Latin American Music Research Paper

Latin-American Music All music styles, genre’s, instruments, have had an origin of where it began. Specifically, Latin-American music has had a complex origin and history of where it all started. Not only that, but ever since it began it has evolved into something slightly different as the centuries have gone by. This style has a sense of unique dynamics, especially compared to other styles of music. If one is of Latin-American descent they usually have a favorite Latin song, dance, instrument, or all of the above. Nonetheless, the history of Latin-American music is complicated, the characteristics of the style is diverse, and the instruments, dances, and styles are unique.
Latin music was originated from musical traditions of Mexico, Central
First of all, language is the one feature that is almost shared all over Latin-American music. Since the Spanish and Portuguese were the ones that conquered those areas, it is not surprising that those two languages are found in majority of the music. The rhythm of the music is quite distinctive in every country. For instance, some African rhythm is incorporated and it is has had a major impact in the music styles. Some examples would be the Bomba, Cuban Romba, Puerto Rican salsa, and the Columbian cumbia (Orwell, 2009, para. 1-3). Other types of rhythms that is included is the Spanish Decima. In other words, it is a song that “consists of 10 lines, each with eight syllables,” and this is the most traditional characteristic (Orwell, 2009, para. 4). Syncopation is also majorly used in Latin-American music and it involves weak rhythmic beats and are accented instead of strong beats. Also, for African related music, call and response is a characteristic that has been transferred over to the Latin-American style. Call and response is described when “two or more musical parts go back and forth, and they can either be rhythmic beats or song lyrics” (Orwell, 2009, para.
Thinking about all the types and differences of music styles around the world, Latin-American music has a complex background to it. The origin of the music has had its tough obstacles for the people, but it has positively led it to the phenomenon style today. The characteristics are certainly different, but it is still appeasing to listen to. Also, the different types of instruments, dances, and styles, and how it is all mixed together makes it an appealing music genre. Overall, Latin-American music has come a long way since Christopher Columbus discovered them and ever since then the Latin composers have incorporated expressional