Venezuela is a country that, besides having a strong Spanish influence, is truly a melting
pot of cultures very much like the United States. Due to its geographical location in the north of South America,
Venezuela serves as a doorway of influences coming from both Europe and the United States. Through the centuries,
there was a lot of racial mixture of the different peoples that had immigrated there with the native Venezuelans,
and this lead to a culture that incorporated other cultural and social customs into its own.
This is reflected very much in the music. The Spanish were the first and strongest influence on the music. During
the period of colonization, they brought with them an instrument, which was then an earlier version of the guitar
(a smaller box with four strings). After the Spanish left, their guitar evolved into the present day 6-stringed
instrument, while the instrument they left behind in Venezuela remained as the "cuatro" (the 4-stringed
guitar). The cuatro is the primary instrument in the accompaniment of Venezuelan music because of its rich rhythmic
ability, as well as it's varied harmonic and melodic contribution. Of the many forms present in Venezuela, the
most popular are the joropo, vals (waltz), merengue and tonada.
The joropo is a form from the plains of Venezuela, and is a couple's dance where the man (dressed in khaki pants,
white shirt and straw hat) stomps a very strong 3 beat with his feet while holding his hands in the back and dancing
around the woman. The lady, in turn, dances around the man, waving around her very colorful dress. There are 16
different types of joropos in Venezuela, and some have simple harmonic structures, while others tend to modulate
often to different keys. Some joropos have a basic ¾ beat, while others switch back and forth between the
¾ and 6/8 beats. The main influence for the joropo comes from the flamenco music from Andalucia, Spain,
and, even though it sounds different from flamenco, the rhapsodic way in which the cuatro plays, as well as the
stomping of the feet, definitely shows this influence.
The Venezuelan merengue comes from the coastal region of Venezuela, and its main influence is the African style
drumming of the people from that area. It's beat has the meter of 5/8, though sometimes is played with the feeling
of 2/4. The merengue (like the Argentine tango) is a dance that at first was outlawed from public performance because
it was associated with the music of the brothels. Musicians during the 1950s and 1960s began to stylize the merengue
by adding cuatro and omitting the drums. This lead to wider acceptance, and now is a very favorite form among flutists.
The tonada comes from the shepherd songs of Spain, and is popular in the cattle farms of the plains. It is an "a
capella" or solo song, sung by the cowboy to his cow as he is milking her. The tonada serves as a way for
the cowboy to share his woes and troubles with the cow, and therefore it is a very plaintive, lyrical, and melancholic
song. The singer Simon Diaz wrote and recorded many tonadas, and saved the form which was in threat of being forgotten
by the shift of rural to urban migration in the last 50 years. The tonada "Amanecer" from my album is
one of the first tonadas written for solo flute.
There are many other folk forms from other regions of Venezuela, which I have not mentioned here, but which are
equally rich in rhythms and melody. Let us hope that as the interest grows for Venezuelan music that we will have
the opportunity to share them with the wonderful worldwide flute community.
Marco Granados
