Hispanic Heritage Month: Music
by Brianne Robach, Grand Rapids Area Coalition to End Homelessness
Today marks the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month, which is celebrated September 15–October 15 each year in the U.S. This month is a time to celebrate Hispanic traditions and history, as well as the contributions of Hispanic Americans. This year’s theme is Esperanza: A Celebration of Hispanic Heritage and Hope. As we celebrate this month, the CC&IC team will be sharing weekly blog posts highlighting different aspects of Hispanic culture.
Before we jump in, I also want to share a list of Hispanic Heritage Month virtual events that you may be interested in attending:
Latino Heritage Month Keynote Address
Wednesday, September 15
at 6 p.m.
Emmy Award Winner John Leguizamo has established a career that defies categorization. A multi-faceted performer, writer, and director, Leguizamo’s work in film, theatre, television, and literature covers various genres with boundless and visceral creativity.
First Gen Superpowers:
Latino identity and the mindset to succeed
Tuesday, September 21 at 1 p.m.
Marisel Herrera is the author of Puerto Rican Goldilocks: A Lyrical Journey Through El Barrio, a high-impact speaker, consultant, and Certified Coach. Herrera’s message affirms the power of education, faith, resiliency, culture, relationships, and community to transform one’s life.
PRIDE OUTside the Box, LatinX:
Unpacking the experiences of transgender and non-binary communities
Monday, October 11 at 12 p.m.
Bri Sérráno is a Capricorn, first-generation student, neurodiverse/Latinx/trans/masc/non-binary, and queer scholar of intersectional transgender studies. Bri’s research examines race consciousness in holistic admissions at selective institutions, the gender binary in admissions, and the insider/outsider experience of queer and trans Latinx/o people in higher education.
Latino Heritage Month
Wednesday, October 13
at 6 p.m.
Dr. Javier Ávila’s nationally acclaimed one-man show, “The Trouble With My Name,” blends storytelling, comedy, and poetry to shed light on the American Latino experience. Culturally rich and profoundly educational, the presentation provides audiences with an excellent platform for a continued conversation on equity, diversity, inclusion, and antiracism.
The theme of today’s blog is Hispanic or Latin Music. Latin music refers to music that originates from Latin America and the Caribbean and encompasses many different ethnicities and cultures. Because of the different cultures, there are many different styles, or genres, of this music, but they share similar characteristics. For one, the music is typically performed in Spanish or Portuguese. Traditional Latin music also often includes a distinctive rhythm, call and response, and syncopation (when the weaker beats are emphasized).
The characteristics that make up this style of music are the result of several different cultural influences as European settlers arrived in and conquered the Americas. The wind and percussion instruments used in Latin music are directly from or influenced by the instruments used in the music of Indigenous cultures. African music brought here by enslaved peoples heavily influences the rhythm of Latin music, as well as the call and response nature of the lyrics and/or beats. Decima, a song format of 10 lines with 8 syllables in each line, is often used in more traditional Latin music and was originally a style used in music in Spain.
Traditional Latin music influenced many styles of music created in the U.S. during the 1900s, and parts of the style can be heard in the jazz, hip hop, rock, and Latin pop music today. There are several genres of Latin music:
Merengue is a fast style typically performed with three instruments—accordion, güira, and tambora—and originated in the Dominican Republic.
Reggae arose in the 1960s in Jamacia. Many different genres combined to create this distinct rhythm and sound.
Rumba originally came from traditional Cuban music, but today in the U.S., it refers to a style of ballroom dance (though the music used may or may not be related to traditional Cuban music).
Salsa is a popular style of music throughout Latin America which first arose in Cuba during the 1930s and 1940s.
Samba arose in the early 1900s in Brazil. The term is also used to refer to different style of dances set to samba style music.
Bossa Nova is a sub-genre of Samba that came about in the 1960s.
Tango originated in Argentina and Uruguay in the mid 1800s.
Sources and Further Reading
Latin Music History: The Cultural Mix and Social Environment that Produced Latin Music by Carlos Quintana, July 03, 2018, https://www.liveabout.com/latin-music-history-2141147
Latin America Musical Style and Their Characteristics by Sounds and Colours, March 25, 2021, https://soundsandcolours.com/subjects/travel/latin-america-musical-style-and-their-characteristics-59561/
Music of Latin America, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Latin_America