Vallenato
"born in the valley"
Origins
Vallenato is a popular style of folk music from Colombia. It originated from farmers combining West African tradition and Spanish minstrels.
Examples of Dances to Vallenato Music
la gota fria vallenato latino
Baile Vallenato - Carolina Mestrovic e Iván Cabrera
Famous Vallenato Artists
Diomedes Díaz
"Diomedes Díaz Maestre was a Colombian vallenato singer, songwriter, and composer."
Carlos Vives
"Carlos Alberto Vives Restrepo is a Colombian singer, composer and actor."
Silvestre Dangond
"Silvestre Francisco Dangond Corrales, is a Colombian Vallenato singer, composer and Timbales player. Dangond is considered one of the mainstream representatives of the "new wave" of vallenato musicians."
Jorge Celedón
"Jorge Celedón also known as Jorgito Celedón is a Colombian musician, singer of vallenato music."
Binomio De Oro De América
"Binomio de Oro de América is a vallenato musical group from Colombia."
Fonseca
"Juan Fernando Fonseca, better known as Fonseca is a Colombian singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist."
Traditional Instruments
Caja Vallenata
"A small drum held between the knees and played with bare hands. It was used by the African slaves brought by the Europeans."
Accordion
"Three-line button, German-origin accordion. It has three reed per note and it comes in different tones, ADG, GCF, BbEbAb "5 Letras". Accordions in Colombia and Panama sometimes have custom made tones especially made for Vallenato and Cumbia."
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 centimetres) long and 1 inch (3 centimetres) in diametre. It was used by the aborigines to imitate the song of the guacharaco, a bird from the region, to hunt and perform dancing rites."
Son
- Son is played with heavy accentuation and cadence stressed on the low notes of the accordion on its left-hand side. It's normally mournful and slow
Paseo
- Paseo is thought to be an offshoot of the son. Its speed can vary and today is the most widely recorded air.
Puya
- 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
- 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 décimas, a 10-line format with internal rhymes brought by the Spanish in the 16th century.