Vallenato () or "Szlager" in Wayuu language (from the German "Schlager"), is a popular

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

genre from Colombia. It primarily comes from its

Caribbean region The Caribbean region of Colombia or Caribbean coast region is in the north of Colombia and is mainly composed of 8 departments located contiguous to the Caribbean.Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (St. Martha Snow Mountain Range)'' and the '' Serranía de Perijá (Periha Mountain Range)'' in north-east Colombia. The name also applies to the people from the city where this genre originated:

Valledupar Valledupar () is a city and municipality in northeastern Colombia. It is the capital of Caesar Department. Its name, ''Valle de Upar'' (Valley of Upar), was established in honor of the Amerindian cacique who ruled the valley; ''Cacique Upar''. T ...

(from the place named ''Valle de Upar'' – "''Valley of Upar"''). In 2006, vallenato and cumbia were added as a category in the

Latin Grammy Awards The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been ...

. Colombia’s traditional vallenato music is Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, according to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Origins

This form of music originated from farmers who, keeping a tradition of Spanish

minstrel A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. It originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist entertainer ...

s (''juglares'' in Spanish), used to travel through the region with their cattle in search of pastures or to sell them in cattle fairs. Because they traveled from town to town and the region lacked rapid communications, these farmers served as bearers of news for families living in other towns or villages. Their only form of entertainment during these trips was singing and playing guitars or indigenous gaita flutes, known as

kuisi A kuisi (or kuizi) is a Native Colombian fipple (or duct) flute made from a hollowed cactus stem, with a beeswax and charcoal powder mixture for the head, with a thin quill made from the feather of a large bird for the mouthpiece. Seagull, turk ...

s in the Kogi language, and their form of transmitting their news was by singing their messages. The first form of vallenato was played with gaita flutes, guacharaca, and caja, and later adopted other instruments like

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

s. These

troubadors A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairit ...

were later influenced by Europe's instruments:

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

and accordion. Impressed by the sound of the accordion,

probably later obtained accordions from Aruba and Curaçao. Vallenato was considered music of the lower class and farmers, but gradually started penetrating through every social group during the mid-20th century. Don Clemente Quintero – a prominent member from the region's elite – was a lover of this music, usually accompanied by liquor, was a form of entertainment for this almost isolated region. He then decided to start a ''parranda'' (party) inside the very strict Valledupar Social Club with friends. This triggered an acceptance for the music and it became a regular feature at parties, carnivals and reunions, not for dancing, but for listening to these juglares stories .

Alfonso López Michelsen Alfonso López Michelsen (30 June 1913 – 11 July 2007) was a Colombian politician and lawyer who served as the 24th President of Colombia from 1974 to 1978. He was nicknamed "El Pollo" (The Chicken), a popular Colombian idiom for people with ...

, a prominent Colombian politician, showed interest in the region as his ancestors and wife were born there. While a Senator, he pushed for the creation of the Department of Caesar and became, in 1966, its first governor. Once in office and together with writer and reporter Consuelo Araújo Noguera and vallenato composer Rafael Escalona, they created the Vallenato Legend Festival.

Instruments

Its three traditional instruments are: * the ''

caja vallenata The caja, a drum similar to a tambora, is one of the three main or traditional instruments of the Vallenato music. Caja, the slang word adopted to nickname this drum, means "box" in Spanish. There is also a Caribbean drum called ''caja'', us ...

'': a small drum held between the knees and played with bare hands. It was used by the African slaves brought by the Europeans. Similar to a tambora drum. * the '' guacharaca'': a wooden, ribbed stick similar to a sugar cane, accompanied by a fork that when rubbed together emits a scraping sound. It's about 18 inches (45 centimeters) long and 1 inch (3 centimeters) in diameter. It was used by the aborigines to imitate the song of the '' guacharaca'' or (one of the species of

chachalaca Chachalacas are galliform birds from the genus ''Ortalis''. These birds are found in wooded habitats in the far southern United States (Texas), Mexico, and Central and South America. They are social, can be very noisy and often remain fairly c ...

), a bird from the region, to hunt and perform dancing rites. * the '' accordion'': three-line button, German-origin accordion. It has three reeds per note and comes in different keys: ADG, GCF, and BbEbAb ("5 Letras"). Accordions in Colombia and Panama sometimes have custom made keys especially made for vallenato and cumbia.

