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Orquesta Aragón, Fajardo y sus Estrellas, and the Orchesta Sensación and Orchesta
Sublime.
As it evolved, cha-cha-chá interacted with other national and international music
styles and it has contributed to several hybrid genres such as bolero-cha, el danzon-
cha, mambo-cha, and son-cha, which were developed and performed by Cuban and
Latin American groups. Its continual adaptation has assured cha-cha-chá’s musical
relevancy to the present time. Cha-cha-chá has also been performed by other types
of bands like jazz bands, folkloric music groups, rock, pop, and hip-hop groups, as well as orchestras with an open instrumental format. After its época de oro (golden
age), Cuban composers continue to flavor their music with elements of cha-cha-
chá and ensembles have adapted it to fit their particular style. As an instrumental
genre, the cha-cha-chá has become part of the Cuban musical identity. Composers
in Cuba and abroad combine cha-cha-chá with other musical forms as an identi-
fying feature. As a dance genre, cha-cha-chá thrives especially in Europe, where it
is a stylized ballroom couples dance performed in international dance competitions.
Cha-cha-chá is a highly significant musical genre that has had a major impact
on the world’s popular music. Since its introduction in the 1950s, cha-cha-chá has
remained central to the Cuban national musical identity. Musicians have adapted
the sound and rhythm of the cha-cha-chá to fit diverse musical expressions and
settings. Through the wide distribution and dissemination made possible by the
recording and media industry, it has become ubiquitous in contemporary popular
music.
Further Reading
Manuel, Peter. Essays on Cuban Music: North American and Cuban Perspectives. Lan-
ham, MD: University Press of America, 1991.
Marrero, Gaspar. La orquesta Aragón. Havana: José Martí. 2001.
Morales, Ed. The Latin Beat: The Rhythms and Roots of Latin Music from Bossa Nova
to Salsa and Beyond. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2003.
Steward, Sue. Musica!: Salsa, Rumba, Merengue, and More: The Rhythm of Latin Amer-
ica. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1999.
Sublette, Ned. Cuba and Its Music. Chicago: Chicago Press Review, 2008.
Grizel Hernández and Liliana Casanella
Changüí
Changüí is a music and dance genre deeply rooted in the customs and lifestyles of
Cuba. Changüí originated in Guantanamo, the eastern province of the country, and
can refer to the music, the dance, or the instrumental ensemble.
The changüí began to develop at the end of the 19th century, evolving from spe-
cific transitional forms of song styles, and dance. The earliest recorded evidence of
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its existence is a reference from 1868, in the context of the Latin American wars
of independence. Its form demonstrates the influence of diverse sociocultural ele-
ments of Canary, Bantu, and Franco-Haitian origin. Its musical syntax is defined,
in terms of instrumentation, by the presence of the tres, the bongó, and the marím-
bula . The metallic güiro and the maracas , which the lead singer plays, are added to these instruments.
The tres is the main instrument, and its performance centers on the articulation
of melodic-rhythmic patterns of various divisions and the distribution of accents,
which establishes a syncopated timeline pattern that breaks up and reappears in a
distinct way. The tres introduces, accompanies, creates melody and establishes mo-
tives or additional phrases as a response, to finish each one of the lines. This makes
the performance of the changüi incompatible with the typical son .
The bongó performs segmented rhythmic phrases that are emphasized at cli-
mactic moments. It creates a pattern of short sounds called picaos, into which the
marímbula inserts symmetric accents. These can be abrupt, in simple or double
time, and determine the climax heard in the drum, both supporting and interrupting
the tres pattern. The marímbula, apart from providing the bass, supports the rhythm
and timbre, integrating specified and improvised accents. Between it and the bongó,
a kind of call is established that serves as an interrelational cue. The güiro and the
maracas act as rhythmic stabilizers.
The structure of the pieces consists of an introduction, provided by the tres; the
body of the musical number, stated by the chorus in unison or by a lead singer; and
lastly, the montuno , where the climactic improvisations are performed over a re-
peated chorus. The texts are structured in various ways, from the quatrain or regina,
to a combination of improvised or memorized couplets or décimas . Compositions
vary significantly in structure as they may contain long or short lines, free verse or
stanzas of four lines (quatrains) with assonant or consonant rhymes.
The dominating presence of a single chorus, with short, inserted interjections,
contrasts with the exposition; place names refer to regions where the genre is fre-
quently performed; texts reflect everyday actions, occasionally satirical or humor-
ous but chiefly rural in nature. Notable metatexts refer to the genre itself, as well
as its developers and the changüi’s social function. The vocabulary of the genre
belongs to the rural areas, and is characterized by common phrases such as cum-
banchar (to have a good time, to go out dancing) and parrandear (to go out on the
town, to party), which primarily allude to revelry. The dance is a closed couple
dance, related to the masón of the tumba francesa, with steps more distinctive than
the son. Its short drags, tilts and passes are related to the syncopation of the tres
and the picao of the bongó.
