Colombia!

Its music, culture, and its

influence on the world
Colombia’s National Dance
Fun Facts!

Cumbia
 ● It’s rhythms are the source and
inspiration behind the
country’snpopular music
● It was originally an african
courtship dance that evolved
with the addition of african,
Cumbia european, and indigenous
instruments
National Dance of Colombia ● It has insfluenced “vallenato” (a
caribbean costal genre). It has a
similar beat with vocals, an
accordion, a drum, and a
guacharaca
Cumbia
Dance
Instruments
 ● The accordion is now the

Accordion ●
backbone of Colombian folk music.
“Vallenato “was born in the
Caribbean coast, where minstrels
played their accordeons and sang
stories from town to town.
● Accordions also feature in cumbia
music. Every year Colombia holds
the world’s biggest
accordion-playing contest, the
Vallenato Legend Festival in
Valledupa!!!
 ● Notched gourd scraper
● is a percussion instrument usually made
out of the cane-like trunk of a small palm
tree.
● consists of a tube with ridges carved into
its outer surface with part of its interior
hollowed out, (like a notched canoe)
● It is played with a fork composed of hard
wire fixed into a wooden handle. The
guacharaquero (guacharaca player)
scrapes the fork along the instrument's
surface to create its characteristic
guacharaca scratching sound.
 ●
Tiple
The tiple is a small guitar (about
three-quarters the size of a classical
guitar) descended from guitars
brought by Spanish conquerors to
the New World.
● first played by artists and people
from humble backgrounds until
gaining more widespread popularity.
● usually played alongside a
tambourine and is an essential part of
Colombia’s rural heritage.
 ● The tambora, or bass drum, is a

Tambora
large drum, popular with
African-Colombian communities in
Colombia’s coastal regions.
● It’s made from tree bark and
covered with deer, goat or
sheepskin.
● It is played with baquetas, a type of
drumstick
● is also part of the Pacific coast
marimba tradition where
musicians chant and play at social
gatherings, saint worship and
wakes.
 ● The gaita, also known as a kuisi,
is an indigenous wind
instrument from Colombia’s
Caribbean coast.
Gaita ● Made from cactus, with a
feather in one end and holes for
different notes.
● It has a male, female and short
version, with varying numbers
of holes, and is used in cumbia,
merengue, puya and porro
music
● Known as the “Colombian
Bagpipe