Cover photo: Brian Jeffery Beggerly, CC BY 2.0
Peruvian Music
When we speak of the folk music of Peru, it is represented by the “yaraví” (folk chants) and the Creole marinera (songs of the people of the mountain regions).
The distinctive features of Peruvian music are its wind instruments (reed flutes or flutes made from shells) and the wide use of the pentatonic scale. Some compositions also feature percussion instruments. The Spaniards brought string instruments to Peru, and so today many Peruvian folk melodies are also played on the guitar.
Peruvian folk music is filled with love for nature and for its own history. It can be both “major-key and spirited” and “minor-key and sentimental.”