The Worldwide Popularity of Latin Music
The most played and listened to music right now almost everywhere in the world is Latin music. It is especially characterized by its rhythm and its exotic instruments. (Revels-Bey) Nowadays, this kind of music is grabbing people’s attention especially in the marketing area because we can see that people are starting to use it in commercials, TV shows, movies, etc. Most people are ignorant of the origins of Latin Music. They just enjoy it but they never wonder how this pleasant music got its mixed sounds and styles together.
Latin music has its root in the Moorish culture. This culture emerged when Christopher Columbus came to conquer the new world and he brought with him Moorish slaves into Latin America. The Moorish culture spread its rhythm and sounds among other countries. Its rhythm distinguished its music between other cultures. Moorish descendants used drums and songs in a way to communicate each other. After years, this music spread through all the islands of the Carribean making it their unique musical culture. Each Latin American country adopted some sounds from the Moorish to made their own style. (Revels-Bey)
Latin music is a mix of different sounds, beats, and rhythms obtained from Spain and Latin America. The styles of Latin music are: el mambo, la rumba, la zarzuela, flamenco, el tango ,el merengue, la cumbia and salsa El mambo and the rumba are kind of similar in sounds but experts can distinguish them by their beats. They say that the mambo’s musical has unexpected beats and that the rumba starts with a group of improvised verses. La zarzuela and the flamenco are both folkloric music from Spain, but they differ in two points. La zarzuela is from Spanish opera and the flamenco has an influence of arabic and gypsy melodies. El tango is the music from Argentina and it’s characterized by its slow and soft rhythm. El merengue has a fast beat and a tropical rhythm and it started in the Dominican republic. The cumbia has a moderate to rapid melodious verses and choruses. Musicians play it with accordions and drums. Finally, la salsa became popular in Miami and New York and it’s characterized by the use of trumpets and other brass instruments. (Monkeyshines)
One of the Latin music styles that most people around the world learn and like to dance to because of its contagious rhythm is Salsa.
Bachata is a creolized music, meaning that there is both European and African influence. It is also a descendent of a few different Dominican Republic and Cuban forms of music – primarily son, but also merengue and ranchera. Son is music of the African diaspora, commonly involved in debates of African retention. Elements of African music, such as call-and-response and preference for polyrhythm survived the middle passage and are deeply rooted in Caribbean tradition. Stringed instruments are believed to have been part of the European influence on the area, as well as harmonic patterns, as well as verse-chorus structure and prominent duple meter. Modern groups consist of two electric acoustic guitars, an electric bass guitar, a guira (A Dominican Republic percussion instrument), and bongos (Hutchinson). Bachata is thought to have originated in the rural areas, being the music of choice at rural friendly gatherings, similar to son’s roots. Bachata then migrated to the cities with the impoverished as they looked for work. With this move the music transformed into something entirely different from its romantic, seren...
The third piece, on the other hand, had a faster and more upbeat tempo. “Para Que Me Llorar” had to have a build up before it can start moving quicker. Something that both songs had in common was that they were both played in a triplet format. I also noticed that in most of the songs sung, the singers were able to high pitches. Because mariachi music originates from South America, they all had a formulaic beat that, if it were to be played at a party, would be something to dance to. If there were one specific are in which I learned in class that would relate this type of music, it would be African American music because there were repeated melodies and rhythmic patterns in some of the pieces along with community parties.
After the Second World War, America came out of the war with the responsibility of being the “superpower” of the world. In the past America would never get involved in foreign affairs however after World War Two things had changed. Since America was considered the most powerful natio...
Music and dance are important parts of Peruvian culture. “Andean Folk Music is common in Peru. People perform a stylized dance to energetic music mixed with sad songs. Popular instruments include clay panpipes, flutes, conch shell trumpets, and puma-skin drums”(Falconer, Kieran, and Quek 102). The music follows themes of religion, war, and profanity. Peruvians are always found dancing, whether at a festival, carnival, or just for fun. Music shows important parts of Peruvian culture.
As stated earlier, there is no one creator of salsa, but the genre includes traditional elements of its cultural influences. Additionally, different cultures will play salsa in a particular way that is unique to their country: “. . . each African nation re-traditionalised the salsa sound along its own ethnic lines” (Román-Velasquez: 218). Despite these traditional elements, salsa can also be marketed as popular music. For example, there is a large market for salsa and Latin music in Europe (Román-Velasquez: 216). The music is also used to promote Latin themed businesses: “. . . salsa music has become popular along with Latin food and themed bars and there has been a growth of commercially run clubs, bars and restaurants” (Román-Velasquez: 217). The popularity and party culture associated with salsa, streaming from clubs and dancing, allowed promoters to easily commercialize the
Dance is just as important and music in Afro-Cuban Culture. The music is made to be danced to, and most of the popular Cuban dances that exist today are of African decent. The most popular are the rumba, danzon, and son. Especially among the working class poor, dancing and music was simply a way to blow off steam and have a good time.
Angelman Syndrome is a neuro-genetic disorder, brought upon the body through the mutilation or deletion of the maternal 15th chromosome. The prevalence of this disorder is still constantly debated because of the common symptoms it shares with other disorders, making it difficult to recognize and differentiate. More specific studies of behavior are needed to increase the range of knowledge on such a complex disorder. In 2007 Dr. Weeber relieved a mouse model of many symptoms of Angelman Syndrome. Studies of this disease are crucial for finding the cure. Even though this is a difficult challenge, there are signs of hope to cure this disease for humans.
