Music of Paraguay
Encyclopedia
Folk music
The Paraguayan polkaParaguayan polka
Paraguayan polka, also known as Danza Paraguaya , is a style of music created in Paraguay in the 19th century.The Paraguayan polka is very different from the traditional polka, mainly because the Paraguayan version combines ternary and binary rhythms, whereas the European only uses binary...
combines ternary and binary rhythms, where as the European only uses binary. The most famous style of music is the Guarania
Guarania (music)
Guarania is a style of music created in Paraguay by musician José Asunción Flores in 1925 with the purpose of expressing the character of the Paraguayan people...
, created by the Paraguayan musician José Asunción Flores
José Asunción Flores
José Asunción Flores was a Paraguayan composer and creator of the Guarania music genre.-Early life:Flores was born in the poor neighborhood of La Chacarita, in Asunción. As a kid, he had to work as a paperboy and shoeshiner in order to help his mother with food and other necessities...
in 1925. The Guarania accomplishes this by using a combination of slow rhythms and melodies of melancholia
Melancholia
Melancholia , also lugubriousness, from the Latin lugere, to mourn; moroseness, from the Latin morosus, self-willed, fastidious habit; wistfulness, from old English wist: intent, or saturnine, , in contemporary usage, is a mood disorder of non-specific depression,...
character. Other popular genres of traditional music in Paraguay are the zarzuela
Zarzuela
Zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...
and the "Paraguayan Songs", which are derived from the Paraguayan polka.
Instruments
The Spanish guitarGuitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and European harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
are among the most popular instruments, while dances include the lively polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
and distinctive bottle dance, which involves the performer twirling a bottle around her head. Composer and guitarist Agustín Barrios
Agustín Barrios
Agustín Pío Barrios , an eminent Paraguayan guitarist and composer, was born in the department of Misiones, Paraguay and died in San Salvador, El Salvador...
is perhaps the country's best known export.
Paraguayan harp
The Paraguyan harp deserves special mention as a popular instrument with a national style associated with it. The harp in South America dates back to at least 1557, possibly as early as the beginning of the 16th century. These harps had 26 to 38 strings, though most typically no fewer than 36. It was frequently used in church music in place of the organ or harpsichordHarpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
. The Paraguayan harp is a simplified variation of the instrument, with 38 strings tuned to one major diatonic scale.
Rock
Several world-popular genres of music, such as rockRock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
are fairly new in the Paraguayan music scene. This is because of the fierce dictatorship
Dictatorship
A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator. It has three possible meanings:...
enforced by former President Alfredo Stroessner
Alfredo Stroessner
Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda, whose name is also spelled Strössner or Strößner , was a Paraguayan military officer and dictator from 1954 to 1989...
during his mandate from 1954 to 1989, in which he banned all forms of liberal expressions. Despite that, a few rock groups were formed in the 1970s such as The Aftermad's and The Blue Caps. It wasn't until Stroessner's downfall in 1989 that rock groups emerged. In the 1990s groups such as Chris Patik, Enemigos de la Klase, Deliverans, El Templo, Dogma, Shamán, Turkish Blend and Slow Agony became popular. In the new millennium, Paraguayan rock bands have gained a strong following thanks to the big rock festivals such as "Pilsen Rock" and "Quilmes Rock", which gather around 60,000 spectators for every edition. The bands have even gathered some international success by touring throughout Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
and even making small gig
Gig (musical performance)
Gig is slang for a musical engagement in which musicians are hired. Originally coined in the 1920s by jazz musicians, the term, short for the word "engagement", now refers to any aspect of performing such as assisting with performance and attending musical performance...
s in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The most popular rock bands as of now are Flou
Flou
Flou is an Alternative rock/Nu Metal band from Asunción, Paraguay, created in 1997. They are one of the most popular and successful rock bands from Paraguay.-History:...
, Revolber
Revolber
Revolber is an alternative rock/rap metal/funk metal band from Paraguay, created in 1999. The band's first name was "Revolver" but the name had to be changed because of legal issues. They got the name from the Beatles album Revolver.-History:...
, Ripe Banana Skins
Ripe Banana Skins
Ripe Banana Skins is a Ska punk band from Asunción, Paraguay. The band was formed in 2001 and are one of the most popular punk bands in Paraguay.-History:...
, Area 69, Paiko,Orchablex and NOD.
Jazz
There is a small but vibrant jazz community in Paraguay. Key players include: Palito Miranda (alto sax), Remigio Pereira (trombone), Victor "Toti" Morel (drums),Oswal Gonzalez (drums),Riolo Alvarenga (drums), Jorge "Lobito" Martinez (piano), Carlos Schvartzman (guitar), Carlos Centurión (piano), Gustavo Viera (guitar), Eduardo "Tato" Zilli (bass),Nene Salerno (bass),Ariel Burgos (bass), Victor Morel Jr. (drums), German Lema (organ), Jose Villamayor (guitar), Bruno Muñoz (tenor & alto sax) and others.Classical music
The main exponents are Agustín Barrios Mangoré, José Asunción FloresJosé Asunción Flores
José Asunción Flores was a Paraguayan composer and creator of the Guarania music genre.-Early life:Flores was born in the poor neighborhood of La Chacarita, in Asunción. As a kid, he had to work as a paperboy and shoeshiner in order to help his mother with food and other necessities...
and Juan Carlos Moreno
Juan Carlos Moreno
Juan Carlos Moreno Pérez is a shortstop with Isla de la Juventud and the Cuban national baseball team. Moreno is a mainstay on the national team, having made his first appearance in an international tournament for the 1998 World Championships. He was also on the roster for the 2006 World Baseball...
. Silva studied abroad and reproduced, in the guarani vocal form, the indigenous music, based on the European technique. Moreno composed works inspired on popular themes in a romantic classical path.