Talk:Central American music

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Though I would have included Panama in Central America, and not included Mexico (part of NAFTA after all), I wonder whether Central America needs defining here, with list of nations. More important, though, can the music of Central America be usefully separated from the music of Latin America? If it can, the distinction needs to be made clear, in musical terms, not national origin alone, right at the start, so readers know what the article is about. Wetman 11:53, 26 Jan 2004 (UTC)

I actually would have included Mexico, except Central America makes it clear that Mexico is not included. There are characteristics that make Central American music distinct from Latin and South American music, the marimba being the most obvious one to me -- AFAIK, the instrument isn't found south of Panama or on any of the Caribbean islands. There are probably more technical characteristics that define Central American music, but I do not know what they are. The only recordings I'm familiar with is some Panamanian salsa (which isn't particularly distinct) and punta (which is definitely distinct, but is Garifuna and not spread throughout the region). In conclusion, I agree. Tuf-Kat 17:57, Jan 26, 2004 (UTC)

Marimba has a good starting entry. I feel that an umbrella overview is what's needed, with plenty of links. Latin music is such a gringo term, eh! Too ignorant to be able to help, myself. Wetman 18:25, 26 Jan 2004 (UTC)

I think the african influence of slave trade in such countries has a distinctive effect on central american music. Aborigene tribes and movements in Latin America were much numerous, making unnecesarry to import slaves from africa, since taming the native into slavery was easier. Therefore Latin America is a mix of spanish/european/aborigene mix where as central american music has spanish/aborigene/african influence as well. Jotaigna 15:30, 13 May 2004 (UTC)