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| Glossary
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arpa llanera |
Plains harp. A folk harp with between 30 and 37 strings, used in the
plains region of southwestern Venezuela and southeastern Colombia. |
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| bambuco |
A form of song and dance in 6/8 and 3/4 meter from the Colombian Andes.
Often considered the national music of Colombia. |
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caja |
A small drum, held between the legs and played with the hands. Used
in Colombian vallenato music. |
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| cajón |
A wooden
box, with a sound hole in the back, played as a drum. Used in Afro-Peruvian
music. |
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| cuatro |
A small
four-stringed instrument, similar to a ukelele. Along with the arpa llanera,
it is considered to be the national instrument of Venezuela. The Puerto
Rican cuatro is a larger and differently shaped instrument with ten strings
in five pairs. |
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| cumbia |
A form
of music and dance in 4/4 meter from the Atlantic coast of Colombia. Has
become popular throughout Colombia and in other Latin American countries. |
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gaita |
A form of music and dance from the Lake Maracaibo region near Venezuela’s
Caribbean coast. Is associated with the Christmas season and has become
popular throughout Venezuela. |
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| guacharaca |
A notched wooden stick that is scraped as a percussion instrument in
Colombian vallenato music. |
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| joropo |
A form of music
and dance in 3/4 and 6/8 meter from the plains of Venezuela and Colombia.
Considered to be the national music and dance of Venezuela. |
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| música llanera |
Plains music. The various types of music from the Orinoco River basin
plains of southwestern Venezuela and southeastern Colombia. Traditionally
played with an arpa, cuatro, and capachos (small
maracas). |
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| papayera |
A brass band with additional percussion instruments, characteristic
of the towns of Colombia’s Atlantic coastal region. Plays various
types of dance music. |
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| porro |
A dance music in 4/4 meter from Colombia’s Atlantic coastal region.
Popular throughout Colombia. |
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| requinto |
A 12-stringed small guitar that
plucks the melodic line in a guitar ensemble. |
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| tiple |
A small
instrument of the guitar family, similar to a ukulele, with 12 strings
in 4 sets. Associated with the Andean region of Colombia. |
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| vallenato |
A form of dance music in 8/8 meter from Colombia’s Atlantic coastal
region, traditionally played on a Hohner accordion, caja, and guacharaca.
Has become popular throughout Colombia and internationally. |
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| vals criollo | Creole waltz. A type of music and dance in 3/4 meter from coastal Peru. Is known outside Peru as vals peruano (Peruvian waltz). |
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For more information on South American musical traditions, see: Olsen, Dale A. and Daniel E. Sheehy, eds. South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, vol. 2. New York: Garland Publishing, 1998. Sadie, Stanley and John Tyrrell, eds. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 2nd edition. New York: Grove’s Dictionaries, 2001. Sadie, Stanley, ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. New York: Grove’s Dictionaries of Music, 1984. |
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