Cool Stuff-South American music

Many things about the culture in South America interested me but I was able to narrow it down to three things that I wanted to learn more about. I'm going to be discussing the Charango and Quena instruments and the Tango dance. The Charango and the Quena are instruments from Andean culture. The Tango is a romantic partner dance that originated from Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

1) Charango 

The Charango is a guitar-like stringed instrumented that originated from South America. It has ten strings and is an Andean instrument. There are several theories about how the Charango originated according to Middermusic.com. One theory is that when Spanish people came to South America, they brought another instrument called the Vihuela, a modern-day guitar. South Americans could not shape the wood of the Vihuela properly, so they used Armadillos to create the Charango. (What Charango's are made of) . Another theory is that the Charango came from Peru from a region called Ayacucho. The final theory about the origin of the Charango is that the Spanish colonization did not allow native music to be played so the Charango was created to be played in secret. 

Here's a video that is a cover of a song called "Flor de Huancayo" recorded in 1996 by Alejandro Camera. The woman in the video plays it on two Charango's: one tuned and one not tuned. The tuned one sounds higher pitched, and you can tell the two different instruments a part. I liked the difference in the two Charango's and the song was upbeat and fun to listen to. It sounded like there was additional instruments in addition to what she played, but I'm not sure. I'm thinking the Charango was recorded and she played over it.

2) Quena- Traditional flute of the Andean culture 

This is a flute from the Andean culture that is traditionally made from wood with six finger holes. It has one thumb hole and is either closed on both ends or open on one. It rests on the chin and lower lip which allows the pipe to be closed at the top of the Quena. There are different kinds but according to Wikipedia.org, the main kind is from G to G4 being the lowest note on the flute. 

Here is a video of a Quena being played that I really enjoyed. I liked the harmony, rhythm, and the way the flute produced the sound the man played. The song is called "Camino De llamas", It was enjoyable to listen to. :)

3) Tango 

The Tango is a partner dance that is seen as romantic. It originated from the 18th century in Buenos Aries, Argentina.  According to Dance Facts, that website said that it was a favorite among lower working class and European immigrants. The Tango then spread to the rest of the world becoming very popular. It was banned in 1789 by the government because the dance was not approved of. There are two types of Tango- original Argentinean and Spanish Andalusian. Spanish Andalusian is normally performed by single women. I attached a video below of the show "Strictly Come Dancing" with dancers Debbie & Giovanni dancing the Argentine Tango. I liked how authentic the dancing seemed to be. It was really fascinating to see because it must take a lot of practice. 

Those are the three things from South American culture that I wanted to focus on and write more about.