Ask anyone in the Latin music arena of the United States about el vallenato as it is commonly known the most popular music emanating from Colombia since the 1970's, and they would immediately associate it with the modern sounds of Carlos Vives and to a certain extent with the Abriendo Puertas CD of Gloria Estefan. Together Carlos and Gloria have brought unprecendented vallenato awareness to many Spanish and non-Spanish speaking music enthusiasts around the world. They have internationalized this folkloric, catchy, and beautiful music from a region called Valle de Upar, a large valley located in the northeastern part of Colombia, South America. But, what is vallenato ?

The vallenato music, as it is known today, is said to have been influenced by a combination of African, European, and Colombian rhythm and folkloric sounds. At first, native people from Valle de Upar played their music with flutes called gaitas made of bamboo and African drums made of hollow wood with goat skins secured by wooden rings and strings.
It is estimated that a century after the invention of the accordion in 1829, Europeans introduced the German Hohner accordion to the northern coast of Colombia where it was primarily used to play European music. Fortunately, the famous German instrument, now most commonly known as the acordeón vallenato, found its way to Valle de Upar where it was adopted as part of the vallenato folklore. According to vallenato historian Tomás D. Gutiérrez Hinojosa (1992: Cultura vallenata: origen, teoría y pruebas ), the European accordion migrated to Valle de Upar not to create music but to be physically and culturally transformed by the vallenato musician so that it can be used to interpret the different vallenato styles.
Within the vallenato music and folklore there are basically four rhythm styles: puya, merengue, son and paseo . The son and paseo have the slowest tempo of the four styles but the paseo is perhaps the most popular or most commercially marketable music. For more details about rhythm styles visit: What is Vallenato?

Traditionally, whenever one speaks of vallenato the name Rafael Escalona jumps to mind because he is considered as the pioneer songwriter of the true vallenato music that first reached the recording media in the 1950's and 1960's. Other well known songwriters of the same era are Leandro Díaz, Emiliano Zuleta, and Tobías E. Pumarejo, to name a few. Around the mid 1960's a more modern vallenato school began to emerge under the leadership of Gustavo Gutiérrez Cabello. This prolific songwriter and musician has had an undeniable influence over a large generation of composers in all the years that followed.

Typically, vallenato music is played with un acordeón vallenato (usually, though not necessarily, a German accordion), una caja vallenata (a larger version of a bongo), and una guacharaca (a guiro type of instrument made of special bamboo cane)[see photo above]. Commercially, however, a vallenato group consists of an accordion player (un acordeonero ), a singer (un cantante ), two harmony singers (coros ), a bongo player (un cajero ), a guiro player (un guacharaquero ), a conga player (un conguero ), a bass player (un bajista ), a guitar player (un guitarrista ), and a timbales player (un timbalero ).
The most modern or techno vallenato sound may also include full drum sets, keyboards, and wind instruments depending on the main singer's musical and cultural orientation. For example, the techno vallenato music that is interpreted by Carlos Vives, Tulio Zuluaga, and Gloria Estefan contains some of these sounds. However, the purest form of vallenato music is represented by the works of Los Hermanos Zuleta, Jorge Oñate, and Diomedes Díaz among the most popular ones. Today there are hundreds of vallenato groups not only in the region of Valle de Upar but throughout the major cities of Colombia and around the world.

The vallenato folklore celebrates its richness every year through various forms of contests and festivals. The most popular of all is the Festival de la Leyenda Vallenata that celebrated its 30th anniversary in April of 1997 in Valledupar, Cesar. Other festivals include: Festival Cuna de Acordeones in Villanueva, Guajira; Festival National de Compositores de Música Vallenata in San Juan del Cesar, Guajira; Festival Tierra de Compositores in Patillal, Cesar; Festival Folclórico del Fique in La Junta, Guajira; Festival de Acordeoneros y Compositores de Chinú in Chinú, Córdoba; and Festival Sabanero in Sincelejo, Sucre.
Those of you who have heard a vallenato know that its music has cultural and commercial richness. You can listen to it, romanticize with it, and dance to it all night long!

Persons who are interested in knowing more about vallenato , need more information or have comments about this page, can contact:

©1997 Author: Luis L. Moya, Ph.D. - Born and raised in Villanueva, Guajira, Colombia. Attended high school and graduated in 1966 from El Colegio Nacional Loperena in Valledupar (major city located in the Valle de Upar), Cesar, Colombia, South America. A resident of Chicago, Illinois, USA, since 1969.