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37-432: 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. The güira is most often found in merengue típico where it serves as one of multiple percussion instruments, most usually interlocking with

74-409: A faster rhythm for merengue performers also occurred, sparking a debate amongst Dominicans on whether the changes occurring should be considered merengue or another genre. Many feared too much international influence would change the style for the worse, losing the roots that made merengue popular to begin with. In the 1990s a new generation of musicians added a bass drum , played with a foot pedal by

111-409: A hollowed-out gourd, thus producing a more wooden tone, the metal construction of the güira gives it a characteristic metallic timbre.232 The güira as part of the merengue típico is emblematic of Dominican heritage. It is estimated to be the most widespread instrument in the country. When Rafael Trujillo came to power in 1930 he made the music the national emblem. The Dominican güira has also become

148-443: A torpedo is fully enclosed with tapered ends and is supplied with mineral or glass beads or metal shot inside to double as a shaker. Given its unwieldy shape and the additional weight of tapered ends and shaker fill, using a güira as a shaker may be impractical. Regardless of how it is used, its traditional main function is to propel the tempo, not only to add its uniquely swishy metallic timbre's sabor ("flavor"). Another key aspect of

185-523: A tradition of Spanish minstrels ( 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 kuisis in

222-430: A wider audience started mixing vallenato with other international genres, like salsa , merengue , rock , classical music , reggae , reggaeton , ranchera , techno and house music . Some of these mixes did not become very popular because of their experimental sounds. 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

259-465: Is a musical genre of the Dominican Republic , and the oldest style of merengue . Merengue típico is the term preferred by most musicians as it is more respectful and emphasizes the music's traditional nature. The Instruments that are used are the accordion , bass guitar , güira , conga , and tambora (drum) . Merengue típico is the oldest style of merengue still performed today (usually in

296-456: 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 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

333-494: Is said to have been the name of a bordello in Santiago where the music was played. Moralists tried to ban the music and the provocative dance that accompanied it, but with little success. Dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo brought accordionists with him on the campaign trail, and once he took power, he ensured that merengue was embraced as a national music by all classes of Dominicans. The origins of Merengue dance are unclear, to say

370-473: Is scraped with the other (dominant) hand holding the brush, which may be made for this purpose, but in practice is typically a metal-tined afro pick hair styling comb, although some players may use a cane- or plastic-toothed scraper. Normally the güira consists of an open-ended tube with many sound-producing nodules protruding its outer (usual) playing surface. The body of the güira is generally some type of thin sheet steel. One commercial variant commonly called

407-549: Is used to signify instruments, quality, the act of playing, etc. Below are a list of terms. Vallenato Vallenato ( Latin American Spanish pronunciation: [baʝeˈnato] ) 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 this name is located between the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and

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444-630: The Serranía de Perijá in north-east Colombia. The name also applies to the people from the city where this genre originated: Valledupar (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 . Colombia's traditional vallenato music is Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, according to UNESCO . This form of music originated from farmers who, keeping

481-619: The Dominican Republic and the United States), its origins dating back to the 1850s. It originated in the rural city of Navarrete (villa bisono), northern valley region around the city of Santiago called the Cibao, resulting in the term "merengue cibaeño". Originally played on the metal scraper called güira , the tambora , and a stringed instrument (usually a guitar or a variant such as the tres ). Stringed instruments were replaced with two-row diatonic button accordions when Germans began to travel to

518-495: 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 guitars . These troubadors were later influenced by Europe's instruments: piano and accordion . Impressed by the sound of the accordion, troubadors probably later obtained accordions from Aruba and Curaçao . Vallenato

555-469: The Vallenato Legend Festival . Its three traditional instruments are: 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 4 time and the merengue and the puya a 8 time. The piqueria vallenata

592-418: The golpe ("gallop"). Dances featuring the güira range from the fast-paced merengue típico or cibaeño (typical/traditional 2/2 time with accordion lead), perico ripiao (deriv. unclear; lit. "ripped parrot" or quick, bird-like) or merengue derecho ("straight-ahead merengue") to the slower pambiche or merengue pambichao (translit. Engl. "Palm Beach-esque" merengue), with tempos of 88-180 bpm. While its use in

629-1011: The "Guirero", and timbales, played by the "Tamborero" for fills. Agapito Pascual is credited with creating the new style termed "merengue con mambo" in 1987 with his recording, "La Vieja y su Pipa." Merengue con mambo refers to a merengue with a second section based on hard driving rhythms and riffs played by the accordion and saxophone together. This is the dominant style today that has been further explored by artists like Ricardo Gutierrez ( El rey joven del acordeon ) El Prodigio , Geovanny Polanco , Raul Roman (son of accordion legend Rafaelito Roman ), and Kerubanda. Artists like Krisspy and Aguakate have pushed genre boundaries even further with more mambo and fusions with other rhythms like reggaeton , and many artists like Fulanito have fused merengue-style accordion playing with rap music . A new crop of merengue musicians, notably Limi-T 21 , have attempted to create an orchestra merengue and perico ripiao fusion on songs like "Que Lo Bailen". The bpm of

666-502: The Dominican Republic (1916–1924) , taking its name from the "Palm Beach" fabric worn by American soldiers. Its tempo is usually slower than merengue derecho, and it can be recognized by the more syncopated rhythms in both bass and tambora. It is probably the rhythm most beloved by típico aficionados: dancing to it is said to require more skill since it is more complicated and syncopated than merengue derecho, and it helps to set

703-468: The Dominican Republic are newspaper articles complaining about this "lascivious" dance displacement of the earlier tumba. Early merengue was played on stringed instruments, but the accordion came to the island in the 1880s, introduced by German traders, and quickly became the primary instrument in merengue. Up until the 1930s, the music was considered immoral. Its more descriptive and colorful name, perico ripiao (literally "ripped parrot" in Spanish)

