Dominican Republic Music
Introduction:
Dominican music download has long been associated and intertwined with the music
of its neighbouring nation of Haiti. One of the most important ways of Dominican
way of life is through music. It is often remarked that the children of the
Dominican Republic often learn to dance even before they learn to walk. You will
hear about some sort of music throughout the country, especially the salsa,
bachata, meringue or the reggaeton.
Folk music:
Palo is one kind of Afro Dominican music. The principal instruments in this
music type are the human voice and the drum. It is a sacred music that is played
during religious ceremonies, often coinciding with saint’s days or at special
occasions. The Palo form of folk music has its roots in the Congo region of
Central West African region. It shares the same religious fervour as the
Afro-American religious traditions of Brazil, Cuba, Haiti and other Latin
American countries.
Merengue is another musical genre that is native to Dominican Republic. It consists of very swift beats by the guira or the maracas percussion music sections and includes beats of drums such as the tambora. Other musical instruments that are influenced by Cuba are saxophone, piano, trumpet and trombone.
The rarely played instruments are the box bass, accordion, tuba and the
guyano. The most characteristic feature of the genre is the rhythm that
dominates the music. Though Dominican in origin it has been historically
linked to the music of Haiti, a nation that shares a border with the
Dominican Republic.
Popular forms of music:
The style of music of the inhabitants of shantytowns is known as Bachata.
Though it seems as a negative connotation, the musical style of Bachata has
very widely been accepted by almost all the classes of Dominican Republic
society.
This style is said to have been evolved from bolero, which is a pan
American style and has its origin in Cuba. The principal musical instruments
of Bachata are the guitars which include the rhythm, lead and the bass. They
are also accompanied by the guira and bongo.
Dominican rock has come to be a popular genre among the younger generation
of the Dominican Republic. Though largely influenced by the American and
British rock, it nevertheless has its own sense and unique style of music.
The recent years has seen a vibrant face of rock music in the Dominican
Republic and spans many genres of rock music like the punk, pop rock, emo
and metal.
In the nineties, certain Dominican bands mingled house with meringue as well
as hip hop elements, thus creating the merenhouse and merenrap musical
styles. The typical instruments used in the merenrap are the diatonic
accordion, guitar, bass guitar, trumpet, saxophone, trombone and
occasionally the piano.
Conclusion:
Merengue is considered to be the most popular form of dance and music in the
Dominican Republic. Sometimes, its sound does combine a mixture of European
and African elements and formed predominantly through a three piece band
that consists of an accordion, guira and the tambora. Dominican Republic
music download does have an infectious rhythm and is considered to be an
essential ingredient in the Dominican way of life.