PERUVIAN CULTURE OF MUSIC
Its long history includes ancient civilizations, original peoples, and Spanish conquistadors. Each facet of Peru supports its own style of music and culture.
Wind instruments are popular in Peru. Vertical end-blown flutes often were made of llama bone, but are now usually carved from wood. Perhaps the most well-known Andean wind instrument is the panpipe. Panpipes are played by blowing across the top end of a pipe. This produces a breathy sound similar to the sound achieved by blowing across the top of a beverage bottle, but with a more centered pitch. Panpipes come in various sizes and produce a variety of pitches.
When the Spaniards came to Peru, they brought European stringed instruments, like the guitar, violin, and harp, which the Peruvian musicians quickly adapted by inventing their own versions. They fashioned a small type of mandolin from the shell of an armadillo. The Andean harp, with its great, boat-like, half-conical sounding box, adds a bass voice to a Peruvian ensemble. Percussion instruments include deep-voiced frame drums with a soft, hide-covered head. Some ensembles include violin, accordion, or even a conch-shell trumpet as played by the ancient Incas.
Certain types of songs that are the ancestors of contemporary Andean music can be traced back to at least the 1600s, and probably to pre-Columbian origins. These songs were sung by shepherds, warriors, harvesters, and field workers. Some of the popular Peruvian music of today has evolved from those traditional forms. It has elements of poetry, music, and dance, and is primarily rural dance music
Today traditional Peruvian music can be heard on CDs and on the streets of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and cities in other parts of the world, as street musicians from Peru entertain crowds of entranced listeners.