Music comes in many shapes and forms, and has been a magical element of inspiration and encouragement throughout time. The art of music derives from many different things, such as culture and traditions. One such type of music is mariachi music, deriving from Mexican culture and traditions. Mariachi music is often an upbeat rhythm, consisting of a band of up to six to eight violins, two trumpets and a guitar. Unlike modern music and other music bands alike, mariachi bands lack in numbers when it comes to band size. Though they are small, their music brings great significance and life to the places they perform and the people that they touch with their joyous music. In this paper, I will be comparing the culture and style of mariachi music to twentieth century modern music.
Cumbia originated in the coastal region of Colombia in the early 1800’s. There were three predominant cultures in Colombia at that time: the indigenous peoples, the Spaniards, and the African slaves. The cumbia began with the essential instrumentation of the tambor drums and the gaita flutes, which derive from both indigenous and Congo-based African roots. The genre was entertainment for the slaves, beginning as a courtship dance. It later became an outlet for national resistance and protest as Colombia was contesting for its independence. The music was able to diffuse throughout the nation, spreading from the coast, primarily for the reason that many African populations were scattered in various regions. Barranquilla, a port city in Colombia, was the core of where the music became established and played for the masses, and where instruments such as horns and bass began to be incorporated into cumbia, giving it a more Latin feel. As cumbia evolved and spread to Mexico around the 1930’s, it changed from the influence o...
The Latin Americans never wanted to be left in this music development. The Latin Americans had their own music, Jazz (Gordon, 2005). They wanted to influence in the development of the music. Soon, Salsa was born out if mixture from the Jazz music and Mambo. Salsa took the bodily movements and the Cuban beats as a contribution from the Caribbean culture. The Latin America contributed the wording of Salsa music. Diversity necessitated the growth of Salsa as Mambo had been viewed with suspicion as it was linked to ghetto status hence it was
The Holocaust is an event that will live forever in infamy in the minds and hearts of everyone that knows its story and of the suffering the victims experienced. The victims of what was mainly Jewish descent were persecuted against by the Nazi regime Because of their anti-Semitic views that led to the largest and most famous Genocide in the history of mankind. The story of the Holocaust spread and was spread around the globe until over time a few facts became mixed or misinterpreted. These misinterpretations gave anti-Semitics and Neo-Nazis what they needed to stir up controversy on the subject to pull blame away from the Nazi Regime. These ideals are wrong but have led to debates over what is right and wrong on the subject and the people who tell the lies need to be proven wrong.
During the course of this semester, the several musical styles that have been discussed and analyzed have displayed various similarities and differences. These differences in certain musical elements have accounted for the distinctiveness and uniqueness of each style of music. The culture behind these countries’ music adds even more to their individualism. Cultural aspects such as religion play a huge role in the music of each country as well. Styles of music in Africa might be more upbeat than certain styles in India, for example. Some cultures use music in religion, while others may not. Aspects such as dance are important factors in all three types of music. Despite the differences and similarities, however, without music, these cultures would perhaps not be as fascinating and unique as they are now.
According to his review of A Guide to Latin American Music by Gilbert Chase, Charles Seeger describes Chase’s description of the music culture, “The quantitative distribution of more than 2700 entries, which include some multiple listing, is interesting” (Seeger, 1946, 304). Chase explains a plethora of countries in Latin America and their specific musical features. Furthermore, thanks to his detailed work, the reader can see how many common features can be seen. Firstly, a common feature among all genres is the use of aerophones. The aerophones used could include, panpipes of various varieties, flutes, trumpets (as seen at the Boogat performance in Ottawa) and many more. Another common feature among all the genres is a strong rhythmic presence. In essentially all Latin American music, a steady, metrical rhythmic quality can be heard keeping the music energetic and easy to follow. To keep the rhythm, another common feature to Latin American culture is the drum. Most commonly found in the Afro-Latin genre, as a result of influence from African culture, can be seen throughout Latin America. A popularized western form of this type of music, is that of mariachi. Finally, Latin American culture is known for its vibrancy in their music. The music is generally quite expressive of feelings, strong moral messages found in protest songs, and their colorful, elaborate
The influence that music has throughout the world is immeasurable. Music evokes many feelings, surfaces old memories, and creates new ones all while satisfying a sense of human emotion. With the ability to help identify a culture, as well as educate countries about other cultures, music also provides for a sense of knowledge. Music can be a tool for many things: relaxation, stimulation and communication. But at the same time it can also be a tool for resistance: against parents, against police against power. Within the reign of imported culture, cross cultivation and the creation of the so-called global village lies the need to expand horizons to engulf more than just what you see everyday. It is important to note that the role of music in today’s world is a key tool in the process of globalization. However, this does not necessarily provide us with any reasons that would make us believe that music has a homogenizing affect on the world.
Music in the Caribbean was first developed by the Neo Indians around 1600 the Neo Indians died taken their culture and music. Music then reemerged when the African slaves came to the Caribbean. The type of music the Africans brought was both lively and entertaining. The slaves found a rhythm in everything they did from cutting cane to taking care of the homes of the planter class. They sang to keep their spirits up, because they were taken way from family back in Africa and the harsh working and living conditions affecting them.