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Güira
The güira () is a percussion instrument from the Dominican Republic used in merengue, bachata, and to a lesser extent, other genres such as cumbia. It is made of a metal sheet (commonly steel) and played with a stiff brush, thus being similar to the Haitian graj (a perforated metal cylinder scraped with a stick) and the Cuban guayo (metal scraper) and güiro (gourd scraper). Güira, guayo and güiro all have a function akin to that of the indigenous native maracas or the trap-kit's hi-hat, namely providing a complementary beat. Performers on the güira are referred to as ''güireros'' and in merengue típico ensembles they often co-lead percussion sections along with tambora-playing ''tamboreros'', due to the significance of their African-derived interlocking rhythms in providing a basic musical foundation for dance. Usage The güira is most often found in merengue típico where it serves as one of multiple percussion instruments, most usually interlocking with the rhy ...
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Merengue Music
Merengue is a type of music and Merengue (dance), dance originating in present-day Dominican Republic which has become a very popular genre throughout Latin America, and also in several major cities in the United States with Latino communities. Merengue was inscribed on November 30, 2016, in the representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO. Merengue was developed in the middle of the 1800s, originally played with European stringed instruments (bandurria and guitar). Years later, the stringed instruments were replaced by the accordion, thus conforming, together with the güira and the Tambora (Dominican drum), tambora, the instrumental structure of the typical merengue ensemble. This set, with its three instruments, represents the synthesis of the three cultures that made up the idiosyncrasy of Dominican culture. The European influence is represented by the accordion, the African by the Tambora, which is a two-head drum, and the Taino or aborigina ...
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Merengue Típico
Merengue típico (also known as merengue cibaeño or colloquially as perico ripiao) is a musical genre of the Dominican Republic, and the oldest style of merengue music, merengue. Merengue típico is the term preferred by most musicians as it is more respectful and emphasizes the music's traditional nature. The Instruments that are used are the accordion, bass guitar, güira, conga, and Tambora (Dominican drum), tambora (drum). ''Merengue típico'' is the oldest style of merengue still performed today (usually in the Dominican Republic and the United States), its origins dating back to the 1850s. It originated in the rural city of Navarrete (villa bisono), northern valley region around the city of Santiago called the Cibao, resulting in the term "merengue cibaeño". Originally played on the metal scraper called güira, the Tambora (Dominican drum), tambora, and a stringed instrument (usually a guitar or a variant such as the Tres (musical instrument), tres). Stringed instruments ...
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Guayo
The guayo or ralladera is a metal scraper used as a percussion instrument in traditional styles of Cuban music such as changüí, predecessor of son cubano. Largely replaced by the güiro (gourd scraper) during the 20th century, the guayo is now rare. In the Dominican Republic, the güira, a similar metal scraper used in merengue, is sometimes called guayo. In contrast to Cuba, güiras replaced güiros in the early 20th century. In changüí The guayo survives in Cuba almost exclusively as part of changüí performances in the eastern regions of the country (formerly known as the Oriente Province). It is one of the five instruments played in the genre together with the maracas, botija or marímbula, bongo, and tres. Guayos consist of a cylindrical metal sheet with a cheese grater surface which is scraped with a metal rod or bone. Notable guayo players include Santiago Reyes "Chago Guayo", Carlos Borromeo Planche "Cambrón" and José Andrés Rodríguez Ramírez, all of which we ...
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Bachata (music)
Bachata is a genre of music that originated in the Dominican Republic in the 20th century. It contains elements of European (mainly Music of Spain, Spanish music), indigenous Taino and African musical elements, representing the Culture of the Dominican Republic, cultural diversity of the Dominican population. A form of dance, Bachata (dance), bachata, also developed with the music.Pacini Hernandez, Deborah"Brief history of Bachata" ''Bachata, A social history of a Dominican popular music'', 1995, Temple University Press. Retrieved on December 4, 2008 In the 1990s bachata's instrumentation changed from nylon string Spanish guitar and maracas of traditional bachata to the electric guitar, electric steel string and guira of modern bachata. Bachata further transformed in the 21st century with the creation of urban bachata styles by bands such as Monchy y Alexandra and Aventura (band), Aventura. These new modern styles of bachata became an international phenomenon, and today bach ...