The four rhythms

Vallenato consists of four beats or "airs" that are differentiated through their rhythmic structure and the melody chord structure the accordionist gives it. These are son, paseo, merengue, and puya. The son and the paseo have a time and the merengue and the puya a time. * ''Son'' is played with heavy accentuation and cadence stressed on the low notes of the accordion on its left-hand side. It is normally mournful and slow. * ''Paseo'' is thought to be an offshoot of the ''son''. Its speed can vary and today is the most widely recorded air. * ''Puya's'' main difference from the ''merengue'' is the length of its lyrics. In the last 40 years, accordion players have begun to play it faster, and each of the three instruments used in ''vallenato'' has a solo. It is considered the oldest of the four "airs", with roots in an ancient Indian dance of the ''Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta''. * ''Merengue'' is often confused with a Dominican genre with the same name, probably brought by related African tribal groups. It has a more narrative style and was often used to play ''

décima A décima is a ten-line stanza of poetry. The most popular form is called décima espinela after Vicente Espinel (1550–1624), a Spanish writer, poet, and musician from the Siglo de Oro who used it extensively throughout his compositions. The d� ...

s'', a 10-line format with internal rhymes brought by the Spanish in the 16th century.

Piqueria

The piqueria vallenata is a type of typical musical showdown Colombian Caribbean folklore and Vallenato. As in the contrapunteo Joropo burrowing, or trova paisa within the music, litigants demonstrate their

improvisational Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

skills in building verses that challenge their opponent. This type of musical confrontation arose as a result of chance encounters between vallenatos minstrels who roamed the northern part of Colombia brightening binges and to demonstrate their talent on the accordion and the art of improvisation faced with songs and rhymes. One of the most important meetings of the Piqueria was between Emiliano Zuleta and Lorenzo Morales, both vallenato accordionists. From this meeting came the popular song "La Gota Fría" ("The Cold Drop" in English), played in its most popular version by Colombian singer Carlos Vives.

Vallenato festivals

Many vallenato festivals are held annually in Colombia, such as: *The Vallenato Legend Festival: Every year by the end of April, in the city of Valledupar, the ''Festival de la Leyenda Vallenata'' ( Vallenato Legend Festival) is celebrated. During the festival a contest takes place in which the best ''vallenato'' interpreters fight for the title of ''Rey Vallenato'' (Vallenato accordion King), "verseadores", new song composers, "guacharaqueros" and "cajeros" are also awarded within three categories; professional, aficionado and infant. The festival also includes record industry's orchestras shows. *Accordions' Cradle Festival: (Festival cuna de accordeones) This festival is celebrated every year since 1979, in Valledupar's neighboring town of Villanueva ("Newville"), in

La Guajira La Guajira () is a department of Colombia. It occupies most of the Guajira Peninsula in the northeast region of the country, on the Caribbean Sea and bordering Venezuela, at the northernmost tip of South America. The capital city of the departm ...

. The Festival is similar to the Vallenato Legend Festival format, but also includes a category for the elderly accordion players over sixty years old. *Other Vallenato festivals **The Vallenato Festival in Bogotá, Colombia

Vallenato composers, singers and juglares

Thanks to the Vallenato Legend Festival, this musical genre became known through the region including regions of Venezuela, and when a popular

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include '' teleserye'' ...

, "Escalona", based on the life of Vallenato composer, Rafael Escalona was aired on national television (with vallenato superstar Carlos Vives as Escalona), vallenato became widely known in Colombia and internationally. Some renowned traditional vallenato performers are Guillermo Buitrago,

Alejo Duran Alejandro de Vivar (1635–1660), better known as Mestizo Alejo, was a Chilean mestizo, who fought in the Arauco War. He was the son of the Mapuche cacique Curivilú and the Spanish Isabel de Vivar y Castro who was captured during a Mapuche raid ...

, Enrique Díaz,

Emiliano Zuleta Emiliano Zuleta Baquero was a Colombian vallenato composer, accordion player and singer, popularly known as ''El viejo Mile'' (The Old Mile). Zuleta was born on January 11, 1912, in La Jagua del Pilar, a small town of la Guajira; He died on Octobe ...

