Instruments of the Colombian Caribbean music: cumbia, porro and vallenato
What instruments sound about the cumbia, the pat and the vallenato, what role each plays and what you can study with a teacher if the Colombian Caribbean music moves you.
The Colombian Caribbean's music is built with three great groups of instruments: drums and minor percussion (cheerful drum, call drum, drum, seawater, guache and guacharaca), traditional flutes (ganitas and mildflato) and, at the vallenate and gangs, instruments of European origin such as accordion, clarinet, trumpet and trombone.
Here you will see what sounds about every format, what every instrument does within the group and how to start if you want to play cuebas, pits or pits.
To sum up
- At the cumbia and gaito music, the juicy and juicy drum, the call holds a fixed blow and the drum gives serious weight.
- The male and male gaits and the milk flute wear the melody in the traditional sets.
- The traditional vallenate is played with accordion, box and guacharaca, and usually organized in four air: promenade, are, meringue and pura.
- The past and Fandango are the repertoire of the seawater wind bands with claratoriums, trumpets, thrombons, bombardment and percussion.
- Percusion, clarinet, trumpet, trombone and saxophone are good entrance doors to play Caribbean music with a teacher.
The formats: who plays what
More than loose instruments, in the Caribbean there are sets with a recognizable combination. To know what you like is the first step to choose what to learn.
| Format | Instruments | Typical Repertoire |
|---|---|---|
| Gaito set | Fancy, pounding, pounding, pounding and pounding | Cumbia, Baits and Fuses |
| Mill set | Mill flute, cheerful drum, llamador, drummer, seawater or guache | Cumbias, puras and rhythms of carnival |
| Vallenate set | Acordion, box, guacharaca, today also under electrical, conga and chorus | Passeig, they are, meringue and pura |
| Fairy or seawold band | Clears, trumpets, thrombons, bombines, pump, pounding and saucer | Loops and fandangos |
To these are added the tropical orchestras, that have brought the cumbia and the pat to the dance halls with saxophone, trumpets, piano and contraband or low. If you have to see how the Caribbean fits into the sound map of the country, review the [instruments typical of Colombia by region]](/blog/instrumentos-tipicos-de-colombia).
The drums: the heart of the cumbia
Mairy drum
He's a drum of a patch that's been touched with his hands. His role's to improvise: He's repic, responded to his melody and dialogues with those who dance. He's the percussion soloist, and that's why he's asking for an ear, creativity and a lot of pulse rule.
Llamador
A smaller, regular and regular blow throughout the whole piece. It looks simple but it's the anchor of the group: if the call man hesitates, everything gets bad. It's an excellent first drum to develop constancy.
Tambora
Two-patch drum that's touched with pits, alternating pounding onto the patch and onto the wood or the ring. It's a feature of the serious and the push that's felt in the body.
Fairy and guacharaca
The maracas and guache (a seed-filled tube) fill the space with a continuous sound that holds the movement. The guacharaca, a cane scraper that is rubbed with a trench, is fundamental to the vallenate.
At [percussion classes]](/clases/percusion) you develop the pulse, co-ordination, independence and rhythmic reading that you require for any of these instruments. The technique of a concrete traditional drum, as the pounding of the cheerful, should be tuned with someone who knows the style. If you doubt between ways, read [drums or Latino percussion]](/blog/bateria-o-percusion-latina).
Gaito and pat flute: the melodies with an indigenous root
The Baits are long flutes of indigenous origin, traditionally made with cardón stem, cactus, with a beeswax head mixed with coal and a pen nozzle. They play as a pair: Female gaite with his melody and his male gaitewith less holes, she's with her while the gawer's shaking a seawater with his free hand.
The Millo flute It's a thin cane that's beamed by and sounds with a tongue cut into the same cane. It's got an acute and penetrating tipster and many interpreters add a buzzer with his voice while his name's ringing. It's inseparable from carnival and the whole cumbia.
Both are broadcast especially orally, from teachers to apprentices, in schools of traditional music and houses of culture. If you come from another instrument of wind, air and ear control help you, but each's technique is his or her own and it's worth learning in his or her context.
Vallegranate: accordion, box and guacharaca
The traditional vallenate holds onto three instruments and it's usually explained that they have three roots: accordion and with a number of buttons, come from Europe, with melody and harmony. boxA small drum with his hands and his arms and his arms and his arms and his arms and his arms and his arms and his arms and his arms and his arms. guacharaca It's associated with indigenous scrapers.
The traditional four air are the promenade, the are, the meringue and the pura. Each has its own tempo and its character: the pura is of the fastest and most demanding and they are of the most paused. At today's vallenato it's common to add under electrical, conga, chores and other instruments.
The vallenate accordion is a highly specialized path that is often learned with traditional accordion. If you are attracted to play in a set of modern vallenate, low, percussion or singing are very useful entrance gates.
Porro and Fandango: The Fandango Wind Farms
In the savannas of Córdoba and Sucre, wind gangs play paddles and fandangos at parties and celebrations. They are called pelayeras by San Pelayo, in Córdoba, and in other regions of the country they are known similar formats as pawayeras. Each instrument has a clear role:
- Clarifications: agile melodies, ornaments and dialogues with metal.
- Trumpets: strength, glow and answer phrases.
- Thrombones: and the harmonic mattress of the band.
- Bombardinus: middle- serious.
- Milling and pounding and plates: The rhythmic motor that puts them all to dance.
To play in a band as well requires a powerful but controlled sound, endurance, good reading and ear to play in Section. [Clarinet classes]](/clases/clarinete) and as a trumpet they work that base, and at wind bands in Colombia: how to start We'll tell you how to get into one.
What instrument to learn if you love Caribbean music?
| If you care about him... | It starts with... | What are you going to work with? |
|---|---|---|
| The drums of Cumbia | Percussion | A lung, independence, handjobs and rhythmic reading. |
| The melodies of the gangs | Clarinet | Warm, agile digitation and ornaments. |
| The energy of metals | Thrompette or thrombon | Vibration of the lips, endurance and sound in Section. |
| The Sound of Tropical orchestras | Saxophone | Sound, frying and Section work. |
| The current vallenate | Electrical or singing low | Groove, accompaniment and voice. |
| The gawks, the milk or the accordion | Teachers of tradition | Specific technique and ear training. |
In A medio tono you can include pomegranates, pomegranates and fandangos in your percussion or wind classes, virtual or at home in Bogotá, and combine them with the technique you need to sound good in any style.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between the male and the male gaite?
The female gaite has more holes and carries the main melody. The male gaite has less holes, makes a more repetitive accompaniment and gets touched with one hand while the other blows a seawater.
What's the difference between the cumbia and the joint?
The two are Colombian Caribbean music and share many traits but are associated with different formats: the cumbia was born into sets of drums with pits or pits, and the past is the iconic repertoire of the seawold wind bands. Both later passed to the orchestras.
What's a fight band?
It's a wind band from the Colombian Caribbean's savage tradition, called by San Pelayo, in Córdoba. It plays pits and fandangos with claratorias, trumpets, thrombones, bombines, pump, pounding and sauces.
Can you learn how to play a cheerful drum in Bogotá?
That's right. In Bogotá there are collectiffs, traditional music schools and teachers who teach Caribbean drums. A high-pulse and good co-ordination base makes that training much faster.