5 Popular Latin-American Music Genres

Do you know that Latin America has contributed a lot and has enriched world music? Latin American music includes end number of genres. While some of them are drawn from native traditions, some others are taken from European folk music tradition. You can discover the influence of African music as well since many of the singers, dancers and musicians have their root in Africa.

Though Latin American music has its own unique characteristic it echoes the same universal human feelings and emotion. Some of the very popular Latin Music forms are Tango, Salsa, Samba, Son, Bossanova and the list goes on.

Tango:

Tango, one of the most popular music genres of Latin America was originated in Argentina in 1890s. The working class created this new rhythm. They were inspired by the Cuban habanera as well as the local milonga. The music used to reflect a pessimistic mood. It used to depict the sorrow brought forth by unavoidable destiny.

Tango was adopted by the people of USA in 1910s and it took a new direction. Instead of echoing a melancholy mood it started portraying a more erotic mood. "Yo Soy La Morocha" by Enrique Saborido is considered to be one of the earliest hits of Tango. Tango was enriched with more poetic lyrics in the era of 1930s when literate song writes make it an intellectual affair.

Bossanova:

Bossanova can be described as the music of the bourgeoisie since it was formed by the while young intellectuals. Bossanova mingled both jazz music and a slower, gentler form of Samba. Bossanova mainly captures a romantic mood, bohemian life, natural beauty and so on. It is the most favorite genre of the easy-listening crowd. Bossanova was made popular by artists like Jobim, Moraes, Cardoso, Gilberto and so on. Some of the popular Bossanova numbers include Garota de Ipanema, Desafinado, Chega de Saudade etc. The contribution of DeAndrade can not be denied who composed "The Solo Guitar", Shambhala Moon and Ocean by mingling American folk music, jazz, samba and European classical music.

Son:

The next name that comes into the list is Son. This popular music genre was born in Cuba in the 20^th century. Artists like Miguel Matamores, Ignacio Pineiro, made a mixture of African Rumba and Spanish popular music and made Son popular. The instruments that initially accompanied Son were claves, tres, bongos and contrabass. Son took a new turn in the 1920s when Miguel Failde Perez first documented Dazon, another version of Son (for the upper class). It was mainly performed with flute and violin orchestras. Some of the famous names of this field include Xavier Cugat, Arsenio Rodriguez, Rene Alvarez etc.

Salsa:

Salsa is a very popular form of Latin Music. It is even more popular as a dance form. Salsa owes its origin to Son as Son was renamed as Salsa in 1973. Salsa owes its fame to the "Salsa" concert held in New York in 1976. Salsa is also known as "Guaguanco" in Puerto Rico. Guaguanco reminds us of a kind of Rumba dance.

In 1978 Ruben Blades composed the music of the best selling Salsa album ever. Different people like Angel Canales introduced various versions of Salsa. The members of Eddie Palmieri's orchestra created a jazzy and aggressive version of Salsa. Gradually Salsa was also contaminated with various political issues.

Samba:

This is mainly a dance form related to the Candomble rituals of Africa. The word "Samba" originated in 1838. It was influenced by the Brazilian dance form "Maxixe". Soon it established itself as a popular music genre. The rhythm of Samba is designed in such a manner so that it can be associated with singing, dancing as well as parade. Samba became popular in Europe also and the credit for this goes to Manuel Duque Diniz. The first recorded hit song of this genre was Pelo Telefone by Ernesto Donga dos Santos.