HISTORY OF VALLENATO
Colombia is distinguished by its dancing spirit and Vallenato is its musical genre par excellence. In this country, there are also other popular styles, including salsa, porro or cumbia, but nothing more so than Vallenato. Although Colombia is a melting pot of musical genres of different origins, this is one popular genre that originated within the country.
Vallenato is an artistic expression that is native to Colombia, not found in any other country. In its origin, the contribution that the indigenous and black cultures have created a combination that attracts by the fusion of local and not native instruments, ending up as a totally recognizable type of music. It is played with three instruments, in a traditional way with the diatonic accordion, the guacharaca, the caja vallenata and the guitar. Influenced by Afro-European beats, vallenato is a form of folk music born in the Caribbean pueblos of the Valledupar region of Colombia.
Like many origins of music, vallenato stems from the lower classes and farmers of the region who used to travel with their musical instruments to entertain themselves on their journeys and also deliver news from one pueblo to another. It is completely different from salsa and although not as popular, you will still hear it throughout the streets and bars and especially along the coast.
Traditional Vallenato music fuses cultural expressions from northern Colombia, the songs of cow-herders of the Greater Magdalena region and the chants of African slaves with the traditional dance rhythms of the indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
These expressions are also blended with Spanish poetry and musical instruments of European derivation. The lyrics of traditional Vallenato music interpret the world through stories that mix realism with fantasy, expressed through songs that are nostalgic, joyful, sarcastic and humorous. The songs tell tales of romantic love and often express humility and heartbreak.
Classic instruments include a small drum played with the hands, a wooden ribbed stick played with a wire comb and an accordion. Conventional Vallenato music falls into four main rhythms or beats known as airs, each of which has a distinctive rhythmic pattern. Traditional Vallenato music is performed at Vallenato music festivals and crucially at parrandas (parties) where friends and family gather, thus playing a crucial role in building a shared regional identity. It is also transmitted through teaching in formal academic settings. Also too there is however, a new wave of Vallenato that is marginalizing traditional Vallenato music and diminishing its role in social cohesion. Street parrandas for Vallenato music are an important opportunity for intergenerational transfer of musical knowledge.
Vallenato takes its name from the city of Valledupar, on the Atlantic coast of Colombia. The term vallenato in fact refers to things or people native of the city of Valledupar (including musica vallenata). However, Valledupar is not the centre of origin of vallenato, but it is the centre of the spread of vallenato.
Vallenato is not an urban musical genre, but a musical expression of the culture of the campesinos (farmers) and the vaqueros (herders) of the Magdalena River valley. The older generations of vallenato musicians, especially accordionists, are peasants coming from small country pueblos.
Vallenato music belongs to the costeños musical genres such as cumbia, gaita, porro and mapalé, but unlike those ones, it is not considered music for dancing as such, but basically a canción or song, intended mainly for listening to, although in certain cases it can be danced as well. The canción vallenata is almost always sung by a male soloist, traditionally accompanied by a trio composed by an acordeon (diatonic accordion with buttons), caja (conical drum with a single head) and guacharaca (idiophone to scrape).
An instrument of Austrian origin, the diatonic accordion with buttons has undergone a process of appropriation, becoming the Colombian instrument most associated with vallenato.
The pitch is specially adjusted to provide the warm, yet penetratingly reedy sound that vallenato performers favour, thanks to the high register vocal style.
Accordion
A vallenato group may also include a bassist, guitarist and keyboardist. Vallenato has four varieties of main beats, with only two that you can really dance along to. Puya and merengue are the ones for dancing and are reasonably easy to follow, whilst son and paseo are played at a slower pace with a melancholy feel.
Puya is the oldest form of vallenato and is similar to merengue, except that it has fewer lyrics and a solo for each of the three main instruments. Merengue is the most narrative form and thus used in festivities.
In the 1990s, Carlos Vives, among other musicians, fused vallenato with pop and rock music, giving the genre a broader appeal. It gained popularity not only within Colombia but across Latin America and Latino communities around the world, including in the United States. Vallenato and cumbia have been added as a category in the Latin Grammy Awards.
The Vallenato Festival, also known as the Festival de la Leyenda Vallenata, is an annual music festival held in Valledupar in late April. It is a celebration of Vallenato music, as previously described, a traditional folk music genre that originated in the Caribbean coastal region of Colombia. It has transcended borders and has been declared by UNESCO as a Cultural and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Since 1968, Valledupar, capital of the Cesar department, has been the home of the Vallenato Legend Festival, which year after year brings together locals and visitors who want to experience the festival firsthand and catch the excitement that thrills the attendees who come from all over the world every year.
The event is organized by the Vallenato Legend Festival Foundation and aims to keep alive the folkloric expressions that revolve around this genre. As for music, they try to preserve four of the five airs or rhythms of vallenato: the paseo, merengue, son and puya. Competitions are also held here to reward the best musicians. The most famous award is that of The Vallenato King.
Other events that cannot be missed include cultural representations that keep vallenato alive, such as the piquería (battle of lyrics), the parranda, yarns, legends, myths, oral tradition and artistic expressions associated with vallenato.
For these and many other reasons that you can only witness live and in person, it is well worth visiting Valledupar every year at the end of April. The festival is one of the most important cultural events in Colombia and draws thousands of visitors from around the world.
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