Spanish music

This week I have been listening to a lot of old and new style Spanish music, the reason I have chosen this style is because of the general sound and feel of the music, it is a style that once it is in your head, it does not want to leave, even if the music is of a sad nature, it still makes you feel very happy just with the way that it is set out, the older style is known to have used the 12 stringed guitar, in my view I think this may have been for the many different sounds that can be made with this instrument, but it is not all about guitar, Spanish music can be traced back to the very early days of Spain itself, with people bringing over musical sounds but with the new government the rise was soon stopped as they declared a prohibition of such music.

After this within the Renaissance period, a lot of music began to grow and flourish within the towns and communities, the music became more instrumental but also combining more instruments, in which case most of the instruments are still used in the modern Spanish music of today, and like music from around the world, some techniques are passed on to different styles and places. and not just keeping it within the Spanish community.

Here is an example of what was known as Spanish 'Folk' music -

As you will hear it is a lot different from the style that we today would class as Spanish music, apart from the language being spoken, this give another side to the general acoustic guitar that we normally hear to represent Spain.

But on the other hand, here is the Spanish guitar being played alone, but in a more modern way, with the use of a loop station to create the scene of a Spanish song -  

In the Spanish music of today there are a lot more vocal styles, with artists such as Pitbull, Don Omar, and Shakira all of which bring a very modern take on the kind of music that it is but always keeping to there roots, making sure the Spanish language is always the dominant of any used throughout, but again there is a big emphasis on the actual music itself, although it is using mostly new styles and techniques there are again the roots of Spain.

Newer Spanish music can be found in some Blockbuster films worldwide, such as 'The Fast and furious', although this is a good move for the general outlook of the style of music, it also interpenetrates it in a different way than from when it started out. 

When we look deeper into the meaning of Spanish music, we can come across some interesting things, it is known to be the language of love, so this in theory should be interpreted into the kind of music that has come and gone, but also within today's culture, looking back at the very early Spanish and Latin American sound, there was that aspect of love and loyalty within not just the lyrics but the music itself, this then is made to be fun as well as 'lovey dovey', but reverting back to today's sound, it is not at all the case, Obviously Spanish as a language is spoken not just in Spain but in Central and south America.

This in my opinion brings 'new style Spanish Music' into its own class, rather than take away from the organic roots that it is built around, we should treat true Spanish and new American styles as a totally different breed, and not all as the same, because they are in some ways very similar, but in many more ways, nothing alike. 

In some areas, Spanish music is associated with Flamenco music and a lot of 12 string acoustic guitar styles, mostly played allegretto but with an acceso edge to it,

Spanish music is very diverse from place to place, for instance as we mentioned, flamenco music is a genre known by the name Andalusian, which is not known to be widespread from its own region, but has helped shape some of the other styles and genres that have emerged throughout time, for example a few other regional genres such as Galicia and Asturias coincide with and also educate genres such as Andalusian, but still they all have the roots of Celtic and Irish folk music. 

Some more of the instruments used in traditional Spanish music come from the flamenco side, like the clave and the castanets, this gives the rhythm something to hold onto and also give it the percussive edge, along with the Cajun drum box, sometimes known as the snare front.

All in all, the main aspects of Spanish music still live on today, with obvious changes, with the new upbeat and somewhat club sound, but also carrying on with tradition such as some of the instruments and keeping the language as prominent as possible throughout.   

Here to play you out, we have a traditional Spanish guitar song, played on a 16th century Spanish guitar -

Reference List

Arany Zoltán. (2009). Folk music from Spain - La molinera by Arany Zoltán. [Online Video]. 10 June. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fudo3fpr0Dc. [Accessed: 12 November 2013].

johnclarkemusic. (2012). Fuerte - John H. Clarke - San Francisco Street Performance. [Online Video]. 26 May. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvaaL2RKaKs. [Accessed: 12 November 2013].

Cajun drum shop, (2013), Cajun [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.thecajondrumshop.com/index.php?no=Adjustable-Cajon [Accessed 01 December 13].

Google.com, (2013), Castanets [ONLINE]. Available at: http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-new/ehow/images/a07/n5/lu/spanish-music-traditional-instruments-800x800.jpg [Accessed 01 December 13].

djsashavaladi. (2012). Best Solo ... Spanish Guitar. [Online Video]. 18 April. Available from:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dShR9VrzG4. [Accessed: 02 December 2013].