as played by Inkuyo Inkuyo Inkuyo is a Los Angeles-based trio known for Andean music, which was inspired by Bolivian born composer Gonzalo Vargas. They began as a quartet, but are currently a trio. They had seven albums from 1988 to 2007....  group (Art from Sacred Landscapes, 1998)

Kantu or k'antu is an ancient style of music and circle dance

Circle dance

"Circle dance" is the most common name for a style of traditional dance usually done in a circle without partners to musical accompaniment.-Description:...

 which is widespread since incaic or even preincaic epoch on the Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

vian and Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

n highlands. Modern versions of this style still use the Quechua

Quechua languages

Quechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably...

 or Aymara

Aymara language

Aymara is an Aymaran language spoken by the Aymara people of the Andes. It is one of only a handful of Native American languages with over three million speakers. Aymara, along with Quechua and Spanish, is an official language of Peru and Bolivia...

 language and the siku

Siku (panpipe)

The Siku , is a traditional Andean panpipe. This instrument is the main instrument used in a musical genre known as the Sikuri. It is traditionally found all across the Andes but is more typically associated with music from the Kollasuyo, or Aymara speaking regions around Lake Titicaca...

 (ceremonial panpipe). Some musicologists argue that the name for this style comes from the Spanish word 'canto' meaning 'song.' Linguists might argue that the name comes from the Quechua word 'k'antu' which is a widely known flower in Bolivia. Also, k'antu may be a word of extinct Puquina

Puquina language

Puquina is an extinct language once spoken by the ancient Inca in the region surrounding Lake Titicaca and in the north of what is now Chile....

 language.

Playing

Traditionally k'antu is being performed on siku

Siku (panpipe)

The Siku , is a traditional Andean panpipe. This instrument is the main instrument used in a musical genre known as the Sikuri. It is traditionally found all across the Andes but is more typically associated with music from the Kollasuyo, or Aymara speaking regions around Lake Titicaca...

 (panpipe) by parallel fifths

Perfect fifth

In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is a musical interval encompassing five staff positions , and the perfect fifth is a fifth spanning seven semitones, or in meantone, four diatonic semitones and three chromatic semitones...

 and octave

Octave

In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...

s in combination with percussion instruments. Usually scale of k'antus is pentatonic

Pentatonic scale

A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave in contrast to a heptatonic scale such as the major scale and minor scale...

, seldom even like Japanese In scale

In scale

The in scale, which contains semitones, according to a traditional theory is one of two pentatonic scales used in much Japanese music, excluding gagaku and Buddhist chanting...

.

Dancing

K'antu is a circle dance

Circle dance

"Circle dance" is the most common name for a style of traditional dance usually done in a circle without partners to musical accompaniment.-Description:...

, but some women and men also dance in pairs inside or outside of the circle.

Resources

For recorded version of the k'antu songs, please refer to Worlds of Music listed as a reference.

Some examples

There is a variety of bands who play the Kantu style, such as:

• Los Kjarkas
  Los Kjarkas
  Los Kjarkas is a Bolivian band from the Capinota Province in the department of Cochabamba, one of the most popular Andean pop bands in the country's history...
  
  
• Inkuyo
  Inkuyo
  Inkuyo is a Los Angeles-based trio known for Andean music, which was inspired by Bolivian born composer Gonzalo Vargas. They began as a quartet, but are currently a trio. They had seven albums from 1988 to 2007....
  
  
• Bolivia Manta
• Grupo Aymara
  Grupo Aymara
  Grupo Aymara are a Bolivian folk troupe that have been acclaimed worldwide for its inspiring interpretations of traditional music of pre-Hispanic and contemporary music of the Andes, particularly that of the Aymara and Quechua speaking people of Bolivia...
  
  
• Awatiñas
  Awatiñas
  The Awatiñas are a Bolivian folk music group begun in the 1970s by Mario Conde. Their ballads are mostly sung in Spanish and Aymara. They are popular across much of Latin America and have a substantial following in parts of Europe, Asia, and North America....
  
  
• Markasata