Guabina is a rhythm from the

Andean mountains The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S l ...

in Colombia. The word ''"Guabina"'' refers to the musical style, as well as a type of fish or a tool used to control domestic animals. The features of this music are based on dances and lifestyles of the people from Antioquia,

Santander Santander may refer to: Places * Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain * Santander Department, a department of Colombia * Santander State, former state of Colombia * Santander de Quilichao, a m ...

, Boyacá, Cundinamarca, Tolima, and, Huila. The Guabina rhythm includes dancers, but it may be played without them. There is a version of the Guabina that is played faster and is called Torbellino.Another type of Guabina, known as ''guabina-torbellino'', is a mixture of the instrumental torbellino and the sung guabina, particularly in its ''

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

'' format. Guabina is most popular in rural communities. Interludes in Guabina songs are often absolutely vocal without any accompaniment. It's a lyrical lament, ''coplas'' performed repetitively by ''labores'' (laborers) and travelers. And as a rhythm section includes

string instrument String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the ...

s such as

requinto The term requinto is used in both Spanish and Portuguese to mean a smaller, higher-pitched version of another instrument. Thus, there are ''requinto'' guitars, drums, and several wind instruments. Wind instruments ''Requinto'' was 19th-century Sp ...

tiple A tiple (, literally treble or soprano), is a plucked typically 12-string chordophone of the guitar family. A tiple player is called a ''tiplista''. The first mention of the tiple comes from musicologist Pablo Minguet e Irol in 1752. Although ma ...

, and guitar and sometimes

bandola The bandola is one of many varieties of small pear-shape chordophones found in Venezuela and Colombia. They are related to the bandurria and mandolin. Traditional varieties Instruments known as ''bandola'' include: *Bandola llanera: tradit ...

s. Some regions incorporate cane flute and

hand percussion Hand percussion is a percussion instrument that is held in the hand. They can be made from wood, metal or plastic, bottles stops and are usually shaken, scraped, or tapped with fingers or a stick. It includes all instruments that are not drums o ...

instruments such as: chucho, carraca, quiribillo, carraca de burro, and puerca. Some of the most traditional Guabina songs are: "Guabina chiquinquireña” by Alberto Urdaneta, "Mi Guabinita" by Octavio Quiñones, "Sogamoseñita" and "Paisaje boyacense" by Juan C. Goyeneche, "Lagunita de mi pueblo" by Juan Francisco Aguilera. This rhythm has its own music festival called the ''Festival Nacional de la Guabina y el Tiple'', celebrated in August in the city of Velez,

department.

Most famous Guabina songs

In this genre the most important national composition is "Guabina Chiquinquirena" by Alberto Urdaneta and Daniel Bayona.{{Cite web, url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAOcCPf8cPM, title=Guabina Chiquinquireña, last=Urdaneta, first=Alberto in its traditional version performed by a traditional band like, Guabina @Zikha Hall Open House. There are other samples of music from Tolima Grande as "Guabina Huilense" by Carlos E. Cortes, or "La Suite Colombiana No. 1 – III Guabina" by Gentil Montana, and the Guabina Santandereana (#2) by Lelio Olarte Pardo. Among the new singer-songwriters of Guabina is John Jairo Torres de la Pava from Antioquia.

History

History references Guabina from the end of the 18th century, becoming more popular among potters and singers from Santander during Christmas holidays, and farmers’ parties. This music was rejected by the Church due to the close physical contact of the dancers. From the second half of the 19th century, romanticism was an essential part in Guabina compositions. That is when Guabina lyrics started to become romantic and amorous like Alberto Urdaneta's composition "Guabina Chiquinquirena". Various composers from Boyaca had been using Guabina as background music for songs about the land, for example Octavio Quinones with "Mi Guabinita", Juan C. Goyeneche with "Sogamosenita" and "Paisaje Boyacense", and Juan Francisco Aguilera with "Lagunita de mi pueblo". It's important to mention the great musician and composer Maestro Lelio Olarte Pardo from Puente Nacional, composer of "Guabina Santandereana No. 1 and 2". No. 2 is more popular since it has formed part of the repertoire of many Colombian music albums and has been performed by The Colombian Symphony Orchestra, and by some bands which have won contests in Paipa, Boyaca.

Instruments

The basic instruments to perform Guabina are tiple, carraca, capador, pandereta, requinto, esterilla, bandola and chucho or alfandoque.

References

Colombian styles of music