Costa Rica Music

Tango is a passionate, dramatic genre of music and dance originating in late 19th-century Buenos Aires, Argentina, characterized by syncopated rhythms, emotional intensity, melismatic melodies, and a fusion of European immigrant and African influences.

Argentine folklore (música folklórica), rooted in gaucho traditions, features dances like zamba, chacarera, and gato. Poetic Spanish lyrics evoke rural life, love, nature, pampas, and cultural heritage, with syncopated rhythms and acoustic ensembles.

Cumbia villera is a raw, high-energy subgenre of cumbia originating from Argentina's shantytowns (villas miseria). It fuses traditional cumbia rhythms with electronic synths, featuring explicit lunfardo lyrics in Argentine Spanish about slum life, crime, drugs, sex, partying, and survival, driven by fast accordion melodies and pounding bass.

Cuarteto cordobés is a high-energy Argentine dance genre originating from Córdoba, characterized by a rapid 'tunga-tunga' 4/4 rhythm, prominent accordion melodies, and passionate, call-and-response vocals.

Chamamé is a traditional folk music and dance genre from northeastern Argentina, characterized by a unique 6/8 rhythmic pulse, virtuosic accordion leads, and emotive vocals that celebrate rural life, love, and the cultural heritage of the Litoral region.

Zamba is a traditional Argentine folk music and dance genre from the northwest (Salta, Jujuy, Santiago del Estero), characterized by a slow 6/8 rhythm, graceful melancholic melodies, and themes of love, nostalgia, and rural life. It is a couple's dance involving the use of a handkerchief.

Chacarera is a lively traditional folk music and dance genre from northern Argentina, characterized by syncopated 6/8 rhythms, energetic rasgueado guitar strumming, call-and-response vocals, and themes of rural life and celebration.

Electrónica is Argentina's pulsating electronic dance music genre, fusing house, techno, and progressive house with the gritty, hedonistic vibe of Buenos Aires' underground club scene at venues like Crobar and Pacha.

Cueca is a traditional Chilean folk music and dance genre characterized by a lively 6/8 rhythm, romantic improvised lyrics in Spanish, zapateo footwork, and dancers waving handkerchiefs. It features call-and-response vocals evoking rural huaso cowboy culture.

Folclore chileno is the traditional folk music of Chile, characterized by regional styles such as the cueca, tonada, vals chileno, and the Andean-influenced music of the north. It blends Spanish colonial heritage with Mapuche and Andean indigenous traditions, utilizing storytelling lyrics and rhythmic dance structures to celebrate rural life, love, and national identity.

Vals, specifically the Chilean vals, is a traditional folk genre in 3/4 time that fuses European waltz structures with Andean criollo sensibilities. It features a characteristic swaying rhythm, melancholic guitar and violin melodies, and emotive Spanish lyrics centered on themes of love, rural life, and nostalgia.

Tonada is a traditional Chilean folk genre from central and southern regions, characterized by strophic songs with poetic Spanish lyrics delivered with profound emotional depth. Accompanied by simple nylon-string guitar strumming, it evokes rural life, love, nature, and nostalgia.

Nueva Canción is a socially and politically charged Latin American folk music movement from the 1960s-1980s. It fuses traditional Andean folk elements like charango and quena with modern songwriting to protest injustice, dictatorship, and imperialism while celebrating cultural identity and resistance.

Vallenato is a cherished Colombian folk genre from the Caribbean region, centered in Valledupar. It features diatonic accordion leads, rhythmic caja drums, guacharaca scrapes, and narrative vocals in Spanish that tell stories of love, hardship, humor, and cultural pride.

Champeta is a high-energy, rhythm-centric dance genre from the Caribbean coast of Colombia. It evolved from the 'picó' sound system culture, blending African soukous, highlife, and mbaqanga with local Colombian influences, characterized by heavy bass, syncopated percussion, and vibrant, chant-like vocals.

Bambuco is a traditional mestizo folk music and dance genre from Colombia's Andean region, characterized by a distinctive ternary 3/4 rhythm, intricate plucking on tiple and requinto, and poetic Spanish lyrics exploring love, nature, and rural life.

Joropo is a vibrant traditional music and dance genre from the Llanos plains of Venezuela and Colombia, featuring fast ternary rhythms in 3/4 or 6/8 time, virtuoso arpeggios on arpa llanera, rapid cuatro strumming, maracas, furruco, and passionate improvisational vocals in coplas and décimas.

Currulao is a vibrant traditional Afro-Colombian folk music and dance genre from Colombia's Pacific coast, characterized by the central marimba de chonta, polyrhythmic percussion, and call-and-response vocals fostering communal celebration.

Bullerengue is an energetic Afro-Colombian folk genre from the Caribbean coast, specifically the Montes de María and Palenque de San Basilio. Rooted in African ancestral traditions, it features driving percussion, call-and-response vocals, and improvisational flair. The music is deeply tied to communal dance, characterized by hip-swaying movements and lyrics that explore themes of joy, sensuality, and daily life.

Mapalé is a high-energy, fast-paced Afro-Colombian folk music and dance genre originating from the Caribbean coast of Colombia. It is characterized by explosive polyrhythmic percussion, rapid-fire call-and-response vocals, and a frenetic, sensual dance style that mimics the movement of a fish out of water.

Dembow is a high-energy urban dance genre from the Dominican Republic, defined by its signature syncopated rhythm (boom-ch-boom-chick), fueling street parties and intense perreo dances with pounding bass.

Mambo is a high-energy Cuban dance genre from the mid-20th century, blending Afro-Cuban rhythms with big band brass. Defined by syncopated clave patterns, montuno vamps, explosive horn sections, and driving percussion, it exploded globally via Pérez Prado's hits.

Perico Ripiao is the foundational, acoustic style of Dominican merengue, characterized by a high-energy, syncopated ensemble sound. It features a diatonic accordion, a tambora drum, a güira scraper, and a requinto guitar, driving lively, dance-oriented rhythms with passionate call-and-response vocals.

Salve is a traditional Dominican folk genre rooted in Catholic devotion to the Virgin Mary and saints. It features improvised call-and-response vocals between a soloist (salvista) and chorus, with religious lyrics of praise, prayer, and testimony in Spanish, accompanied by acoustic guitar, requinto, güiro, and maracas.