The changüí appears in important national and international performances,
according to the tradition maintained by old families such as the Latamblets
and the Valera-Mirandas, and historically important individuals such as Chito
Latamblet, Pedrito Speck, and Carlos Borromeo y Olivares who were members
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of the group Changüi de Guantanamo. Other performers include the Grupo
Estrellas Campesinas, the Changüi Tradicional, and the Septeto Tradicional
Guantanamero.
At present, the changüí has spread beyond its rural festival origins to join the
realm of popular music. Musicians such as Lilí Martínez, Elio Revé and Juan
Formell have introduced elements of the changüí to diverse musical forms and
sonero-salsero contexts. Guitarist, composer, and orchestra director Leo Brouwer
has also brought changüí into art music.
Musicological studies have placed the changüi within the so-called son (Cuba)
complex, however, Danilo Orozco, musicologist, demonstrates that it constitutes
an independent genre, born in a parallel process to the development of the sones,
although it is clearly connected with the son in terms of instrumentation, native
rural festival context, and diverse forms of lyric structure.
Further Reading
Font, Mauricio A., and Alfonso W. Quiroz. Cuban Counterpoints: The Legacy of Fer-
nando Ortiz. Western Hemisphere Studies. Lanham, MD: Lexing
ton Books, 2005.
Lapidus, Benjamin L. Origins of Cuban Music and Dance: Changüí. Lanham, MD:
Scarecrow Press, 2008.
Neris González and Liliana Casanella
Charanga
The charanga is an instrumental ensemble that embodies the evolution of Cuban
music. It has flourished as a distinct type of ensemble since the 19th century and
has significantly influenced the development of several national and international
music genres. Its earliest roots can be found in the French instrumental trio com-
prising piano, violin, and flute, which was brought to Cuba by immigrants from
Haiti. This trio subsequently included Cuban percussion instruments and then
gradually replaced the traditional orquesta típica or wind orchestras, which had
been performing in Cuba since the 18th century.
The wind orchestra was made up of two clarinets, a cornet, a key trombone,
a figle, two violins, a double-bass, a timpani ( timbals or pailas ), and a güiro . It reached the height of its popularity during the 19th century when charanga orchestras became the quintessential performers of danzón and, later, newer Cuban
genres, as well as foreign styles such as waltz, polka, minuet and rigodon. The
most famous charanga orchestras include those directed by Enrique Peña or José
Belén Puig.
The transition from the wind orchestra to the charanga francesa began in the
early 20th century, as the result of expanding expressive needs, which required
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the use of more instruments. Thus up to three additional violins were added, as
well as the flute and the piano. These additions have been essential to the charan-
ga’s definitive sound. The rest of the wind instruments were gradually excluded,
while the percussion instruments remained ( güiro and timbal ), and the congas
were added. The most common charanga form includes one flute, two or three
violins, a double-bass, a piano, pailas, the güiro, congas, and two or three sing-
ers. Another variant of the form may include two flutes, one or two trumpets, a
cello, and a guitar.
During the 1930s and 1940s, the charangas declined due to the rise in popularity
of the son cubano . The charanga would evolve in response to this popularity, and years later, after violinist Enrique Jorrin of the charanga Orquesta América, created
the cha-cha-chá . Jorrin created his own orchestra, evolving the charanga sound further by adding the trumpet, amplified bass, and violins to balance the sound.
By about 1959, the name of charanga francesa was simplified to charanga. The
singers were added and the repertoire was modified to accommodate dance music
genres such as cha-cha-chá, son, guajira, and mambo . The most popular charangas of this time were that of Cheo Belén Puig, and the groups Orquesta Gris, Aragón,
Sensación, Sublime, Arcaño y sus Maravillas, Americá, Ideal, Las Melodías del 40
and Fajardo y sus Estrellas.
This process of adding and removing instruments within the charanga came in
response to musical performances of contemporaneous ensembles such as those
performing son. These changes generated structural change that led to the devel-
opment of new genres such as danzonete, and to the performance of danzón in combination with popular genres such as cha-cha-chá and the mambo. In the late
1960s and the 1970s, the ascension of son as the prevalent genre meant that the
charanga adapted its playlists to suit the preferred dance styles. It combined cha-
cha-chá with other genres, to create new forms and steadily evolve of the charan-
ga’s instrumentation.
