Music of Latin America

• Music of Latin America is the product of three major influences:

  1. Indigenous
  2. Spanish-Portuguese
  3. African
• Indigenous Latin-American Music

  • Natives were found to be using local drum and percussion instruments such as the guiro, maracas, and turtle shells, and wind instruments such as zampona (pan pipes) and quena (notched-end flutes).
  • Materials came from hollow tree trunks, animal skins, fruit shells, dry seeds, jaguar claws, animal and human bones and especially-treated inflated eyes of tigers.
  • It was largely functional in nature, being used for religious worship and ceremonies
• Afro-Latin American Music

  • African influence on Latin American music is most pronounced in its rich and varied rhythmic patterns produced by the drums and various percussion instruments.
• Euro-Latin American Music

  • Melodies of the Renaissance period were used in Southern Chile and the Colombian Pacific coasts.
  • Stepwise melodies were preferred in the heavily Hispanic and Moorish-influenced areas of Venezuela and Colombia
• What instruments are used for Indigenous Latin-American Music?

  Guiro, Maracas, Zampona, Quena