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The Garland Handbook of Latin American Music

The Garland Handbook of Latin American Music. Part Three: Nations and Musical Traditions, Middle Latin America, Panama. Overview. Cultural Heritage Indigenous Kuna cultural traditions retain degree of independence Musical traditions little practiced outside Kuna communities

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The Garland Handbook of Latin American Music

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  1. The Garland Handbook of Latin American Music Part Three: Nations and Musical Traditions, Middle Latin America, Panama

  2. Overview • Cultural Heritage • Indigenous • Kuna cultural traditions retain degree of independence • Musical traditions little practiced outside Kuna communities • May reflect centuries of inter-cultural contact with other Amerindian communities • European • Spanish and other European influences evident • Musical instruments (i.e., guitar and button-accordion) • Song and dance forms (i.e., the decíma, pasillo, punto, and vals) • Musical contexts (i.e., religious) • African • Influence most evident among • Garachiné (Darién Province) • Pearl Island inhabitants • Dance traditions (i.e., the congo and los diablos de los espejos) • Other African derived dance genres • Bullerengue, bunde, cuenecué, cumbia, and el tamborito

  3. Panamanian Musical Traditions • Musical Instruments • Idiophones • Associated with particular ensembles, genres, or occasions • Include • Maracas, güiros, castanets, jingle bells, vejiga • Membranophones • All major musical genres and dances supported by a drum • Much variation in type, construction, performance practice, and name of drums • Particular name of drum indicates specific role and relationship to other instruments within ensemble • El Tamborito • Most important drum-accompanied dance • National dance of Panama

  4. Panamanian Musical Traditions • Instruments (cont.) • Chordophones • Mejorana • Five-string, fretted guitar-like instrument • Associated with musical traditions of mestizos • Provides melody in instrumental ensembles • also accompaniment for décimas • Other chordophones • Violin and rabel • Aerophones • Pito (side-blown cane flute) • Button Accordion • German and Austrian influence • Main melodic instrument in conjuntos tipicos (typical ensembles) • Genres include popular dance music • i.e., cumbias, puntos, tamboritos, etc.

  5. Panamanian Musical Traditions • Musical genres • Often associated with particular dance forms, ensemble types, ethnic groups or regions, and particular contexts • Reflect Panama’s diverse cultural heritage in instrumentation, dance styles, and contexts • i.e., el tamborito, mejorana, and the bunde • Place emphasis on song (or text) • Including dance genres • Contemporary Popular Music • Includes numerous popular music genres • Reflect influence of greater Caribbean popular music genres • Performed primarily in festival context (religious, secular, and national)

  6. Music and Acculturation • Panama as “Crossroads of the World” • Ronald Smith emphasizes the significance of Panama as a space for the coming together of various peoples and their traditions; a bridge or crossroads of sorts (as noted by Dale Olsen) • Consider the significance of this statement in relation to the various musical genres and contexts discussed by Smith • Questions for discussion • How has the geographic positioning of Panama allowed for the emergence of distinct Panamanian musical expressions? • What implications does Panama’s continuing geographic significance have for its existing musical traditions? • What implications does the situation in Panama have for our understanding of tradition in general? • How might Panama and the crossroads metaphor help us to understand social processes in other parts of Latin America? • What do the above questions tell us about the Encounter and its continuing legacy?

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