeiro are fused with simple harmonies and strong vocals.
www.musical-u.com › learn › open-your-ears-to-traditional-latin-music
People also ask
What are some traditional Latin musical instruments?
What percussion instruments are used in Latin America?
What instruments are used in Mexican music?
What are some examples of African instruments coming home in Latin America?
- Bongo Drums. The bongo drums shortly called bongos are a percussion instrument with a pair of unequal drums. The larger drum and the smaller drum were named hembra and macho in order.
- Marímbula. The marímbula is a lamellophone and is also known as the marimba in regions such as the Dominican Republic but it should not be confused with the percussion instrument marimba (about which, you’ll know soon in this article).
- Berimbau. The berimbau is a percussion instrument with its origin in Africa and has become popular with the Brazilians. Capoeira is a martial art from Brazil with a blend of acrobatics, dance, and music.
- Agogo. The agogo is an idiophone and the instrument is a bell or a pair of bells. It was first used in West Africa and later brought to Brazil in Latin America.
- Overview
- Pre-Columbian patterns
Latin American music, musical traditions of Mexico, Central America, and the portions of South America and the Caribbean colonized by the Spanish and the Portuguese. These traditions reflect the distinctive mixtures of Native American, African, and European influences that have shifted throughout the region over time.
This article surveys religious, folk, and art (informally, classical) music through time and over the hemisphere. After a brief discussion of the uses of music in preconquest cultures (for further treatment, see Native American music), the narrative turns to how Europeans introduced Iberian church music and began the hybridization of musical practices in both the religious and the folk realms. At the same time, imported art music practices became part of the colonial cultures and were in turn infused with local and regional flavours. By the 21st century various national musical characteristics had asserted themselves in all types of musical practice, while international trends flowed into the regional musical stream as well.
At the time of Christopher Columbus’s first encounter of the “New World” in 1492, numerous indigenous cultures were spread from the northern Mexican mountains to the southern tip of South America and on the Caribbean islands. These cultures ranged from isolated and technologically primitive peoples to highly organized societies with advanced technological knowledge. Little is known about the musical activities or systems of these precolonial civilizations, but available sources do afford glimpses into the roles of music in the most-advanced cultures. These sources include surviving musical instruments, dictionaries of Indian languages compiled by early European missionaries, chronicles written by Europeans of the 16th century, and, for Mesoamerica, a substantial number of pre-Columbian Mexican codices. (A codex is a manuscript in book form.) Some scholars have studied the musical cultures of isolated indigenous communities of the 20th century as a means to understanding the past; although such an approach may be somewhat useful, it is not wise to assume that traditions are continuous and uninfluenced over centuries.
The type of ancient Mesoamerican music that is best-documented is the ritual music of the courts (primarily Aztec and Mayan). Music performance (often allied with dance) is depicted as a large-ensemble activity, in which numerous participants variously play instruments, sing, or dance. The 8th-century murals of the Bonampak temple, for example, show a procession with trumpets, drums, and rattles.
To an extent that is remarkable in light of their numerous differences in other artistic and cultural realms, the different cultures from at least the 8th century to the early 16th century used similar instruments. Drums and wind instruments, primarily flutes, are commonly described in texts and found in artifacts. The teponaztli, a two-key slit drum played with a mallet, and the huehuetl, a single-headed cylindrical upright drum played with bare hands, occupied a special position in Aztec rituals and were considered sacred instruments. Many of the archaeological examples of these drums carry elaborate carvings with glyphs and drawings that reveal symbolically their ritual uses and functions. Comparable instruments served essential functions for the Maya.
Exclusive academic rate for students! Save 67% on Britannica Premium.
Learn More
Many flutes from Mesoamerican cultures survive. Among the Aztec they were known generically as tlapizalli. An especially intriguing type of flute found near the Gulf of Mexico coast consists of two, three, or four tubes sounded from a single mouthpiece. Such instruments prove the existence of harmonic possibilities, up to four notes simultaneously, but it is not known how they were used. Ancient Mesoamericans did not develop musical notation, and the Spanish did not transcribe music they heard. Surviving instruments provide some indication of sound quality and pitch but not any precise way of determining scales or melodies.
- Gerard Béhague
The rich Iberian tradition of stringed instruments—guitar and guitarlike instruments, lute, mandolin, harp, and violin—spread rapidly through all of Latin America. Yet in practice these instruments respond to different aesthetic outlooks.
- Digital Piano. Invented by Harold Rhodes in the recent era, digital piano is an alternative to the acoustic counterpart with almost the same construction and working method.
- Pandeiro. This instrument resembles a tambourine. It is held by the hand and comes with small cymbals around its side. It’s widely popular in Brazilian music especially capoeira and samba.
- Conga. With its origins from Cuba, this single-headed drum commonly comes in a set of two. Each of the drums is tuned to a specific pitch, giving the drums its rhythmic beat.
- Güiro. This handheld musical instrument is also believed to originate from Cuba. It is made with a piece of metal or wood. It is hollowed out and comes with grooves that run horizontally along its side.
- Vihuela. The Mexican vihuela is like the younger sibling to the guitar in a Mariachi band. This Mexican instrument is smaller and higher-pitched. Its five strings strum out bright, rhythmic chords that make any tune bounce with that distinct Mariachi energy.
- Guitarrón. The guitarrón is one of the main Mexican musical instruments in Mariachi music. The sound produced by this hefty, six-stringed acoustic bass is the pulse of the band, supplying the rich, deep tones that underscore the rest of a Mariachi band.
- Requinto. The requinto guitar is the charming, high-pitched cousin of the guitar in traditional Mexican music. It’s smaller in size but big on delivering lovely, melodic lines that soar above the ensemble.
- Trumpet. The trumpet is the loud and proud brass voice in many traditional Mexican bands. Introduced to Mariachi in the 20th century, its clear, ringing notes command attention and add a special something to the mix.
Latin percussion is a family of percussion, membranophone, lamellophone and idiophone instruments used in Latin music . Instruments. Afro-Cuban and Puerto Rican styles. Folkloric and Santeria. Trap drums. Abakua and Arará drums. Chekere / Shekere. Erikundi. Bata. Cowbell. Shaker. Conga. Cajon. Guiro. Barril de bomba. Pandereta plenera.
Oct 10, 2023 · The Arpa Jarocha or Mexican Harp is a large, wooden-framed harp, which has 32 to 36 strings made initially from animal guts, but nylon is now used, a resonator, a flat soundboard (occasionally arch outwards), and without any pedals. The Arpa Jarocha is unique from other harps in that its soundboard has holes located on the back.
