Guajira (music)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Music of Cuba: Topics | ||
|---|---|---|
| Batá and yuka | Chachachá | |
| Changui | Charanga | |
| Conga | Danzón | |
| Descarga | Guajira | |
| Guaracha | Habanera | |
| Jazz | Hip hop | |
| Mambo | Música campesina | |
| Nueva trova | Pilón | |
| Rock | Rumba | |
| Salsa cubana | Son | |
| Son montuno | Timba | |
| History (Timeline and Samples) |
||
| Awards | Beny Moré Award | |
| Festivals | Cuba Danzon, Percuba | |
| National anthem | "La Bayamesa" | |
| Caribbean music | ||
| Bahamas - Bermuda - Cayman Islands - Cuba - Dominican Republic - Haiti - Jamaica - Lesser Antilles - Puerto Rico - Turks and Caicos Islands | ||
Punto Guajiro (also called Punto Cubano), with its Andalucian origins, has been evolving in Cuba since the 1700s, is the country music from the Western and Central provinces of Cuba. This style began to become popular around the end of the 18th century. Lyrics are always in the form of a décima. The Punto is based on lyrics, rather than melody. The singers are known as poets, not singers, and a distinguishing feature is that the lyrics are often improvised.
Typically, the poets are accompanied by the Bandurria or Laud, Claves and Guiro. As the style evolved Bongos, Tres, Machetes and other instruments were added.
[edit] Styles
- Punto Libre - (also called pinareño or vueltabajero) This form comes from the western Provinces (Habana, Matanzas and Pinar del Rio). The meter is always regular (in tempo) and another feature is that the instruments stop playing when the vocal starts singing. There is some light plucking on the laud or the guitar.
- Punto Fijo - (also called Camagüeyano) This form is from the Central Provinces and has even spread to the east. The distinguishing feature is that the accompaniment remains the same during the vocal part. The patterns are always repeating.
- Segadilla - This form is special as the end of the musical phase does not coincide with the end of the vocal phase.
[edit] Popularity
Guajira was refined and popularized by the Cuban singer-songwriter and guitarist Guillermo Portabales, whose elegant style has become known as "salon guajira". From the 1930s until his untimely death in a traffic accident in Puerto Rico in 1970, Portabales recorded and performed salon guajira throughout North and South America to tremendous popular acclaim.
[edit] References
Manuel, Peter. “The Guajira between Cuba and Spain: A Study in Continuity and Change.” Latin American Music Review 25/2, 2004, pp. 137-62.