740-1394: The Vallenato Legend Festival, this musical genre became known through the region including regions of Venezuela, and when a popular telenovela , "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 , Enrique Díaz, Emiliano Zuleta , 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 , Jorge Oñate , Ivan Villazon , Adanies Díaz, 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 , Los Gigantes Del Vallenato, Galy Galiano , and Lisandro Meza among others. The current ambassador of

777-536: 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. Many vallenato festivals are held annually in Colombia, such as: Thanks to

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814-595: The efforts of artists like El Cieguito de Nagua , and particularly Tatico Henriquez , the music became faster and more technically demanding, while incorporating new instruments. They replaced marimba with electric bass , and added saxophone and congas . The popularity of merengue overseas in New York during the 1980s caused a shift in the production of the genre in the Dominican Republic. The lyrics utilized less slang and language specific to Dominican dialects of Spanish to be understood by non-Dominican listeners. A shift to

851-473: The general all purpose instrument for dance music in Colombia (being added to the vallenato ensemble or even replacing traditional local drums in some cases during live performances of cumbia) the Dominican güira has also become a general all purpose scraped instrument for dance bands in Colombia. Merengue t%C3%ADpico Merengue típico (also known as merengue cibaeño or colloquially as perico ripiao )

888-482: 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". 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

925-435: The güira is how much the (external) playing surface is (mostly internally, although flexibly using the holding hand and/or stuffing some light filler like felt or foam/fiber/excelsior inside) "dampened" (muted). This aspect influences how staccato or "dry" its sound will be, and advanced players may modulate muting while playing for additional timbral variation. While the player holds the güira firmly with one hand while using

962-483: The instrument of choice for non Dominican styles of music in other countries. In Colombia for example, the güira has replaced the traditional wood “ guacharaca ” in modern vallenato music, specially during large live performances. Likewise, many “ tropical ” dance orchestras and bands in Colombia use the Dominican güira to play cumbia and other local popular styles. Much like the Cuban tumbadoras (congas) which have become

999-474: The instruments added or used by some orchestras were: the bass guitar , the congas drums, a Timbal set, drum kit , maracas , guache, electric piano , Spanish guitars , tambourine , cowbell , electric guitar , Saxophone , piano accordion , violins , among others. These groups also started fusioning local genres to the vallenato, usually with cumbia , porro sabanero, gaitas (group of gaita flute interpreters), merecumbe and joropo . Some groups seeking

1036-564: The island in the 1880s as part of the tobacco trade. Later, the marímbula , a bass lamellophone related to the African mbira , was added to fill out the sound. "Merengue tipico" is very popular not only in the Dominican Republic but has migrated to the United States and many other countries. Merengue first appears in the Caribbean in the 1850s. The earliest documented evidence of merengue in

1073-589: The least but the city of Navarrete is believed to be the exact place of origin of merengue tipico;. The musician Nico Lora, a native of that town, perfected it and is the author of many well known merengue themes as old as 100 years . Official versions promote the three-cultures origin, using the European accordion together with the African tambora and Taino guira. After Trujillo's assassination, Dominican society changed rapidly as processes of urbanization and migration accelerated. Merengue tipico changed too. Through

1110-462: The more-romantic bachata (lit. "pierced" implying festooned with flowers) styles is applied at various medium to very fast tempos, modern güira has been used in a wide variety of dance styles, as its versatility and ability to "cut through" a dense sonic mix and thereby maintain a consistent dance tempo is similar to that of how hi-hat or shakers like maracas are employed. According to Francisco Javier Durán García, New York City based instrument maker,

1147-575: 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 , 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 Cesar 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

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1184-471: The music has also transformed, originally between 130 and 140 [tempo], but today is sometimes sped up from 160 to 190 tempo. Today merengue tipico actually consists of several different rhythms. Merengue derecho, or straight-ahead merengue, is the kind of fast-paced, march-like merengue Americans are most used to hearing. Pambiche or merengue apambichao is said to have developed during the American occupation of

1221-423: The rhythm of the tambora, a fairly small horizontally mounted rustic drum normally played with one stick and one bare hand. Mastering its usual 'correct' playing techniques has been dubbed very challenging. Güireros may use a variety of playing techniques to play various rhythms, however nearly all playing is done with one hand only holding the instrument from its large rounded (to reduce hand fatigue) handle, while it

1258-445: The scraper with their dominant hand , the güira is usually brushed (lightly scraped transversely) steadily on the downbeat with a preceding "and-a" in its characteristic galloping figure; it is also sometimes played in more soloistic complex patterns that still generally mark the tempo. Modern cumbia also sometimes features a (metal-sided) güira instead of the traditional (gourd-bodied) guiro. Typical rhythmic patterns for cumbia include

1295-467: The traditional art of güira making involves a tree stump, hammer, nail, metal tube, and wood block. The instrument is hand fashioned from sheet metal into a (roughly 13") long cylindrical tube along with repeatedly-dimpled (not fully perforated) tubular (exterior) surface. The Dominican güira is similar in usage to the Puerto Rican/Cuban güiro though of distinct timbre . Whereas the güiro is often

1332-531: The típico genre apart since it is used infrequently by orquesta groups. Guinchao is a third and more recently developed rhythm that is a combination of the other two. The once-common paseo, a slow introduction during which couples would promenade around the dance floor, is now common only in folkloric presentations. In the past, other dances like the mangulina , carabiné , polka , guarapo, and zarambo were also played on accordion, but are now generally heard only at folkloric presentations. In merengue, various slang

1369-473: 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

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