Tropical music ( es, música tropical) is a term in the Latin

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

that refers to

music genre A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from ''musical form'' and musical style, although in practice these terms are some ...

s deriving from or influenced by the Spanish-speaking areas of the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. It includes the islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, The Dominican Republic, and the Caribbean coastal regions of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and Venezuela. In the 1940s and 1950s, the term tropical music was created to cover all music from the hispanophone Caribbean excluding Cuban music, which had its own category and niche within the American (and to a lesser extent European) music market. However, later in the 20th century after the Cuban Revolution, tropical music gained a broader meaning and began to be used in order to distinguish Caribbean genres such as cumbia and son cubano from inland genres such as

tejano Tejanos (, ; singular: ''Tejano/a''; Spanish for "Texan", originally borrowed from the Caddo ''tayshas'') are the residents of the state of Texas who are culturally descended from the Mexican population of Tejas and Coahuila that lived in the ...

and norteño.

Characteristics

Due to its geographical roots, tropical music generally combines elements from European and African traditions. An example of this is the process of binarization of ternary rhythms brought from Africa, which took place originally in Cuba, later spreading throughout the rest of the Caribbean and Latin America. The presence of syncopated polyrhythms of African origin make most tropical music naturally dance-oriented. Tropical music instrumentation also includes both European ( tres, piano, trumpet, timbales) and African-descended (

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest) ...

, bongos, marimba) instruments. During the late 20th century, contemporary instruments such as

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

s and drum machines were incorporated.

History

Despite being a concept created in the 20th century within the music industry, tropical music encompasses genres and styles that can be traced back to the 16th century, when the Caribbean (and thus America) was discovered and colonized by Europeans. It was not until the 19th century that tropical music became a global phenomenon with the popularization of Cuban contradanza (also known as habanera). Cuba would continue to spearhead the development of tropical music with other ballroom music styles, as well as the

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...

and son cubano. The Dominican Republic contributed with merengue and

bachata Bachata may refer to: * Bachata (music), a genre of Latin American music **Traditional bachata, a subgenre of bachata music * Bachata (dance), a dance style from the Dominican Republic * Bachatón, a hybrid bachata/reggaeton music style * "Bachata ...

, two very successful genres, while Puerto Rican music is exemplified by relatively minor genres such as bomba and plena. The very popular cumbia and vallenato originated on the coasts of

. Tropical music would have a long-lasting impact in the music of other regions beyond the Caribbean such as the United States (where

rhumba Rhumba, also known as ballroom rumba, is a genre of ballroom music and dance that appeared in the East Coast of the United States during the 1930s. It combined American big band music with Afro-Cuban rhythms, primarily the son cubano, but also co ...

and salsa were primarily developed), Africa (where soukous was developed), and South America. For example, in Chile, tropical music genres were progressively introduced depending on their popularity in the Caribbean and North America. Thus, genres such as guaracha, mambo, cha cha cha and later cumbia made their way into the radios and concert halls of Chile between the 1930s and 1960s.

Radio format

Tropical music also refers to a music format common in Latin music radio stations. Among the most popular tropical styles are salsa, merengue,

, cumbia, and vallenato.

References

External links

Musica Tropical in Colombia
Radio show with professor Peter Wade, musician Martin Vejarano of the band La Cumbiamba Eneye, and host Georges Collinet, Afropop Worldwide, June 21, 2007
Sound recordings of Música Tropical
from WorldCat {{Music in Spanish Latin American music Radio formats

Characteristics

History

Radio format

See also

References

Further reading

External links