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Güiro
The güiro () is a percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stick or tines (see photo) along the notches to produce a ratchet sound. The güiro is commonly used in Cuban, Puerto Rican, and other forms of Latin American music, and plays a key role in the typical rhythm section of important genres like son, trova and salsa. Playing the güiro usually requires both long and short sounds, made by scraping up and down in long or short strokes. The güiro, like the maracas, is often played by a singer. It is closely related to the Cuban guayo, Dominican güira, and Haitian graj which are made of metal. Other instruments similar to the güiro are the Colombian guacharaca, the Brazilian reco-reco, the Cabo Verdean ferrinho, the quijada (cow jawbone) and the frottoir (French) or fwotwa (French Creole) ( washboard). Etymology In the Arawakan language, a language of the indigenous people of ...
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Reco-reco
The reco-reco (also called the raspador, caracaxá or querequexé) is a scraper of African origin used as a percussion instrument in Brazilian music,ROCCA, Edgar Nunes "Bituca", ''Escola Brasileira de Música: Uma visão Brasileira no ensino da música e seus instrumentos de percussão 1''. Rio de Janeiro: Europa, EBM, 1986 but also in many Latin American countries, where it is known as güiro, güira, guayo and guacharaca. Traditionally, the reco-reco was made from a sawtooth notched cylindrical body made of bamboo or wood, and played with a wooden stick. The instrument is used in many styles of Brazilian music, such as samba and related genres. For some time, reco-recos have been made of a metallic cylinder with spring (device), springs attached and played with a metal stick, which results in a much louder sound. In some models, the sound box has a hole on the bottom part, which can be covered with the hand to achieve different timbral possibilities. Nowadays, reco-recos have al ...
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Jawbone (instrument)
The quijada, charrasca, or jawbone (in English) is an idiophone percussion instrument made from the jawbone of a donkey, horse, mule, or cattle, producing a powerful buzzing sound. The jawbone is cleaned of tissue and dried to make the teeth loose and act as a rattle. It is used in music in most of Latin America, including Mexico, Peru, El Salvador, Ecuador, and Cuba. It was also historically used in the early American minstrel show. Technique To play it, a musician holds one end in one hand and strikes the other with either a stick or their hand; this causes the teeth to rattle against the bone creating a loud, untuned sound, specific to this instrument. The stick can also be pulled along the teeth which act as a rasp. These ingredients provide the basis for a wide variety of combinations and rhythms. Historical and cultural content While it is used in most of Latin America, the quijada originated from the Africans that were brought to the Americas during the colonial ...
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Pambiche
Pambiche is a Dominican music genre and dance form derived from merengue típico, the traditional style of merengue. It has a slower tempo than standard merengue and its tambora rhythm is based on the cinquillo. This style of merengue was originally known as ''merengue estilo yanqui'' (yankee-style merengue) or "Palm Beach one step", from which the term ''pambiche'' stems (corruption of "Palm Beach"). It is said to have originated from the americanized versions of merengue that the US military personnel performed during the occupation of the Dominican Republic. It is considered one of the most difficult americanized Latin American dances. Recordings Dominican accordionist El Prodigio released an album entitled ''Pambiche Meets Jazz'' in which he combined traditional merengue rhythms (most of the songs featuring pambiche) with American music styles such as jazz, rock and blues. Both pambiche and merengue are included in Jean Françaix's suite "Cinq Danses Exotiques". The Dom ...
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Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and a Dominican Republic–Haiti border, land border with Haiti to the west, occupying the Geography of the Dominican Republic, eastern five-eighths of Hispaniola which, along with Saint Martin (island), Saint Martin, is one of only two islands in the Caribbean shared by two sovereign states. In the Antilles, the country is the List of Caribbean islands by area, second-largest nation by area after Cuba at and List of Caribbean countries by population, second-largest by population after Haiti with approximately 11.4 million people in 2024, of whom 3.6 million reside in the Greater Santo Domingo, metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city. The native Taíno people had inhabited Hispaniola prior to European colonization of the America ...
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Idiophone
An idiophone is any musical instrument that creates sound primarily by the vibration of the instrument itself, without the use of air flow (as with aerophones), strings (chordophones), membranes (membranophones) or electricity ( electrophones). It is the first of the four main divisions in the original Hornbostel–Sachs system of musical instrument classification (see List of idiophones by Hornbostel–Sachs number). The early classification of Victor-Charles Mahillon called this group of instruments ''autophones''. The most common are struck idiophones, or concussion idiophones, which are made to vibrate by being struck, either directly with a stick or hand (like the wood block, singing bowl, steel tongue drum, handpan, triangle or marimba) or indirectly, with scraping or shaking motions (like maracas or flexatone). Various types of bells fall into both categories. A common plucked idiophone is the Jew's harp. According to Sachs, idiophones Etymology The word ...
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