Glossary of Colombian music

A

agüelulo - A teenage gathering, originally held in private homes and then larger spaces; a teenager who frequented such a place was a agüelero or sometimes a cocacolos, after the main beverage drunk at agüelulos, Coca-Cola

música andina - An early national style of the 19th and early 20th centuries, developed from the Andean interior

música antillana - A kind of popular dance music based on Cuban and Puerto Rican styles

audición: literally listening, can refer to a "special musical tribute to the career of a particular artist or group", performed before the beginning of a concert

B

baile - Literally, dance, dances are alphabetized under their descriptor, e.g. baile de cuota is alphabetized under cuota

bambuco - An Andean style of dance music, perceived as a national music in the early 20th century, or an Andean lyric music performed along with pasillo as a common part of the música andina repertoire

balada - In popular music, refers to a kind of "Spanish romantic popular music", found across Latin America

bandola - A stringed instrument similar to a mandolin, used in llanera and musica andina

bandolin - A larger relative of the bandola

bingo bailable - a dance that includes bingo games and salsa music

bolero - A loose term for love ballads

bombo - A drum used in folklore groups on the Atlantic coast, laid with sticks and used to start a performance by calling on the other drums to perform; a bass drum used in traditional cumbia ensembles

bugalú - An early form of New York salsa, popular in Colombia during the 1960s, a fusion of son with rhythm and blues

bullerengue - A Costeño form, performed by flute-and-drum ensembles

'The Colombian Mambo-the Colombian men would go to clubs and dance with each other until their legs fell off.

C

caja vallenata - A vallenato drum originally made from goatskin

calle de las salsotecas - Literally, salsoteca street, referring to Calle 44, a three mile long road in Cali, referring to the numerous salsotecas and tabernas along the street, known for featuring salsa dura and Cuban music during the 1980s and 90s

caballo - A rhythmic pattern played on the conga

camaján - An alternate term for the pachuco

campana - A cowbell

campanero - A performer of the cowbell, notably played by audience members along with the on-stage performer

capachos - Maracas

música caribeña - A rarely used synonym for música antillana

carrilera - A form of guitar-based music from the Antioquia province, associated "with the urbanizing peasant or working class"

carrito - Small, streetside vendors of recorded music

carrizo - A form of Colombian folk flute

caseta - A dance hall

cencerro - A timbales cowbell

champeta - A form of rootsy music from the Pacific coastal city of Cartagena, where an Afro-Colombian population developed the style; an Afro-Colombian style associated with Cartagena and Barranquilla, which combines elements of African pop, soca, zouk, mbaqanga and soukous

champús bailable - A Caleño tradition of house parties, which began in the 1930s and were usually held on Sundays; champú, a beverage made from pineapple, corn, bitter orange leaves and a fruit called lulo

chandé - A Costeño form, performed by flute-and-drum ensembles

chirimía - A kind of ensemble found in the northwest corner of Chocó province

chucu-chucu - An alternate term for raspa

cokacolo - A teenage dancer at a agüelulo

contrapunteo - An improvised, verbal duel

música colombiana - Colombian music, formerly understood to refer to música andina in the 19th and early 20th century, when that style was perceived as a national music

baile de cuota - A type of dance party in Cali's working-class neighborhoods during the mid-20th century

cuatro - A small guitar, used in llanera

currulao - A marimba-based music found along the southwest littoral Valle, Cauca and Nariño provinces of Colombia, as well as Esmeraldas in Ecuador

cumbia - A form of nation music, originally from the Atlantic coast and characterized by a "solidly grounded and complex layered rhythm with an airily syncopated melody"

E

empanada bailable - An alternate term for champú bailable, referring to the empanadas often served

F

fandango - A Costeño song form, performed by flute-and-drum ensembles

festivales - Community dances in Cali, held in neighborhood dance halls or pavilions

fiesta patronales - Saints days

flauto de millo - See millo, flauto de

G

gaita - A folk flute; a Costeño form, performed by flute-and-drum ensembles; conjunto de gaita is a traditional cumbia ensemble

guabina - A kind of música andina

guacharaca - A scraper, common in vallenato

guache - Rattles made from filling metal or gourd tubes with seeds

guateque - Originally a Cuban word referring to a rural campesino party, which came to refer to a form of salsa dura, characterized by "slow, grinding son montunos with heavy bass and percussion; associated also with El guateque de la salsa (The Salsa Party), a popular radio show from 1989 to 1993

