Spanish music has an expansive legacy and has inspired audiences all around the globe for centuries. Ranging from traditional folk tunes to modern pop hits, Spanish music offers something for every taste in this vibrant genre.
Rocio Durcal and Veronica Magdalena demonstrate how Spanish female artists can cross genres to reach global audiences, while Spanish Neofolk projects such as Tanxugu and Sandra Zamora continue to gain in popularity.
Salsa
Salsa is a vibrant genre that blends Cuban and Puerto Rican musical influences, along with jazz and rhythm and blues influences, to form an engaging style with complex rhythmic patterns and varied instrumentation that appeals to an array of listeners. Its origins can be traced back to New York-based Latin musicians in the 1960s and 70s who created an elegant brass-heavy sound for this genre.
This musical fusion led to the development of salsa music as a genre, inspiring dancers to hit the floor. Salsa music genre is also well known for its improvisational sections which help to create an exciting and lively experience for listeners and performers alike. Additionally, salsa features small metal drums called timbales played with sticks used as rhythm instruments in bands.
Merengue
Merengue, originally popular in Dominican Republic, is a highly dynamic form of dance music with a swift pace and sensual rhythm that’s enjoyed both dancing to it and listening to it in various cultural settings.
Sugar beet plantations slaves were an influential force in its early evolution; slaves would dance on these plantations floors to keep spirits high and stay entertained by dancing together. Sugar-beet swing is both playful and sensual – partners slide across the floor holding each other close while enjoying this playful yet sensual dance form.
Merengue music is traditionally played using a metal scraper called the guiro and tambora stringed instrument; sometimes marimbulas (bass lamellophones) may also be employed.
After Rafael Trujillo’s assassination in 1961, merengue underwent profound changes. Musical groups such as Johnny Ventura’s Combo Show and Wilfrido Vargas began speeding up their tempos, slimming down their brass sections, and adding salsa influences into its genre.
Tango
Tango is a music and dance genre known for being emotionally-charged and romantic, which has had an immense influence on other musical forms like classical and jazz music. Astor Piazzolla famously included traditional tango rhythms into his classical compositions.
This musical genre emerged in working-class neighborhoods of Buenos Aires in Argentina during the late 19th century as a fusion of European, African and indigenous musical traditions.
Tango music was traditionally performed by bands called orquestas tipicas, usually consisting of more than two dozen musicians. Tango can be distinguished from other dance forms by its rhythmic beat, use of pauses (glissandi), nostalgic lyrics, and improvisational techniques. Most tangos follow an ABAB structure with C sections typically being instrumental and following different rhythms than A and B sections.
Ye-ye
While ye-ye incorporated some of the more aggressive sounds associated with rock and roll (such as The Sonics song mentioned above), many ye-ye artists were subtler and feminine in their approach. French singers France Gall, Francoise Hardy and Sylvie Vartan became pop icons due to their carefree styles and youthful innocence which delighted audiences worldwide.
Ye-ye music has long been one of the best summertime soundtracks. A mix of Kodak-filtered nostalgia with playful tongue-in-cheek humor, its timeless songs remain just as relevant now as they were then.
Spanish ye-ye artist Marisol may not be as visually arresting as her French counterparts, yet still holds equal appeal. Her sultry track “Corazon Contento” encapsulates love and longing in Spanish countryside setting – fans of Mad Men might recall Megan Draper giving a coquettish performance of this classic tune!
Corrido
Corridos are narrative songs which typically tell a romantic or folkloric story with moral lessons embedded within. In the past, some were very long (20-30 stanzas), and required multiple audio recordings on separate records in order to fit on two sides.
Today’s corridos often reflect contemporary social issues like drug trafficking and immigration. Additionally, corridos can document historic events like the Mexican Revolution as well as pay homage to vaqueros and panchos who push political boundaries by telling their tales of courage.
Musically, corridos employ a folksong style in contrast with their classical roots, with tempos varying between slow and fast and the voice frequently using glissandos for each stanza’s various stresses. A good resource for studying corridos is Wald’s Narcocorrido: A Journey into the Music of Drugs, Guns, and Guerrillas.