User Manual
42 A User’s Guide to Garritan World Instruments
e music of Latin America is a fusion of indigenous peoples, Europeans (mainly Spanish and Por-
tuguese), and Africans. ese traditions have all meshed together to bring South America a feast of
musical expression—from bossa nova and samba, to tango, to vallenato and other unique styles.
People who have traveled to Brazil say it is the most musical country on the planet. Afro-Brazilian
music maintains styles close to African origins, with a dominance of percussion instruments driving
energetic syncopated rhythms. e combination of African and Portuguese inuences is also appar-
ent in Brazilian folk dances, including the samba, batuque, lundu, and the bossa nova.
Argentinian music was largely inuenced by Hispanic elements, as evidenced by the popular Tango.
e Bandoneon (Tango accordion) is a popular instrument used in Argentinian tango. Other musical
styles such as zamba, milonga and chamamé also originated in Argentina.
e music of Mexico also features various musical styles inuenced by a variety of cultures. Ranchera
music, originally consisting of a singer and guitar, has now expanded to include other instruments.
Mariachi is a popular musical genre from Mexico. Usually a Mariachi band consists of violins, trum-
pets, Spanish guitar, guitarrón, and sometimes the Veracruz harp.
e music of the Andes reects musical elements from the indigenous peoples of Bolivia, Ecuador,
Chile, and Peru. Music is part of everyday life in the Andes regions. Popular instruments in the Andes
today are the Andean panutes and siku, quena, tarka, and South American Harp.
In the nearby Caribbean, a host of styles also developed from African inuences—the Cuban rumba,
the biguine in Martinique, kaiso in Trinidad, reggae in Jamaica, calypso, and the Trinidadian steel
band.
Percussion plays a major role in Latin American music and there are far too many Latin percussion
instruments to list all of them here (but many are included in this library).