Musical Instruments Of Peru

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Thanks to recent archaeological discoveries of musical instruments, we know that in Peru the music goes back at least 10,000 years old.

From this came the long tradition quenas the zampoñas the pututos (trumpets shells) and a variety of wind instruments used in the manufacture of which materials like cane, clay, bone, horn and precious metals, and various instruments percussion.

Through contact with the West has incorporated large numbers of instruments, they have been creatively adapted to the rhythmic and tonal needs of each region. The most obvious are the many changes that have taken place in the harp, violin and guitar in the Peruvian highlands.

The meeting of the Andean west and has resulted in Peru more than 1,300 musical genres. But two of them have exceeded the regional level and have become symbols of identity in Peru: the huayno and marinera. Composed of a mixture of joy and nostalgia, the huayno has become the basis for creating new rhythms of contemporary music, with its musical structure simple and flexible.

The seafood, although gender is not a matrix like huayno has distinct variations ...
... on the coast and the mountains, and thanks to its beauty and splendid musical choreography has been widely distributed throughout the country.

The strength of the migrant African festival has also contributed to enriching the musical scene: the place of invention and discovery drawer musical donkey jaw as percussion instrument.

In the region of the jungle is also a great variety of rhythms, dances and instruments related to its festivals and rituals, such as use of manguaré (tubular stem), called "semiotic drum" because it serves to communicate messages over long distances in middle of the jungle.

At present, the continued uptake of new instruments such as synthesizers, electric guitars, drums and harmonious, and the creation of new genres such as chicha, which allow the Peruvian music open to new influences, to expand nationally and internationally, more outside the field reserved to the vernacular.

This capacity for musical fusion and innovation is strongly integrative force and the dynamic nature of the Peruvian culture.

Marinera and Drawer

Marinera

This dance is a derivative of zamacueca and the mozamala. In 1893, Abelardo Gamarra "El Tunante" baptized with the name "marinera" in honor of the naval hero Miguel Grau, during a piano concert given by a girl Lima, who later became his great broadcaster, Mrs. Rosa Mercedes Ayarza Morales. That meeting was the most famous seafood, "The Dean" and later renamed as "The Concheperla. The sea has been slowly gaining positions. In 1938 he went to the Teatro Municipal de Lima to be presented at the Concert of Fiestas Patrias. Today across the country are carried out various festivals, the most known being held in January in Trujillo. Has several styles that are named according to their place of origin: marinera coastal, mountain and northern. Its development is a very energetic, with elegant movements and a complex choreography of coordinated and synchronized sequences. Each member of the couple kept the pace with a handkerchief in one hand, it also used for courtship, although it was never a physical contact. The instruments that are used for implementation are the guitar and cajón.

El Cajon

Percussion instrument of Afro-origin used in most variants of the sea coast music and in folk music and black music in general. Is produced by a wooden box that has a hole in the rear. For its implementation, tañedor sitting on the shelf and gives blows with bare hands. Although apparently simple instrument has begun to have a significant spread outside of Peru, as attested to its recent incorporation flamenco music.

The Huayno and Quena

Huayna

Andean dance is considered par excellence. Its origins were pre-qualified from the outset by the assimilation of Western influences, it has many regional variations. Its musical structure stems from a pentatonic rhythm binary structural feature that has allowed this genre to become the basis of a series of hybrid rhythms, from the Andean chicha to rock. The dance is performed in pairs and turns that will develop from small movements and jumps that tap the pace. The instruments involved in the implementation of huayno are quena, the charango, harp and violin. In some variants of the typical bands huayno involved, adding instruments like the trumpet, saxophone and accordion. Furthermore, although very different genres in the popular huayno sensitivity is more related to the sea of what looks like the chorus reminds marinera mountain: "There is no huayno marinera / or without marinera huayno / Cholito pollera green / the third is for you. "

The Quena

This wind instrument is the most widespread in Peru and comes from pre-Hispanic times. It's made with a tube of cane, wood, bone or plastic with a beveled segment, which is the mouthpiece. Introduced 5 or 6 small holes fingering with variations that are composed of sound produced by the breath of the performer. Predominates in each region a different size.

The Huaylarsh and Harp

The Huaylarsh

It is a rhythm and dance of celebration and joy associated with the harvest period in the central highlands. His energy and vitality is evident in the jumps and agility demonstrations of male dancers, in front of the fine tap their partners. In his choreography performance dance group to develop, in pairs, show skill in a fun competition. Instrumentation involved in orchestras or bands typically consist of a harp, violins, saxophones, clarinets, trumpets and drums.

The Harp

It is a stringed instrument made on a hollow cone-shaped timber that serves as a sounding board. Its origin is Western and has been widely accepted in Peru, especially in the Peruvian highlands, where it is used for its versatility to run variations pitched sound. The harp has been modified and adapted in many regions, both in form and its refinement.

The Festejo and Quijada

The Festejo

Afro is a very popular dance in the central coast. Danced in pairs, hinting at the same time avoiding physical contact. Rogues movements and develop a cheerful expression body full of sensuality. The instrumentation consists of guitar, cajón and jaw and is accompanied by a solo singer and chorus.

