RSSColombia has a strong musical tradition, deeply embedded in the culture of its people. The music of Colombia can be divided into four musical zones; 1: The Atlantic coast, 2: the Pacific coast, 3: the Andean region and 4: Los Llanos.
 |
The Caribbean (Atlantic) music throbs with hot rhythms, such as the cumbia, porros and mapalé. The music from the Pacific coast, such as the currulao, with a strong use of drums, has a touch of the Spanish influence. The Colombian Andean music is strongly influenced by Spanish rhythms and instruments, and differs visibly from the Indian music of Peru or Bolivia. Among the typical forms are the bambuco, pasillo guabina and torbellino, played with string instruments like tiple guitarra, and also with piano. |
The music of Los Llanos, "música llanera", is usually accompanied by a harp, cuatro (a sort of four-string guitar) and maracas. It has much in common with the music of the Venezuelan Llanos.
Other than these traditional forms, two newer musical styles have conquered large parts of the country. These are "la salsa" which has spread throughout the Pacific coast, and the "vallenato", which emanated from La Guajira and Cesar (northern part of the Caribbean coast). The latter is based on the European accordion.
The Modern Colombian music is a mixture of African, native and European (especially Spanish) influences, as well as more modern American and Caribbean musical forms, such as Trinidadian, Cuban, and Jamaican. Cumbia is said to be the national music of Colombia.
Cumbia is a mixture of Spanish and African music, and was brought by the slaves. During the 19th century, slavery was abolished and Africans, Indians and other ethnic groups mixed more fully. Styles like bambuco, vallenato and porro was especially influential. When the waltz became popular in the 19th century, a Colombian version called pasillo was invented.