The ensemble of Los Van Van best exemplifies charanga’s renewal with modified
instrumentation. Its director Juan Formell combined electronic instruments such as
the electric bass and guitar, synthesizers, drums, amplified violins, and violoncello
for the first time in the same orchestra, and replaced the five-key flute for the new
system flute. At the same time, Formell broke all the established rules of orchestra-
tion to create a different treatment of the choruses, presenting them as vocal quartets
with the strings performing in a rhythmic style rather than in the typical melodic style.
Today, charanga is considered part of the Cuban musical environment. Some
charangas remain closely linked to the traditional style, not only in their play-
lists but also in their stage performances. Such orquesta tipica ensembles include
Sensación, Jorrín, and Charanga Típica de Rubalcaba. Other ensembles, such as
Manolito Simonet y su Trabuco and Los Van Van, try new sounds taken from con-
temporary styles. Orchestras such as Original de Manzanillo and Aragón attempt
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to follow both tendencies at once by experimenting with current mixes along with
their classical repertoire.
The charanga proves once again that it is the format of the ensemble that best
embodies the history and evolution of Cuban popular music.
Further Reading
Gerard, Charley. Music from Cuba: Mongo Santamaria, Chocolate Armenteros, and
Cuban Musicians in the United States. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2001.
Leymarie, Isabelle. Cuban Fire: The Story of Salsa and Latin Jazz. New York: Con-
tinuum, 2003.
Manuel, Peter. Essays on Cuban Music: North American and Cuban Perspectives. Lan-
ham, MD: University Press of America, 1991.
Grizel Hernández and Liliana Casanella
Charango
The charango is a small, fretted lute originating in Andean South America.
Found most prominently in the indigenous and mestizo musical traditions of
highland Peru, Bolivia, and northern Argentina, the instrument also figures
significantly in newer urban folk music styles popularized since the mid-20th
century.
Unlike other chordophones introduced to South America during the colonial era,
such as the harp, violin, and guitar, the charango is widely regarded as a hybrid invention, combining the form of a Spanish guitar or vihuela with an Andean aesthetic preference for high-pitched, thin musical textures. In existence by the early
18th century, the instrument’s original distribution also suggests that it was a fa-
vored instrument of native arrieros, or muleteers, who likely influenced and ap-
preciated its small size and portability.
Charango construction varies widely by region, musical tradition, and indi-
vidual taste. Most instruments resemble a small guitar, roughly two feet in length
(approximately 65 cm), with a waisted body and either a flat back or, most com-
monly today, a rounded wooden soundbox. Historically, armadillo shells or large
gourds were also often used to make the soundbox, though these instruments are
increasingly rare; armadillo shell versions of the instrument are also known as
quirquinchos ( quechua is Spanish for armadillo). Strings are set in four or five
single, double, or triple courses, with exact tuning, string material, and number
of frets depending on the tradition, location, and even season for which the in-
strument is used. The most common style of charango, played and sold in urban
areas throughout the Andes today, uses five double courses of nylon strings, tuned
G/G—C’/C’—E’/E” (split octave)—A’/A’—E”/E”, with 15 to 18 frets. Larger
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versions of the instrument, such as the ronroco, maintain this A-minor tuning an
octave lower, while smaller versions such as the walaycho or chillador may trans-
pose it up a fourth or a fifth.
At least three different major styles of charango performance may be distin-
guished today. Among indigenous communities, especially in Bolivia and south-
ern Peru, the instrument is typically strummed to accompany vocal performance.
In this context, the charango primarily provides percussive and melodic, rather
than harmonic, accompaniment; the melodic line played on the uppermost strings
is strummed along with the remaining open strings, producing a dense, droning ef-
fect. This technique influences the variety of tunings used by indigenous players,
who alter tunings based on the type of music and time of year of a given perfor-
mance, as well as to match the preferred range of any singers. In these indigenous
contexts, the charango is primarily a courting instrument played by young men to
woo women, and is thus associated with beliefs in the seductive powers of the An-
dean sirena or mermaid.
A second style of charango playing emerged in the early 20th century among
mestizo residents of southern Peru. Divorced from its courtship context, and fit-
ted with gut, and later nylon, strings, which produced a deeper and more resonant
sound, mestizo performers developed a playing style that alternates sections of
plucking and strumming. Plucking is accomplished with the thumb and forefinger
of the right hand, producing the melody and an accompanying harmonic line in
thirds, while full chords are strummed in the introduction, conclusion, and at tran-
sition points. Closely tied to the intellectual and artistic movement known as indi-
genismo (Indian-ism), this new modernized form of playing brought the charango
into urban forms of popular entertainment, even as it projected the instrument as a
symbol of Andean culture. This style of playing is featured prominently in many
recordings from the golden era of the Peruvian huayno (the most prominent genre
of Andean music and dance) from the 1950s to the 1970s, particularly those by
Ayacuchan folklorist Jaime Guardia.
Encyclopedia of Latin American Popular Music Page 17