I

música de la interior - An Andean style, often used synonymously with bambuco, characterized by a gentle and melodic sound and a well-developed melody at the expense of rhythmic complexity

J

joropo - Originally a folk dance performed in honor of saints days and other special occasions, such as birthdays and baptism; now more often a generic word for llanera based dance music; a courtship dance associated with central Colombia and that region's cowboy culture, a "dynamic, polyrhythmic mestizo style that fuses Andalusian, African and indigenous elements"

K

kiosco - A community pavilion, used for musical performances

kuisi - an indigenous flute made from a hollowed cactus stem, with a beeswax and charcoal powder mixture for the head, with a quill made from a goose or turkey feather for the mouthpiece. There are male and female versions of the pipe (or gaita in Spanish), the female kuisi bunsi (or gaita hembra) with 5 holes, and the male kuisi sigi (or gaita macho) with two.

L

llamador - A drum, traditionally used in cumbia as well as modern música tropical

llanera - A form of harp-led music

M

marimbula - A low-pitched thumb piano

flauto de millo - A folk clarinet of the Atlantic coast

melómano - A "music aficionado"

música - Literally music, music forms are alphabetized by their descriptor, e.g. música antillana is alphabetized under antillana

N

música de negros - Literally black people's music, a pejorative term used by the elite to deride musics such as música antillana

nueva ola - Literally new wave, a kind of pop-balada performed by romantic crooners, which peaked in the 1960s and 70s

O

orquesta - A dance band

orquesta femenina - An all-female dance ensemble

orquesta infantile - An all-child dance ensemble

orquesta juvenile - An all-youth dance ensemble

P

pachanga - An early form of New York salsa, popular in Colombia during the 1960s, especially in the city of Cali

pachuco - An iconic figure, a "ruffian and a hustler... an antihero", especially important in the culture surrounding the Zona de tolerancia

parrandero - A typical lyrical focus of the more macho side of popular cumbia, referring to a boasting, aggressive and sexual "party-going man"

pasillo - A lyric song form from the Andean region

el paso Caleño - A traditional dance step from the city of Cali, characterized by a "rapid 'double-time' shuffle on the tips of the toes"

pasta americana - Carrito slang referring to the thicker and higher quality vinyl of American records

picó - Derived from the English pickup, a large sound system among DJs in Cartagena and Barranquilla during the 1980s

pop tropical - A form of mid-1990s pop-salsa

porro - A music genre. A village brass band; a song form performed by the flute-and-drum ensembles of the Atlantic coast region, as well as mid-20th century urban dance orquestas

R

raspa - A simplied form of música tropical which emerged in the late 1960s

refajo - A street slang from the Zona de tolerancia in Cali

rock en español - Spanish language rock music, most closely associated with the cities of Bogotá and Medellín in Colombia

rumba - Partying or merry-making, compare to rumbero, a party

S

salsa - A Spanish Caribbean dance music created in New York City using elements of Afro-Cuban and Puerto Rican music, a combination known in Colombia as musica antillana

salsíbiri - A term coined by Fruko to describe his own style

salsómano - A salsa fan

salsoteca - A venue that plays salsa

serenata - A pan-Latin tradition of street serenades performed by small groups of instrumentalists, especially guitarists

T

tambor hembra - The lead frum of the Atlantic coast drum choirs

tambor macho - A conga-like drum that leads the basic rhythm of the Atlantic coast drum choirs

terapia - An alternate term for champeta

musica tropical - A form of salsa-based music innovated by Joe Arroyo; a form of dance music based on various Atlantic coast genres

tiple - A small stringed instrument, used in llanera and musica andina

V

vallenato - A form of accordion-based music, related to música tropical and cumbia, and originally associated with the Atlantic Coast

vallenato-protesta - A form of vallenato-based protest song

verbena - Free street parties held during the December Feria and sponsored by the city of Cali

viejoteca - Dance parties, originally appearing in 1993 for senior citizens but later appealing to middle-aged partygoers and finally abandoning any age restrictions; these viejotecas became associated with a revival of the agüelulos and nightclub scenes of the 1960s and 70s; originally from Cali, viejotecas have spread to Medellin and Cartagena

Z

zarzuela - Operettas