Spain boasts a diverse musical landscape. From passionate flamenco guitar strums to ancient Basque Country circle dance sardana dances, traditional folk music remains vibrant.
Reggaeton music originates in the Dominican Republic and features a distinct beat with lyrics revolving around love and life themes. Artists like J Balvin and Rosalia have successfully integrated this genre into their repertoires.
Tango
Tango is a dance and music genre that first gained widespread acceptance at the turn of the 20th century in Buenos Aires’ working-class immigrant neighborhoods. Distinguished by its pulsating rhythms and melancholic themes, famous tango artists include Carlos Gardel and Astor Piazzolla who revolutionized this style with their innovative sounds.
Tango stands out as an expressive dance form due to its close embrace between partners, creating an intimate embrace between them while conveying emotions through body movements. Tango’s sensuality and nostalgia have long been part of Argentine culture and have since made it one of the world’s favorite dance styles – inspiring genres like jazz and alternative rock as well as films by Mani Ratnam such as Kaatru Veliyidai!
Norteno
Norteno music evolved out of musica Tejana, or Mexican Texan music. It developed around corrido ballads which feature epic stories like Pancho Villa or Emiliano Zapata; these corrido ballads also serve as oral history documents in border-area communities that were mostly illiterate prior to 1950.
Norteno musicians such as Los Tigres del Norte and accordionist Flaco Jimenez popularized norteno by flirting with pop accessibility and using electric instruments; but by the early 1980s its formal development had virtually stopped.
Today’s traditional Norteno ensemble typically incorporates a snare drum and bass instrument alongside accordion and bajo sexto pair. Most often string bass (tololoche), modern groups may even opt for electric bass guitar.
Merengue
Merengue music originated in the Dominican Republic. Its name derives from a native term that translates to silver or dew. This genre blends European musical styles like contradanza and waltz with African rhythms brought over by slaves enslaved to work the fields.
In New York during the 1950s, merengue dancing became increasingly popular. One of its earliest pioneers was Johnny Ventura who first introduced it with music and flashy costumes; later Wilfrido Vargas would open up its popularity to wider audiences.
Merengue de orquesta (or orchestral merengue) features an urban sound orchestrated with saxophones and trombones, box bass and guyano drums, plus guira and tambora instruments. While this form has become the hallmark of merengue music in Latin America, artists also created more intimate formats that reflect North American influences.
Salsa
Salsa dance was initially created in New York during the 1940s by Latin musicians seeking to bring Cuban son music into American popular culture, yet has also come to incorporate elements from Puerto Rican bomba, plena and jibaro music as well as Dominican merengue music.
Bachata, another slow-paced yet romantic genre from Dominican Republic, has gained international popularity over time. Characterized by percussive beats and emotional lyrics, bachata is becoming increasingly popular across all borders.
Peruan musical styles include cumbia, chachumba, halleo and merengue; native Peruvian cultures are represented through Aymara and Quechuan folk music, which is becoming more widely appreciated among Western audiences. Other national genres include tango, ranchera and corridos ballads which tell narrative poems that describe sociopolitical tensions or historical events; while Bolivian music heavily features traditional Aymara and Quechuan folk songs along with popular styles such as huaynos and caporales styles.
Los Llanos
The Llanos region shared by Venezuela is an expansive plain region encompassing grasslands and rivers. Llaneros (cowboys) from this area are famous for their skill in horseback riding and cattle herding as well as playing distinctive folk music called joropo.
Llaneros are well known for their resilience and independence, living close to nature from birth until death. Explore this region on horseback to discover unique flora and fauna or take an incredible boat tour down magnificent rivers.
Los Llanos’ music is defined by the rhythms of cuatro guitar and harp, while church services frequently feature choral pieces called Hesparo that don’t conform to Europe’s Gregorian Chant standard. Furthermore, Tropipop (Contemporary Colombian Pop with Traditional Elements) has recently gained in popularity amongst residents.