Jaw

The lower jaw of a donkey, mule or horse has become, thanks to the ingenuity Afroperuano, an effective instrument of percussion. It is held in one hand and the other is the rhythmic beating of the part you are running. The sound of the jaw, produced by the vibration of the wheels of the horse, is amplified in the same bone structure.

Carnival and Mandolin

Carnival

It is a dance that, with regional variations, is danced throughout Peru, especially in rural areas of Puno, Cajamarca and the Amazon. The execution of this dance is performed in comparsas out on the streets with their own music. The lyrics of the songs, usually with a rhyme on time, in many cases pícaras, satirical and very happy. Guitars, accordions, mandolins, drums, Andean (Tiny and tambourine) and charangos are the most used for its implementation.

The Mandolin

Of European origin and similar to the lute, the mandolin has suffered a series of transformations in Peru, both in the material of the sounding board, as in the number of strings. Is often used with the guitar duos formed to interpret Huaynos and other varieties of the musical saw.

The Santiago and Tiny

Santiago

The music of this genre comes from the customs associated with grazing. It is played in the Andean ceremonies marking cattle and rituals of fertility in cattle. On those occasions, a series of songs enabling simple rhythm and fine sensitivity is interpreted especially by young women. The instruments most frequently used are tiny and wakrapuko trumpets or horn res.

The Tiny

It is a percussion instrument like a small hand drum made of leather. Has wide distribution in the Andes and is played primarily by women, with a stick-in dances and ceremonies relating to the farming life, especially during the harvest season and marking the cattle.

The Vals Criollo and Guitar

The Vals Criollo

It is a dance in which couples taken from the hands in a half hug to end, they are intertwined with narrow steps, a style created by the typical Lima Waltz (Waltz) Vienna. It has its origins in the nineteenth century and has spread to the urban middle class as a demonstration that synthesized criollismo of romantic longing for a departed Lima. Instruments that are running are the guitar and cajón.

Guitar

This is the most popular tool used widely in Peru. The most used is the modern Spanish, but there are a total of 10 varieties differentiated by their shape, construction materials and number of strings. His pitch varies by area. Combined with several other musical instruments played by gender and is used to playing the vals criollo, the sea, the festival, the huayno the zamacueca the tondero and also for chicha.

The Sikuri and Zampoña

The Sikuri

The pace somewhat martial dance of sikuris, has its origins in the Altiplano region. It is danced in large groups forming processions are organized in large circles around musicians who play zampoñas of different sizes.

The choreographic composition denotes complementarity and harmony that should govern all human integration, since a group of performers can only deliver half of the notes required to be indispensable participation of another group to complete the melody.

The Zampoña

It is an instrument of the family of pan flutes, which is the reunion of several reed tubes of different sizes bound together by interlocking threads forming one or two rows. The size of the tube determines the musical note. This presents distinct regional varieties, depending on the length, arrangement and number of canes. Its use is common in almost all the festivals of the south and especially in the department of Puno. One of its variants is the Antara, made from the finest cane reeds.

The Harawi and Charango

The Harawi

Yaraví also called, is a genre whose songs convey feelings of sadness and longing. He is considered among the oldest musical variants Peruvian repertoire and its origin is connected to the poetic expression of the same name developed by the Inca period. His music is measured lethargic with frequent silences that adds drama to the implementation. Usually this kind do not dance, unless incorporated into a huayno marinera or, as often occurs in some of its variants mestizo. The instruments that are used for implementation are the charango, mandolin and quena.

El Charango

It is a tool built on the model of the classical guitar. It is small in relation to the original instrument, but has instead a larger number of strings (12). Its sounding board is made of armadillo shell or kirkincho, although there are also wood. Its use is very popular in the region south of the country.

Danzantes of Scissors

Physical Skill Challenge and Ritual

From the perspective of Western man, the dance of the scissors is essentially an impressive demonstration of art and physical dexterity, but for the Andean people living in or mestizo communities of the Sierra is above all a complex ritual. A series of mysteries surrounding the danzaq (performing ritual) who, in a display of strength and elasticity, to test their skills by jumping gymnastics andalusia rhythm of the harp and violin. According to the priests of the colony due to its magic halo alleged pact with the devil, because the amazing pasta or tests that run in the dance. These tests are called Atipanakuy get swords for the esophagus, with wires crossed his face, eating insects, frogs and snakes, among other acts faquirismo own andino. The central instrument of the dance are the scissors, compiled in two separate metal plates about 25 cm long, which together have the form of a pair of scissors tip roma. Locations of major circulation of this dance are Ayacucho, Apurimac, Arequipa, the Sierra de Ica, Huancavelica and Lima.

Chicha or Peruvian Cumbia

A New Genus dominates South America

A remarkable new musical rhythm of diffusion is chicha, which has now entered into force in much of South America. But also elements of the host rock and other contemporary rhythms, the two musical genres that form the basis for the creation of chicha or Peruvian cumbia is huayno and Colombian cumbia. Its spread has not only managed to spread throughout the Peruvian territory, but also has strong draft in neighboring countries like Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Colombia. The main characteristic of this genus, which is projected on all Latin America, is the permanent fusion of new rhythms, both modern and traditional as well as the use of a variety of instruments for its implementation, especially electronics.
Daniel Silva is the owner of several musica websites in english and spanish.