Andean music is a type of music from the Andes region in South America. The original songs and melodies came from the areas where Quechua people (from Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Chile) and Aymara people (from Bolivia) lived. These groups were part of the Inca Empire before Europeans arrived. Over time, this early music was mixed with other musical styles. Andean music includes traditional songs from parts of Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. It is popular in many places across South America, with its main audience in rural areas and among indigenous people. In the 1970s, the Nueva Canción movement helped bring Andean music back to South America and introduced it to areas where it had been forgotten.

Instruments

The panpipes group includes the sikú (or zampoña) and Antara. These are ancient instruments made by indigenous people and differ in size, tuning, and style. Instruments in this group are made from aquatic reeds found in many lakes in the Andean region of South America. The sikú has two rows of canes and is tuned in either pentatonic or diatonic scales. Some modern single-row panpipes, modeled after the native antara, can play full scales, while traditional sikús are played using two rows of canes wrapped together. It is common for two performers to share a melody while playing the larger style of sikú called the toyo. This way of playing, where notes are shared between two musicians, is called hocket and is still used today in many huaynos traditional songs and contemporary Andean music.

Quenas (notched-end flutes) remain popular and are traditionally made from the same aquatic canes as the sikús, although PVC pipe is sometimes used because it can withstand heat, cold, and humidity. Generally, quenas are played only during the dry season, while vertical flutes, either pinkillos or tarkas, are played during the wet season. Tarkas are made from local Andean hardwoods. Marching bands that use drums and panpipes are common today and are used to celebrate weddings, carnivals, and other holidays.

Modern history

In the 20th century, Andean society and culture experienced major changes. In Bolivia, a nationalistic revolution occurred in 1952, which helped increase rights and awareness for Indigenous people. The new government created a folklore department in the Bolivian Ministry of Education, and radio stations started broadcasting in Aymara and Quechua languages.

By 1965, a group called Los Jairas formed in La Paz, Bolivia. This quartet blended traditional Indigenous sounds with styles that appealed to urban Europeans and the middle class. One member, Gilbert Favre, was a Swiss-French flautist who had previously known the Parras (Ángel, Isabel, and their mother Violeta) in Paris. The Parras later promoted Indigenous music in Santiago, Chile. Simon and Garfunkel performed a song called "El Cóndor Pasa" by Los Incas, which helped make Andean music famous worldwide.

In the late 1960s, new Indigenous music groups such as Ruphay, Grupo Aymara, and the influential Quechua singer Luzmila Carpio emerged. Later, Chilean groups like Inti-Illimani and Los Curacas built on the work of Los Jairas and the Parras to create nueva canción. This style returned to Bolivia in the 1980s through artists like Emma Junaro and Matilde Casazola.

The 1970s was a time of rapid growth for Andean music. Music groups formed in villages across the Andes Region, including Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, southern Colombia, and northwest Argentina. Many musicians moved to large cities and formed bands. One of the most famous groups was Los Kjarkas from Bolivia, who created songs that became popular in Bolivia and later became standard Andean music. Their work helped spread Andean music to audiences around the world.

Genres and relationships to other musical styles

• Carnavalito
• Diablada – From Bolivia
• Morenada – From Bolivia
• Tinku – From Bolivia, this is a ritual that includes sacrifices to the earth to bring good luck and better harvests in the future.
• K'antu – A type of music and dance that has been around since the time of the Inca Empire or even earlier, in the highlands of Peru and Bolivia.
• San Juanito – Started in Ecuador, northern Peru, and southern Colombia. It was once connected to a sun worship ceremony called Inti Raymi.
• Huayno (wayñu) – Began in colonial Peru as a mix of traditional country music and modern city music. High-pitched singing is paired with instruments like the quena (flute), harp, siku (panpipe), accordion, saxophone, charango, lute, violin, guitar, and mandolin. Some parts of huayno come from the music of the ancient Andes, especially in the area where the Inca Empire once was. Huayno has a special rhythm with a strong first beat followed by two short beats. Subgenres include Sikuri, Carnaval Ayacuchano, Hiyawa, and Chuscada.
• Harawi – An old type of music and poetry. Harawi was common in the Inca Empire and is now found in countries that were part of it, such as Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and parts of Chile. Harawi is usually a slow, emotional song played on the quena.
• Afro-Bolivian Saya
• Chicha – Began in Peru in the late 1980s as a mix of cumbia and huayno music.
• Huaylía
• Waylas Huaylarsh – From the central Andes in Peru’s Mántaro Valley, in the Junín region.
• Toril or Waka Taki – From the Apurimac region in Peru.
• Chimayche – Performed mainly in the provinces of Sihuas, Pomabamba, and Mariscal Luzuriaga in Áncash, Peru.
• Cueca
• Qhaswa
• Tarkeada – A musical style from the Aymara people, played on wooden flutes called tarkas. It is common in Bolivia, Puno, Peru, Parinacota, Chile, and northern Argentina.
• Huayllacha – From the Colca Canyon in Arequipa.
• Marinera – A rhythm from Afro-Peruvian culture.

Cumbia began on the Caribbean coast of Colombia and later spread to many parts of Latin America. In Peru, it became a style called chicha, which is popular in the Andes, especially among people with lower incomes, including Quechua and Aymara communities. Many Andean music styles have borrowed elements from Peruvian cumbia, such as electric bass guitars and electronic drums.

Andean music has inspired the neo-folkloric Nueva canción movement, which started in the 1960s. Musicians in this movement both performed old songs and created new ones that are now considered part of Andean music. Some musicians, like Los Jaivas, combined Andean music with psychedelic and progressive rock.

During the 1980s and 1990s, the rock en español movement mostly avoided Nueva canción and traditional music, focusing instead on hard rock, pop rock, punk, alternative rock, and new wave. However, some Andean music elements appeared in rock en español songs, such as "Cuando pase el temblor" by Soda Stereo and "Lamento boliviano" by Los Enanitos Verdes.