From flamenco’s soulful depths to reggaeton’s global influence, Spain’s musical landscape is diverse and reflective of its rich history and culture. Explore how Spanish music has impacted popular music around the globe by exploring all of its genres that make up Spanish music.
Galician traditional music, commonly referred to as muneira, ranges from uptempo dances to stately marches and is typically accompanied by gaita (bagpipe), tamboril and pandereta.
Corridos
Corridos are narrative ballads that tell tales of heroes, events and daily struggles through music and lyrics. Corridos frequently invoke bravery, love and betrayal while using language and imagery to engage audiences.
These poems, typically comprised of several dozen stanzas using both meter and rhyme, often address historical events, social bandits and legendary figures from history and legend alike. Some even include references to miracles such as St. Toribio Romo Gonzalez – often known as the “narco saint” due to his assistance to drug traffickers entering America through various borders.
Vicente Fernandez and Los Tigres del Norte are well-known performers of corridos music. Natanael Cano has become an expert in this genre thanks to his 2019 tune combining corridos with trap music.
Danzonete
Spain boasts a vibrant jazz scene, with cities hosting premier jazz bars and annual festivals that showcase this vibrant style that draws upon African and Latin American rhythms for inspiration.
Corridos are traditional narrative ballads that tell tales of past events, heroes, and everyday struggles in history or current life. Contemporary corridos (known as narcocorridos ) often focus on themes related to drug trafficking or outlaws.
Flamenco originated in Andalusia’s southern region and is characterized by guitar-accompanied deep cante jondo and alegras and bulerias accompanied by rhythm. Internationally-acclaimed artists include Paco de Lucia.
Vallenato is an eclectic Colombian genre, drawing influence from African, Indigenous, and Spanish music traditions. Artists such as Gregorio Uribe have helped popularize it worldwide.
Merengue
Merengue is an energetic dance and music style associated with Dominican Republic that has gained worldwide popularity due to the large Dominican diaspora in the US.
In the early 1950s, Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo championed merengue as an national symbol and supported new innovations within its genre; one example being adding a bass drum played with a foot pedal.
Tipic bands typically consist of an accordion, diatonic accordion, saxophone, box bass and two drums (one single-headed and one double-ended). More urban styles known as merengue de orquesta may incorporate additional instruments – typically full saxophone sections.
Musica Llaneera
Known by its Spanish name musica llanera, joropo (or musica llanera) is the folk music of Venezuela and Colombia’s plains region, drawing influences from Africa, Europe and native South American cultures as it portrays rural life. Instruments used in playing this form of music include harps, cuatros and maracas.
Joropo became popular during its commercial heyday of the 1940s to 1970s, catapulting its musicians into public life and altering its musical vocabulary, performance practices, and instrumentation into one single accordion-driven sound.
Danzonete originated in Cuba during the 1920s as an interpretive vocal variation of danzon, adding drama and passion to its instrumental components. Artists such as Monica Naranjo found fame through this genre.
Pop
Spanish pop music has achieved worldwide popularity thanks to its catchy melodies and traditional Spanish elements. Artists such as Julio Iglesias have sold millions of albums worldwide and topped charts worldwide.
Flamenco is a multifaceted musical art form with intricate rhythms and expressive dance, drawing upon influences from Romani, Moorish and Jewish traditions.
Corridos are folk ballads that tell a narrative story through narrative verse, often chronicling historical events or heroes from history as well as everyday struggles in modern life. Narcocorridos specialize in covering topics like drug trafficking and border crossing.
Reggaeton
Reggaeton is one of the primary contemporary genres within Latin American music. A hybrid between rap and reggae styles, this genre captures urban Latin culture beautifully through slang words and colloquialisms used within this form. Artists such as Bad Bunny and Karol G are immensely popular within this field.
Puerto Rican music covers topics related to partying, relationships and street life; often reflecting the daily struggles faced by Puerto Rican youth influenced by Jamaican reggae, hip-hop and dancehall music.
Most people are familiar with Despacito by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee. This song quickly rose to become “la cancion del verano,” increasing reggaeton popularity worldwide.