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Güiro
The güiro () is a percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stick or tines (see photo) along the notches to produce a ratchet sound. The güiro is commonly used in Cuban, Puerto Rican, and other forms of Latin American music, and plays a key role in the typical rhythm section of important genres like son, trova and salsa. Playing the güiro usually requires both long and short sounds, made by scraping up and down in long or short strokes. The güiro, like the maracas, is often played by a singer. It is closely related to the Cuban guayo, Dominican güira, and Haitian graj which are made of metal. Other instruments similar to the güiro are the Colombian guacharaca, the Brazilian reco-reco, the Cabo Verdean ferrinho, the quijada (cow jawbone) and the frottoir (French) or fwotwa (French Creole) ( washboard). Etymology In the Arawakan language, a language of the indigenous people of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Güira
The güira () is a percussion instrument from the Dominican Republic used in merengue, bachata, and to a lesser extent, other genres such as cumbia. It is made of a metal sheet (commonly steel) and played with a stiff brush, thus being similar to the Haitian graj (a perforated metal cylinder scraped with a stick) and the Cuban guayo (metal scraper) and güiro (gourd scraper). Güira, guayo and güiro all have a function akin to that of the indigenous native maracas or the trap-kit's hi-hat, namely providing a complementary beat. Performers on the güira are referred to as ''güireros'' and in merengue típico ensembles they often co-lead percussion sections along with tambora-playing ''tamboreros'', due to the significance of their African-derived interlocking rhythms in providing a basic musical foundation for dance. Usage The güira is most often found in merengue típico where it serves as one of multiple percussion instruments, most usually interlocking with the rhy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salsa Music
Salsa music is a style of Latin American music, combining elements of Cuban and Puerto Rican influences. Because most of the basic musical components predate the labeling of salsa, there have been many controversies regarding its origin. Most songs considered as salsa are primarily based on son montuno and son cubano, with elements of cha-cha-chá, bolero, rumba, mambo, jazz, R&B, bomba, and plena. All of these elements are adapted to fit the basic Son montuno template when performed within the context of salsa. Originally the name salsa was used to label commercially several styles of Hispanic Caribbean music, but nowadays it is considered a musical style on its own and one of the staples of Hispanic American culture. The first self-identified salsa band is Cheo Marquetti y su Conjunto - Los Salseros which was formed in 1955. The first album to mention Salsa on its cover was titled “Salsa” which was released by La Sonora Habanera in 1957. Later on self-identified ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ferrinho
The ferrinho (in Cape Verdean Creole ferrinhu ) is a musical instrument, more precisely a scraped idiophone. It is made up by a metal bar (generally of iron) that is scraped by another metal object. The player holds the bar vertically, with its lower end in the palm of one hand and the upper end leaning against the shoulder. With the other hand, the player uses a metallic object, held horizontally, to scrape the bar with up-and-down movements. A custom-made ''ferrinho'' is usually 90 centimeters long, with a straight-angle section to ease handling. The ''ferrinho'' is used to mark the rhythm in funaná, a musical genre in Cape Verde. It is believed that the name “''ferrinho''” is an adaptation of “''ferrinhos''”, that is the name by which the triangle is known in popular music in Portugal. In spite of the name, the ferrinho is more similar to instruments like the ''güiro The güiro () is a percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danzón
Danzón is the official genre and dance of Cuba.Urfé, Odilio 1965. ''El danzón''. La Habana. It is also an active musical form in USA and Puerto Rico. Written in time, the danzón is a slow, formal partner dance, requiring set footwork around syncopated beats, and incorporating elegant pauses while the couples stand listening to virtuoso instrumental passages, as characteristically played by a charanga or típica ensemble. The danzón evolved from the Cuban contradanza, or habanera ( 'Havana-dance'). The contradanza, which had English and French roots in the country dance and contredanse, was probably introduced to Cuba by the Spanish, who ruled the island for almost four centuries (1511–1898), contributing many thousands of immigrants. It may also have been partially seeded during the short-lived British occupation of Havana in 1762. Haitian refugees fleeing the island's revolution of 1791–1804 brought the French-Haitian kontradans, contributing their own ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guayo
The guayo or ralladera is a metal scraper used as a percussion instrument in traditional styles of Cuban music such as changüí, predecessor of son cubano. Largely replaced by the güiro (gourd scraper) during the 20th century, the guayo is now rare. In the Dominican Republic, the güira, a similar metal scraper used in merengue, is sometimes called guayo. In contrast to Cuba, güiras replaced güiros in the early 20th century. In changüí The guayo survives in Cuba almost exclusively as part of changüí performances in the eastern regions of the country (formerly known as the Oriente Province). It is one of the five instruments played in the genre together with the maracas, botija or marímbula, bongo, and tres. Guayos consist of a cylindrical metal sheet with a cheese grater surface which is scraped with a metal rod or bone. Notable guayo players include Santiago Reyes "Chago Guayo", Carlos Borromeo Planche "Cambrón" and José Andrés Rodríguez Ramírez, all of which we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gourd
Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly '' Cucurbita'' and '' Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. Many gourds have large, bulbous bodies and long necks, such as Dipper Gourds, many variations of Bottle Gourd and caveman club gourds. One of the earliest domesticated types of plants, subspecies of the bottle gourd, '' Lagenaria siceraria'', have been discovered in archaeological sites dating from as early as 13,000 BC. Gourds have had numerous uses throughout history, including as tools, musical instruments, objects of art, film, and food. Terminology ''Gourd'' is occasionally used to describe crop plants in the family Cucurbitaceae, like pumpkins, cucumbers, squash, luffa, and melons. More specifically, ''gourd'' refers to the fruits of plants in the two Cucurbitaceae genera '' Lagenaria'' and '' Cucurbita'', or also to their hollow, dried-ou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seis
The seis is a type of Puerto Rican Jíbaro dance music closely associated with the décima. It originated in the latter half of the 17th century in the southern part of Spain. The seis is influenced by Spanish, African, and Taino cultures. The Arabian aspects come from Spain, where the Muslims or the Moors had ruled for over 700 years. Like other Jíbaro music, the seis is associated with Christmas, folkloric festivals, concursos de trovadores (poetry-singing contests), and other large celebrations. The word means '' six'', which may have come from the custom of having six couples perform the dance, though many more couples eventually became quite common. Men and women form separate lines down the hall or in an open place of beaten earth, one group facing the other. The lines would approach and cross each other and at prescribed intervals the dancers would tap out the rhythm with their feet. Instruments The seis was made for a solo voice and accompanying instruments. The melodie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reco-reco
The reco-reco (also called the raspador, caracaxá or querequexé) is a scraper of African origin used as a percussion instrument in Brazilian music,ROCCA, Edgar Nunes "Bituca", ''Escola Brasileira de Música: Uma visão Brasileira no ensino da música e seus instrumentos de percussão 1''. Rio de Janeiro: Europa, EBM, 1986 but also in many Latin American countries, where it is known as güiro, güira, guayo and guacharaca. Traditionally, the reco-reco was made from a sawtooth notched cylindrical body made of bamboo or wood, and played with a wooden stick. The instrument is used in many styles of Brazilian music, such as samba and related genres. For some time, reco-recos have been made of a metallic cylinder with spring (device), springs attached and played with a metal stick, which results in a much louder sound. In some models, the sound box has a hole on the bottom part, which can be covered with the hand to achieve different timbral possibilities. Nowadays, reco-recos have al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jíbaro (Puerto Rico)
Jíbaro () is a word used in Puerto Rico to refer to the countryside people who farm the land in a traditional way. The jíbaro is a self-subsistence farmer, and an iconic reflection of the Puerto Rican people. Traditional jíbaros were also farmer-salesmen who would grow enough crops to sell in the towns near their farms to purchase the bare necessities for their families, such as clothing. In contemporary times, both white-collar and blue-collar Puerto Ricans are identifying themselves as jíbaros in a proud connection with their Puerto Rican history and culture in general. Historical context As early as 1820, Miguel Cabrera identified many of the jíbaros' ideas and characteristics in his set of poems known as '' The Jibaro's Verses''. Then, some 80 years later, in his 1898 book ''Cuba and Porto Rico'', Robert Thomas Hill listed jíbaros as one of four socio-economic classes he perceived existed in Puerto Rico at the time: "The native people, as a whole, may be divided ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jarana Yucateca
The Jarana of Yucatán, Mexico The jarana is the typical dance and musical form of the Yucatán Peninsula. There are two possible meters: "seis por ocho" (in musical counts of 6/8) and "tres por cuatro" (in musical counts of 3/4). The jarana dance is done in pairs; the footwork is the same for women and men. The music of the jarana is performed by a wind band ensemble. The Jarana Dance is Performed in Mérida, Valladolid and Elsewhere Throughout the State of Yucatán Jarana performers can be seen performing in Parque Francisco Cantón Rosado in Valladolid, Yucatán, Mexico quite often. Jarana is the name of the dance originally performed duringLa vaqueria celebration but is seen performed throughout the year in various central parks or zócalos throughout the Yucatán including Mérida, Yucatán's capital. A Fusion of Spanish and Maya Culture and Music The vaquería occurred when the Spanish conquistador cattle farmers called upon the local Maya to count and brand the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arawakan Languages
Arawakan (''Arahuacan, Maipuran Arawakan, "mainstream" Arawakan, Arawakan proper''), also known as Maipurean (also ''Maipuran, Maipureano, Maipúre''), is a language family that developed among ancient Indigenous peoples in South America. Branches migrated to Central America and the Greater Antilles and Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean and the Atlantic, including what is now the Bahamas. Almost all present-day South American countries are known to have been home to speakers of Arawakan languages, the exceptions being Ecuador, Uruguay, and Chile. Maipurean may be related to other language families in a hypothetical Macro-Arawakan stock. Name The name ''Maipure'' was given to the family by Filippo S. Gilii in 1782, after the Maipure language of Venezuela, which he used as a basis of his comparisons. It was renamed after the culturally more important Arawak language a century later. The term ''Arawak'' took over, until its use was extended by North American scholars to the broad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
