Over the last couple of weeks we’ve began exploring some of the world’s music. We began with a look at the music of Brazil, including samba and bossa nova. Last week we explored Cuban music, like rumba, salsa, and reggaeton.
This week we’ll be continuing our journey through world music with a look at the birthplace of the Tango, Argentina.
While the tango is undoubtedly Argentina’s most famous export,the country is home to a wide variety of musical genres. Traditional sounds, like folklore, tango, and cumbia are combined with modern digital technology to form new, global sounds that are only now gaining recognition and popularity around the world.
Folk Music
Folk music in Argentina, called música folklórica or folklore in Spanish, comes in a variety of styles, including chacarera, chamamé and zamba. Most of the inspiration for these forms of music come from the northwest Andean region and other countries to the north, especially Bolivia and Peru.
More recently, Argentine music has gone through a hybridization, blending electronic music with the more traditional sounds of the country. One notable performer of this style is Onda Vaga, whose smooth harmonies add a jazzy feel to the traditional sounds of folklórica.
Rock & Pop
Argentine rock and roll and pop, commonly called Argentine rock, or Rock Nacional, got its start in the late 1960s thanks largely to a trio of groups: Almendra, which were known for their great melodies and poetic lyrics, Manal, which had a sort of urban blues feel, and Los Gatos, who were more of a pop group.
From its beginnings in the early ‘60s, the evolution of Argentine rock and pop was slow; throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Argentina’s military regimes didn’t like the liberalism and freedom that this music represented. It wasn’t until the 1980s that musicians like Charly Garciá and Fito Páez emerged to become icons of rock nacional.
Today, some of Argentina’s most popular musical groups include Bersuit Vergarabat, known for utilizing multi-genre tunes with political, offensive, and “wave-making” lyrics, La Portuaria, who have collaborated with David Byrne and are known for their rock fusion influenced by jazz and R&B, and Valentin y Los Volcanes, who play indie-pop with great guitar music.
Latin & Electronica
Electrónica arrived in Argentina with a bang in the 1990s and has gone on to evolve into several different styles of popular music.
The young club goers of Buenos Aires have embraced a musical trend called música tropical that has swept through Latin America in recent years. Many have danced to the lively, Afro-Latin beats of salsa, merengue, and especially cumbia. Originally coming out of Colombia, cumbia mixes catchy dance rhythms with lively melodies, usually with a strong brass component.
A popular offshoot of cumbia experimental or cumbia villera, which constitutes a fusion of cumbia and gangsta ideas with a punk edge and reggae overtones.
One of Buenos Aires’s most interesting musical experiences is La Bomba de Tiempo, a group of drummers that include some of Argentina’s best percussionists. The explosive performances are conducted by Santiago Vázquez, who communicates with his band through a language of mysterious signs. The result is an amazing improvisational union that creates new electronic dance music and sounds every single time.
Tango
Without a doubt, the most famous musical genre to come out of Argentina is the tango. Early tango was performed by small musical ensembles and were influenced by other genres like polka, habanera, Spanish and Italian melodies, and African candombe drums. The bandoneón, a small accordion, was eventually brought into these early sessions, and went on to become tango’s signature instrument.
The tango has always been soaked with nostalgia for a way of life that was slowly disappearing; it summarized the new urban experience of immigrants. Early tango themes ranges from deep feelings about changing neighbourhoods, to the figure of the mother, male friendship, and betrayal by women. The lyrics, sometimes sad and sometimes risque, were sung in the streets and was known as lunfardo.
During the 1950s, performers like Ástor Piazzolla completely revolutionized the tango with nueva tango, which introduced elements of jazz and classical music into the traditional songs, and went on to upset some more traditionally minded individuals.
Today, several newer arrivals to the genre are working to keep the tango alive, well, and in the global spotlight. The most popular of these new acts is likely the 12-musician cooperative Orquesta Típica Fernández Fierro, with its captivating singer Walter Chino Laborde, along with several fantastic albums which feature new arrangements of traditional tangos.
New Tango
Just like the rest of the musical scene in Buenos Aires, and Argentina as a whole, a newer style of tango has evolved – one that is a hybrid of sounds and styles, making the tango exciting again for younger audiences.
In this newer style, musicians have begun sampling and remixing classic tango songs, adding rhythmic dance beats, breaks, scratches and synth lines, as well as other fun, so-called “heresies.” This edgy new genre has been called by many names, including fusion tango, electrotango, tango electronica, and neo-tango.
Have you started looking for a way to begin your own musical journey? Maybe your child has shown an interest in learning to play an instrument or to sing? The Music Studio has programs for all ages – from children to seniors – all skill levels -from beginner to experienced – and a huge variety of instruments. Check out all our programs and sign up today!