What are Colombia's typical tools? Regional guide
From an Andean tiple to a Pacific chonta tipple: a tour of the typical instruments of every region of Colombia, what role they play and how to start playing them.
The typical instruments of Colombia change with the region: in the Andean area they command tiple, bandola and guitar, in the Caribbean, the gaias, drums (cheerful, pampering and drummer), guacharaca and accordion, in the Pacific, the chonta tipple, cunununas, pumps and guasah, and in the Llanos, the harp, the four and the maracas.
Each region mixes indigenous, African and European roots and that's why every set sounds so different. Here's a regional map, the role of every instrument and what you can start to learn today.
To sum up
- Andean region: tiple, bandola and guitar form the typical trio that plays bambucos, hallways, guabines and whirlwind.
- Caribbean: The gawks and the pounding paddle carry the melody, the juicy, juicy drum, the call holds and the vallenato are touched with accordion, box and guacharaca.
- Pacific: the chonta's tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititi@@
- Plains: The harp, the four and the maracas are the base of the humpback.
- Tipple, bandola, guitar, percussion and winds can be learned with a teacher. Gaias, Maimba and Harp are often learned with masters of tradition.
Fast map: typical instruments by region
| Region | Main tools | Musics and rhythms |
|---|---|---|
| Andina | Tipple, andines, guitar and retiner and minor percussion as spoons, pits or matt | Bambuco, corridor, guabina, whirlwind, dance, caranga |
| Caribe | Gaito, milk flute, cheerful drum, llamador, drummer, seawater, guache, accordion, box, guacharaca, wind bands | Cumbia, gaita, porro, fandango, vallenate |
| Pacific | Fairy with chonta, ponds, pumps and guasah, and chirimia at Chocó | Currulao, bade, juga, abozao |
| Flow (Orinocia) | Mill manga, four, maracas, in some forms, boulda Mill | Horopo: passages and blows |
The boundaries aren't rigid. The musicians travel, the genres cross and today it's normal to listen to a tiple in a fusion, a tipple with an electrical bass or a joint with an orchestra. Still, this map helps you to place every sound.
Andean region: tiple, bandola and guitar
In the mountains of the centre of the country, the iconic format is the Andean trio: The bandola carries the melody, the tiple holds the harmony and rhythm, and the guitar contributes the low ones. It's with them they play bambucos, hallways, guabines, whirlpools and dances, at serenatas, family and student meetings at schools and universities.
The tiple
It has 12 metal strings grouped into four orders of three, a body smaller than guitar and a brilliant sound, full of harmonics. Many consider it the national instrument. Their tuning relates to the first four guitar strings, so whoever already plays guitar has an advanced path. If you call, here are the [tiple classes]](/clases/tiple).
The Andine Bandola
It's the melodic voice of the trio. It's played with a pleptro about metal string orders, and its most characteristic resource is the trumolus: repeat the same note very quickly so that it sounds sustained, almost sung. You can get to know more about [Andean bandata classes]](/clases/bandola-andina).
The guitar and his relatives
In Andean music, guitar makes the bounds that walk between chord and chord and complete harmony. At Boyacá and Santander, caranga adds up to the retort, of the tiple family and guacharaca and in the whirlwind there appear simple pacts such as spoons, jucho or matt. We tell you how to take the first steps in [guide to start with Colombian Andean music].](/blog/musica-andina-colombiana-guia-para-empezar).
Caribbean: Baits, drums, accordion and gangs
Gaito and pat flute
The gawks are long flutes of indigenous origin, traditionally made with the cardón stem (a cactus), 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 goes with her while the gayer pits a seawater with his other hand. Millo flute It's a thin cane that's been beamed and sounds with a tongue cut into the same cane.
The drums
The Mairy drum and dialogue with the dance, the Flamadorand, smaller, repeat a fixed blow that keeps them all together and drumwith two patches and with paddles, contributes the serious. guacheA tube filled with seeds, complete the rhythmic fabric of the cumbia and the music of gaito.
