Latin American music and Dance

• The word Latin American as utilized right here encompasses the Americas south of the United States, as well as the entire Caribbean.
• The musics for this vast area tend to be maybe most effortlessly discussed in terms of cultural components-European (especially Iberian), Amerindian, African, and mestizo ("mixed" or acculturated).

Amerindian Background

• During the colonial duration in Latin The united states (16th-19th century) numerous Amerindian populations had been decimated, and far traditional Amerindian music culture ended up being damaged or syncretized with Iberian.
• Small evidence remains regarding the real nature of songs within the Aztec, Inca, and
• Maya civilizations besides the testimony of 16th-century Spanish chroniclers and what can be observed of instruments-percussion and winds, with virtually complete absence of strings-depicted in hieroglyphs and pottery designs. Modern Andean Indians nonetheless make substantial use of vertical flutes and panpipes, alongside European tools like bass drums, harps, and guitars various sizes.
• In Mesoamerica Indians now play harps, fiddles, and guitars based upon archaic Spanish models, or MARIMBAS of African source, all of these have actually mostly changed native tools. Just in certain exotic areas (whilst the Amazon basin) are practically unacculturated Amerindian musics found.

Iberian Impacts

• fairly few Iberian genres have now been retained in their initial kinds,
• Iberian beginnings of numerous song-and-dance types tend to be obvious in use of harps, fiddles, guitars, and several song types produced from Spanish verse structures such as the copla and decima.
• Such styles include the desafio of Brazil, cueca of Chile and Bolivia, joropo of Venezuela, sones and corrido of Mexico, seis of Puerto Rico, and punto of Cuba.
• They are usually danced in partners and often include such features as shoe tapping and scarf waving.
• Aside from the preceding dances of Iberian derivation, pan-European ballroom dances including the polka, mazurka, and waltz developed numerous regional variations.