, Luis Enrique Martínez, Abel Antonio Villa and Lorenzo Morales. Other important characters such as Tobías Enrique Pumarejo and Rafael Escalona never played any instrument, but were important writers of very well known songs across Latin America. Other well-known Colombian musicians who sing vallenatos are Rafael Orozco Maestre, Miguel Morales,

Diomedes Díaz Diomedes Díaz Maestre (26 May 1957 – 22 December 2013) was a Colombian vallenato singer, songwriter, and composer. His nickname, ''"El Cacique de la Junta"'' ("The Chieftain of La Junta"), was given to him by another vallenato singer, Rafael ...

, Jorge Oñate, Ivan Villazon, Nicolas "Colacho" Mendoza (accordion player and composer), Juan Humberto "Juancho" Rois (accordion player and composer), Omar Geles (accordion player and composer), Israel Romero, Peter Manjarrés,

Silvestre Dangond Silvestre Francisco Dangond Corrales (born May 12, 1980 in Urumita) is a Colombian singer. He attributes his talents to his father, the singer William José "El Palomo" Dangond Baquero, who during the mid-1970s recorded 10 singles with André ...

, Los Gigantes Del Vallenato, Galy Galiano, and

Lisandro Meza Lisandro Meza (El Piñal, Los Palmitos, Sucre, 26 September 1939) is a Colombian singer and accordionist. Since he started playing the accordion in 1959, Lisandro has been described as the “King of Cumbia,” “El Macho de America” (ENG: The ...

among others. The current ambassador of the genre is Carlos Vives, who has progressively helped ''vallenato'' gain popularity worldwide by combining traditional vallenato music with pop/rock music, subgenre that has come to be known as "vallenato-pop".

Vallenato musical orchestras and groups

The traditional vallenato developed into a more orchestra type of musical group. Throughout the years, some groups started adding instruments and a group chorus to support the main singer, popularly and sarcastically known as "ay omberos". With these changes. Some of the instruments added or used by some orchestras were: the

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, the congas drums, a

Timbal The timbau or Brazilian timbal is a membranophone instrument derived from the caxambu drum, usually played with both hands. Slightly conical and of varying sizes, it is usually light in weight and made of lacquered wood or metal (usually alumin ...

set,

drum kit A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

, shakers, guache, electric piano, Spanish guitars,

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

cowbell A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. Although they are t ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

Saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

piano accordion A piano accordion is an accordion equipped with a right-hand keyboard similar to a piano or organ. Its acoustic mechanism is more that of an organ than a piano, as they are both aerophones, but the term "piano accordion"—coined by Guido Deiro ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

s, among others. These groups also started fusioning local genres to the vallenato, usually with

cumbia Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans during colonial times, and Europeans. Examples include: ...

, porro sabanero, gaitas (group of gaita flute interpreters), merecumbe and

joropo The joropo is a musical style resembling the fandango, and an accompanying dance. It originated in Venezuela and is also present in the eastern Colombian plains. It has African, Native South American, and European influences. There are diffe ...

. Some groups seeking a wider audience started mixing vallenato with other international genres, like

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: ...

, merengue,

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, classical music,

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ), also known as reggaetón and reguetón (), is a music style that originated in Panama during the late 1980s. It was later popularized in Puerto Rico. It has evolved from dancehall and has been influenced by American hip hop, ...

ranchera Ranchera () or canción ranchera is a genre of traditional music of Mexico. It dates to before the years of the Mexican Revolution. Rancheras today are played in virtually all regional Mexican music styles. Drawing on rural traditional folk musi ...

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

and house music. Some of these mixes did not become very popular because of their experimental sounds.

La Nueva Ola (The New Wave)

La Nueva Ola refers to the new generation of vallenato groups and orchestras that have created a distinctive sound for themselves while keeping some of the essences of their predecessors. Kaleth Morales is considered the leading artist of this young wave of vallenato musical groups, even after his death following a car accident on August 24, 2005. The leader is now Silvestre Dangond, who won five awards in Premios Nuestra Tierra in 2009. Clintonandvallenatokids

References

External links

* *
Vallenato Legend Festival website
* The ''Dictionary'' of the Royal Spanish Academy has a definition for ''

Vallenato Vallenato () or "Szlager" in Wayuu language (from the German "Schlager"), is a popular folk music genre from Colombia. It primarily comes from its Caribbean region. ''Vallenato'' literally means "born in the valley". The valley influencing t ...

'' {{Folk music Colombian styles of music Culture of Cesar Department Culture of Valledupar Tropical music Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding