Peruvian music is an amalgamation of sounds and styles drawing on

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Andean The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, and African roots. Andean influences can perhaps be best heard in wind instruments and the shape of the melodies, while the African influences can be heard in the rhythm and percussion instruments, and European influences can be heard in the harmonies and stringed instruments.

Pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

Andean music was played on drums and string instruments, like the European

pipe and tabor Pipe and tabor is a pair of instruments played by a single player, consisting of a three-hole pipe played with one hand, and a small drum played with the other. The tabor hangs on the performer's left arm or around the neck, leaving the hands ...

tradition. Andean tritonic and pentatonic scales were elaborated during the colonial period into hexatonic, and in some cases, diatonic scales.

History

Peruvian music reflects the country’s rich cultural heritage, blending Indigenous, Spanish, and African influences. Pre-Columbian traditions, characterized by instruments like pan flutes and drums, were later infused with Spanish stringed instruments such as the guitar and harp. During the colonial period, African rhythms introduced vibrant percussive styles. Iconic genres like ''huayno'' and ''marinera'' emerged, highlighting regional diversity. In the 20th century, Peruvian music evolved further with ''criollo'' music gaining prominence and the rise of Andean fusion bands like Los Kjarkas and international stars such as Susana Baca, promoting Peru’s musical identity globally. The earliest printed

polyphonic music Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice (monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (h ...

in Peru, indeed anywhere in the Americas, was " Hanacpachap cussicuinin," composed or collected by

Juan Pérez Bocanegra Pérez de Bocanegra was a parish priest in this church in Andahuaylillas Juan Pérez de Bocanegra, TOSF (died 1645) was a Catholic priest and member of the Third Order of St. Francis, who was a musician, and specialist in the indigenous languag ...

and printed in 1631.

Instruments

Stringed instruments

Peruvian music is dominated by the national instrument, the

charango The charango is a small Andes, Andean stringed instrument of the lute family, from the Quechua people, Quechua and Aymara people, Aymara populations in the territory of the Altiplano in post-Colonial times, after European stringed instruments we ...

. The charango is member of the

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...

family of instruments and was invented during the

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru (), officially known as the Kingdom of Peru (), was a Monarchy of Spain, Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in ...

by musicians imitating the

vihuela The vihuela () is a 15th-century fretted plucked Spanish string instrument, shaped like a guitar (figure-of-eight form offering strength and portability) but tuned like a lute. It was used in 15th- and 16th-century Spain as the equivalent of t ...

. In the Canas and

Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; ; ) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. Titicaca is the largest lake in South America, both in terms of the volume of ...

regions, the charango is used in courtship rituals, symbolically invoking

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are ...

s with the instrument to lure the woman to the male performers. Until the 1960s, the charango was denigrated as an instrument of the rural poor. After the revolution in 1959, which built upon the

Indigenismo () is a political ideology in several Latin American countries which emphasizes the relationship between the nation state and Indigenous nations and Indigenous peoples. In some contemporary uses, it refers to the pursuit of greater social and p ...

movement (1910–1940), the charango was popularized among other performers. Variants include the

walaycho The walaycho (hispanicized spelling ''hualaycho'', also ''walaychu'') is a small lute-like fretted stringed instrument, the smallest member of the charango family. It is the same or similar to the ''maulincho''. The ''walaychu'' along with the ch ...

chillador The name chillador can refer either to two related types of charango. The First type, simple called chillador, is a type of charango which has a flat back and is usually steel-strung. It exists in both 10-and 12-string forms. When strung with 10 ...

chinlili The Chinlili, also known as the Chinlilo, is a chordophone from Ayacucho, Peru. It is a variant of the Charango tuned to a lower tone. The frets are laid out diatonically, and it has 6 courses of 8 metal strings much like a dulcimer The term d ...

, and the larger and lower-tuned

charangon The Charangón is a small lute-like fretted stringed instrument, of the charango family. Its general shape and construction are very similar to the charango, but it is larger and is typically pitched 3 or 4 diatonic intervals lower (a "4th" or a ...

. While the Spanish

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

is widely played, so too is the Spanish-in-origin

bandurria The bandurria is a plucked chordophone from Spain, similar to the mandolin and bandola, primarily used in Spanish folk music, but also found in former Spanish colonies. Instrument development Prior to the 18th century, the bandurria had a ro ...

. Unlike the guitar, it has been transformed by Peruvian players over the years, changing from a 12-string, 6-course instrument to one having 12 to 16 strings in a mere 4 courses.

Violins The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino pic ...

and

harps The High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) is a high-precision Echelle grating, echelle planet-finding spectrograph installed in 2002 on the ESO 3.6 m Telescope, ESO's 3.6m telescope at La Silla Observatory in Chile. The First l ...

, also of European origin, are also played.

Percussion instruments

The

cajón A cajón ( ; "box, crate, drawer") is a box-shaped percussion instrument originally from Peru, played by slapping the front or rear faces (generally thin plywood) with the hands, fingers, or sometimes implements such as brushes, mallets, or st ...

is an important percussion instrument developed by African slaves. People imply the

cowbell A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell (instrument), bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. ...

may also be of African origin. While the rhythms played on them are often African-influenced, some percussive instruments are of non-African origin. For example, of European origin is the bombo, and of Andean origin are the wankara and

tinya The tinya (Quechua)Diccionario Quechua - Español - Quechua, Academía Mayor de la Lengua Quechua, Gobierno Regional Cusco, Cusco 2005 (Quechua-Spanish dictionary) or kirki (Quechua) is a percussion instrument, a small handmade drum of leather whic ...

respectively.

Wind instruments

In addition to the

ocarina The ocarina (otherwise known as a potato flute) is a wind musical instrument; it is a type of vessel flute. Variations exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the bo ...

and

waqra phuku The (Quechua 'horn', 'blow', also spelled '','' ) is a type of trumpet used by indigenous peoples in Peru and the Andes. It is usually made from cattle horn or metal and is used in annual fertility Fertility in colloquial terms refers the abil ...

, there are Peruvian wind instruments of two basic types,

panpipes A pan flute (also known as panpipes or syrinx) is a musical instrument based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting of multiple pipes of gradually increasing length (and occasionally girth). Multiple varieties of pan flutes have been ...

and

flutes The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

, both of Native Andean origin and built to play tritonic,

pentatonic A pentatonic scale is a Scale (music), musical scale with five Musical note, notes per octave, in contrast to heptatonic scales, which have seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale). Pentatonic scales were developed inde ...

and

hexatonic In music and music theory, a hexatonic scale is a scale with six pitches or notes per octave. Famous examples include the whole-tone scale, C D E F G A C; the augmented scale, C D E G A B C; the Prometheus scale, C D E F A B C; and the blues sc ...

scales, though some contemporary musicians play instruments designed to play European

diatonic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are used to characterize scales. The terms are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair ...

scales. Of the former variety, there are the siku (or ''zampoña'') and

antara Antara may refer to: * Antara (music), a verse in Hindustani classical music * Antara (musical instrument), or siku, a traditional Andean panpipe * Antara (news agency), an Indonesian news agency * Antara (Peru), a mountain in Peru * Antara Pol ...

. Of the latter variety, there are the

pinkillu A pinkillu, pinkuyllu or pinqullu ( Quechua or Aymara, Hispanicized spellings ''pincollo, pincuyllo, pingullo, pinquillo'', also ''pinkillo, pinkiyo, pinkullo, pinkuyo'') is a flute found throughout the Andes, used primarily in Argentina northwe ...

, tarka, and

quena The quena (hispanicized spelling of Quechua ''qina'', sometimes also written ''kena'' in English) is the traditional flute of the Andes. Traditionally made of cane or wood, it has 6 finger holes and one thumb hole, and is open on both ends or ...

(qina) flutes.

Dances

* Apiliarg—A dance from the Oporeza area. * Carnaval en Amazonas—A dance from the Amazonas region similar to the huayno. *

Carnavalito The ''Carnavalito'' () is a traditional indigenous dance from the Argentinian ''Altiplano'' and ''puna'' regions, usually performed during religious festivities. Its current form is an expression of a syncretism between Pre-Columbian and Spanish ...

—A dance from southern Peru and the Bolivian Altiplano similar to the huayno. * Chumaichada—A dance from the Amazonas region with strong Native Peruvian musical influences and strong European dance influences. *

Creole Waltz The vals criollo (), or Peruvian waltz (), is an adaptation of the European waltz brought to the Americas during colonial times by Spain. In the Viceroyalty of Peru, the waltz was gradually adapted to the likings of the Criollo people. In the 20 ...

—A Peruvian adaptation of the European

waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

. *

Cueca Cueca () is a family of musical styles and associated dances from Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia. In Chile, the cueca holds the status of national dance, where it was officially declared as such by the Pinochet dictatorship on September 18, 19 ...

—A pan-Andean compound 3/4-6/8 dance rhythm. *

Cumbia Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, Europeans, and Africans during colonial times. Cumbia is said to have com ...

—A Colombian-in-origin 2/4 dance rhythm. * Danza de tijeras—A dance from southern Peru. * Danzantes de Levanto—A dance from the Amazonas region. *

Diablada The Diablada, also known as the Danza de los Diablos (), is an Andean folk dance performed in Bolivia, in the Altiplano region of South America, characterized by performers wearing masks and costumes representing the devil and other characters fr ...

—A 2/4 dance rhythm from southern Peru, Bolivia, and northern Chile. *

Morenada The Morenada is an Andean folk dance whose origins is from Bolivia. This dance is practiced mainly in Bolivia as well as in Peru and in recent years with Bolivian immigration in Chile, Argentina and other countries. Morenada is one of the most ...

—A dance rhythm from western Bolivia, mainly La Paz. * Festejo—A popular 12/8 Afro-Peruvian dance form. * Harawi (genre) or Yaravi—A highland dance danced to various meters: 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4. *

Huanca (dance) The Huancas, Wancas, or Wankas are a Quechua people living in the Junín Region of central Peru, in and around the Mantaro Valley. Names The southern branch of Huanca people are called the Wanka Waylla Quechua and Southern Huancayo Quechua. The J ...

—A dance from the Amazonas region. *

Huayno Huayno (Waynu in Quechua)Teofilo Laime Ajacopa, Diccionario Bilingüe Iskay simipi yuyayk'ancha, La Paz, 2007 (Quechua-Spanish dictionary) is a genre of popular Andean music and dance. It is especially common in Peru, western Bolivia, northwest A ...

—A popular 2/4 highlands dance. *

Kantu Kantu or k'antu is an ancient style of music and circle dance which is widespread since incaic or even preincaic epoch on the Peruvian and Bolivian highlands. Modern versions of this style still use the Quechua or Aymara language and the siku ...

—A highland circle dance mainly in the Andean

Altiplano The Altiplano (Spanish language, Spanish for "high plain"), Collao (Quechuan languages, Quechua and Aymara language, Aymara: Qullaw, meaning "place of the Qulla people, Qulla") or Andean Plateau, in west-central South America, is the most extens ...

. * Landó—An Afro-Peruvian compound 3/4-12/8 dance rhythm. *

Marinera Marinera is a partner dance that originated along the coastal regions of Peru, using handkerchiefs as props. The dance is a re-enactment of an ancient Mochic dance, modernised with a mix of Spanish contradanza and Andean zamacueca, and is a s ...

—An Afro-Peruvian 6/8 dance rhythm. *

Polka Polka is a dance style and genre of dance music in originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though generally associated with Czech and Central European culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the ...

—A 2/4 European-in-origin dance form. *

Sikuri Sikuri is a musical style from Peru and Bolivia consisting of siku players and drum accompaniment. There are usually around twenty siku players. As each siku cannot play all the notes of a scale, the siku players use an interlocking technique to ...

—A dance rhythm from the Andean

in southern Peru and western Bolivia. * Son de los Diablos * Tondero—A northwestern Peruvian 6/8 dance form. *

Zamacueca The Zamacueca is an ancient colonial dance and music that originated in the Viceroyalty of Peru, taking its roots from Spanish, and Andean rhythms. See also *Dances of Peru *Latin American music The music of Latin America refers to mus ...

—A 6/8 Afro-Peruvian dance form.

Notable artists

Eva Ayllón Eva María Angélica Ayllón Urbina (born February 7, 1956), better known by her stage name Eva Ayllón, is a female composer and singer, one of Peru's foremost Afro-Peruvian musicians, and one of the country's most enduring living legends. She ...

, legendary

criolla Criolla is a genre of Cuban music which is closely related to the music of the Cuban Coros de Clave and a genre of Cuban popular music called Clave. The Clave became a very popular genre in the Cuban vernacular theater and was created by compo ...

and Peruvian folk composer, ten time Emmy nominee * Luis Abanto Morales, Peruvian folk composer *

Arturo "Zambo" Cavero Arturo Cavero Velásquez (29 November 1940 – 9 October 2009), better known by the pseudonym "Zambo Cavero", was a Peruvian singer, representative of Afro-Peruvian identity. Biography Born in Lima, Peru, he was the son of Juan Cavero, of Hu ...

, legendary traditional folk composer and singer *

Francisco González Gamarra Francisco González Gamarra (June 4, 1890, Cusco, Peru – July 15, 1972 Lima, Peru) was a Peruvian composer, painter, and academic administrator. As a composer he began his career writing music in styles of the Classical period (music), Classical ...

, Peruvian composer *

Manuelcha Prado Manuelcha Prado (born 10 June 1955) is a guitarist, singer, composer, compiler and troubadour of Andean music Andean music is a group of styles of music from the Andes region in South America. Original chants and melodies come from the gener ...

, guitarist, singer, composer, compiler and troubadour of Andean music. He is also known for many people as "The ''Saqra'' of the Guitar". *

Jaime Guardia Jaime Guillermo Guardia Neyra (10 February 1933 – 16 July 2018) was a Peruvian singer and charango player. Considered a master of the Ayacucho regional style of traditional Andean music, he performed and recorded as a solo act and with the ...

, singer and charango player, performed and recorded as a solo act and with the group Lira Paucina. *

Martina Portocarrero Martina Portocarrero (29 September 1949 – 22 April 2022) was a Peruvian folk singer, cultural researcher, and politician. She was an interpreter of huaynos and mulizas, as well as a researcher of Andean culture. Portocarrero was posthumously h ...

, folk singer * Raúl Romero,

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

and

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

ensembles from the

Mantaro Valley The Mantaro Valley, also known as Jauja Valley, is a fluvial inter-Andean valley of Junin region, east of Lima, the capital of Peru. The Mantaro River flows through the fertile valley which produces potatoes, maize, and vegetables among othe ...

Susana Baca Susana Esther Baca de la Colina (; born 24 May 1944) is a prominent Peruvian singer-songwriter, school teacher, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and three-time Latin Grammy Award winner. She has been a key figure in the revival of Afro-Peruvian ...

, singer-songwriter and two-times

Latin Grammy Award The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...

winner. * One important space for Peruvian contemporary classical music is Circomper, the Peruvian Composition Circle.

Notes

External links

Música Criolla del Perú
*
Audio clips: Traditional music of Peru.

Musée d'ethnographie de Genève The ' ("Geneva Ethnography Museum") is one of the most important ethnographic museums in Switzerland. History The MEG, or Geneva Museum of Ethnography, was founded on 25 September 1901, on the initiative of Professor Eugène Pittard (1867-1962), ...

. Accessed November 25, 2010. *Brill, Mark. Music of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2nd Edition, 2018. Taylor & Francis
BBC Radio 3 Audio (60 minutes): Huaynos of the Andes and Afro-Peruvian music.
Accessed November 25, 2010.
BBC Radio 3 Audio (60 minutes): The music of Ayacucho.
Accessed November 25, 2010.
BBC Radio 3 Audio (60 minutes): Iquitos, Huancayo and Lake Titicaca.
Accessed November 25, 2010.
Manuelcha Prado Official website

Music from the Andes and Nearby Regions

Going Underground: Peru
An exploration into the underground music scene in Peru {{South America topic, Music of Culture of Peru Music of Latin America Culture of Latin America