Acordion, box and guacharaca
They are the three instruments of the traditional vallenate. The diatonic accordion carries the melody and harmony, the box (a small drum with his hands) sets the rhythm, and the guacharaca, a cane scraper that rubbed with a trench, filled and pitted his pulse.
Wind bands
In the savannas of Córdoba and Sucre, the pelayera gangs play paces and fandangos with claratorias, trumpets, thrombones, bombardines and percussion. We explain this in depth in the guide to [instruments of Colombian Caribbean music]](/blog/instrumentos-de-la-musica-del-caribe-colombiano).
Pacific: tiddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd@@
South Pacific music revolves around chonta marimba: chonta palm wood keys on guadua resonators, with them being touched with baquetes. cunununas, conic drums of a patch with their hands as partners (male and female), and light with two patches, known as a pounding and a rudder and guasahA guadua tube with seeds inside that's usually in the hands of the singers.
The voices, with questions and answers, are as important as the instruments in the curulao, bounce and juga. Maimba music and traditional South Pacific songs are recognized by UNESCO as an immaterial cultural heritage.
The Chocó's scuba
In the North Pacific, the chirimia changes the Maimba to wind and percussion: clarinet, bombardment, pounding, drum and saucer. It's party and street music with air as the beret and good reason to get close to the clarinet if you like this sound.
Flow: harp, four and maracas
The humpback, that Colombia shares with Venezuela, holds up on three instruments. Fairy harp with his melody and his low ones, his 4and a small guitar with four nylon strings, its rhythmic and harmonic motor with its dry and fast rag and seawater They define air with fast and very precise figures. In some sets, the plain bandola takes the melodic place of the harp.
On that basis, she sings the plain, retiring and with a lot of air, with passages, more lyric and more powerful blows. If you come from the guitar, your harmonic ear serves you for the four, but her tuning and her scattering technique are his own and we should learn them from scratch.
What can you start to learn?
| If you're attracted to him... | It starts with... | Why? |
|---|---|---|
| Accompanying bambucos and corridors | Tiple | Rashes and chords from the start and if you play guitar, move quickly. |
| Wear an Andean melody | Andean bandola | Plectro and trémolo, she's the leading player of the trio. |
| A basis that will serve everything | Acoustic guitar | It works with Andean music, with the plain and with almost anything. |
| The Caribbean and Pacific drums | Percussion | Pulse, co-ordination and independence, the basis for any traditional drum. |
| The joint bands and the chirimia | Clarinet or trumpet | They are central voices of Colombian wind gangs. |
The gawks, chonta's tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal titidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal tidal titititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititititi@@
In A medio tono there are tiple, bandola, guitar, percussion and winds, at virtual or at home classes in Bogotá. Before playing, it's worth understanding how these air's felt: we explain it to you in [the Colombian rhythms: bamboo, corridor and cumbia]](/blog/ritmos-colombianos-bambuco-pasillo-y-cumbia-explicados).
Frequently asked questions
What's Colombia's national instrument?
The tiple is often referred to as the most representative instrument of the country, as its central place in Andean music. Nevertheless, Colombia cannot be found in a single instrument: an accordion, a gaito, a chonta's Maimba and a llanera's harp are as iconic in their regions.
What tools are used in Cumbia?
In its traditional form, gawks or milk flute for melody, and cheerful drum, call, drum and maraca or guache for rhythm. In time, the cumbia also passed to accordion, wind bands and orchestras.
What are the three instruments of vallenate?
The accordion, the box and the guacharaca. It's often explained that they have three roots: the accordion came from Europe, the box evokes the drums of African origin and the guacharaca and the indigenous scrapers.
Is it difficult to learn a typical Colombian instrument if I have never been a player?
No more than anything else. The tiple, bandola or percussion can start from scratch with a teacher that knows the style. What costs most at first isn't the technique but the rhythm of every air, and that's solved listening a lot and counting out loud.