Dominican Republic traditional music

In the Dominican Republic there are plenty of famous genres and song, also there are different popular genres, but the most popular of all genres are merengue and bachata, now times have changed but still, people love merengue! Dominican Republic has in its traditional music a great variety of instrument and ryhtms. Guira instruments like the drums and accordion are essential elements of Dominican folk music.

Instruments and genres:
Guira, drums and accordion are the musical instruments that define the so-called “parrot ripiao” or “typical set.” From Africa comes the drum, a key instrument in the rhythmic structure of the national dance. The Creole was built especially in the Northwest. Along with other manifestations of Dominican popular music culture has been enriched by the importation of foreign musical instruments. Such is the case of the accordion, which arrives in the country in the late nineteenth century, going directly to the fields of Cibao.

The most popular genre is Bachata:

Also known as a genre of bitterness, this rhythm comes with the popular spontaneity of the neighborhood. Born as a string bolero Jose Calderon is considered by some researchers as the originator of this genre in the 60′s. Later the singers Rafael Encarnacion and Luis Segura made this genre really popular.

The famous musician Luis Vargas provided the original essence that bachata has nowadays. Anthony Santos incorporated later a new language in the use of guitar and percussion. This new genre is called by the locals “thew new bachata” this began in Montecristi, in Matas de Santa Cruz.

Dominican “Son” music:

This genre appears between 1870 and 1890 around the towns of Montecristi and Puerto Plata. There is a theory that the son is a hybrid of African and Spanish elements that seems to have derived from bolero, or is a native form of play or bolero bolero rhythmic racket that was maintained until the twenties of last century.

Over time, the way you play this rhythm is called bolero-son, and tradition assigns its creation to Miguel Matamoros. Usually we talk about Lágrimas Negras as the first piece in this variation, the composition being made in the thirties.

Merengue:

Locals estimate that the original merengue emerged around 1850, being accepted from the outset by a portion of the population while another rejects it. Initially created to exist alongside the tumba, moving the latter around 1860.

The predisposition to this new ball is due to couples who previously danced apart, it proceeded to “embrace”, it includes more movement of the hips and the rest of the body.

At first stringed instruments like the guitar, are used in their intonation. Later musicians added piano, guiro, and the drum. In 1870 the arrival of the accordion and its incorporation into merengue replaced the strings.