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COLOMBIAN TROUBADOURS

Vallenato: the accordion music of Colombia

• Alejandro Duran - sad lyrics, accompanied by simple, ear-piercing accordion melodies.

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Ask any person in the street what the word 'Colombia' reminds him of, and you're bound to hear replies such as 'cocaine', 'drugs-barons', 'violence' 'assassinations' and the like. But hopefully there will be different reactions when the question is popped to music lovers, more specifically: accordion lovers. For not only is Colombia a country of many problems, it is also a brood-cell for beautiful music, which features an important role for the accordion!

Probably the music style internationally best known is the cumbia. That goes for the Netherlands too: La colegiala, the tune of a well-known coffee commercial, represents this style.
Despite the fact that a number of interesting things can be said about the cumbia and the role of the accordion therein, I would like to take you to an area where flourishes a different, more exotic style of music: to northeastern Colombia, along the Rio Magdalena. It is the birthplace of the Musica Vallenata. This region is more rural in character. People occupy themselves with growing crops and raising cattle. For a long time this region has been isolated from the rest of the country. This explains the fact that the music that originated from this area has a character all its own.
Each of the peoples that have lived in the Rio Magdalena region have contributed to the music. These contributions are each represented by specific instruments in the classic Vallenato combo.

3-row Instruments

The Indian culture is voiced by the guaracha, a scraper made of ribbed hardwood or wild bamboo, which is played by means of a special metal fork. The Indian flutes (carrizos) which were originally used in Vallenato music, were replaced by the end of the 19th century by the diatonic accordion, which represented the Spanish (European) influence. At first this must have been a single row instrument, but later on this instrument with its limited possibilities was succeeded by 2- and 3-row instruments. Nowadays what you see mostly are 3-rowers such as the Hohner Corona (with double as well as triple choruses). But it appears there is also Colombian accordion factory: Bapos.

The typical Vallenato drum (caja Vallenata) originates from Africa. It is a single skin tunable drum approximately 30 centimeters long. It is always played with the hands.

So much for the instruments of the classical Vallenato combo. In commercial recordings it is generally complemented by a bass (or bass guitar), and sometimes by a conga or a cowbell.

In the traditional Vallenato four basic rhythms are used. The paseo is most common, based on a 4/4 time signature. It is a cheerful rhythm, and it allows for virtually all lyrical structures. The son grande also has a 4/4 signature, but is more solemn than the paseo. The slowest of Vallenato rhythms, it is most commonly used for lamentation, expressions of grief and in narratives.
The merengue is based on a 6/8 signature, counts 1 and the 4 are lengthened at the expense of 2-3 and 5-6, creating a sort of shuffle style. Compared to the paseo and the son the merengue is much more complex rhythmically: the guacharaca and the caja play 3/4 and 6/8 together (multiple rhythm structure). This last characteristic is a clear sign of Spanish influence. In medieval aestheticism the relation 1 : 1 * was considered ideal, and especially in religious music this ideal was used abundantly. Later, it oozed through to more popular music, and in the 17th century all music on the Iberian peninsula was soaked with it.
Beside these four classic rhythms one may come across different rhythms on Vallenato recordings. Some originate from different (Colombian or not) musical cultures, such as e.g. the cumbia, but they may as well be varieties of Vallenuto basical rhythms. The paseaito for instance is a fast paseo. The term parranda rather indicates the musical context. It is a meeting of Vallenato musicians playing music together for fun.

Blues

Although these rhythms are well suited for dancing, the Vallenato is primarily listening music. The lyrics are central in this aspect.
What are they about? That is not always easy to say. Even a certain familiarity with the Spanish language in its Latin American variant may well be inadequate, for the lyrics frequently refer to local situations and events, which we are unaware of (or at least I am). But generally speaking they are about love and problems related to it, about day-to-day events, about rural life and the beauty of the Rio Magdalena region. Real folk music, I 'd say. It is striking that every line is sung twice subsequently. It makes the message come through more strongly. Also, the person sharing the message mentions his name in the song. (For instance, a recording by Alej(andr)o Duran (cachuca bacana) starts with "listen to what Alejo says...")

This brings us to the origin of the Vallenuto music. In that isolated region musicians used to travel from one village to the next as troubadours, sharing their message at the parrandas. The 3-rower is equal to the singer in this music. (Female Vallenato singers are second to none.) The instrument starts out on the song, introducing the lead melody. Then the singer (generally the same person as the accordion player) takes over. In beween the lyrical lines the accordion leads the way to what comes next. What struck me is that in some songs the instrument plays the first part of a musical sentence which is then finished by the singer. This aspect strongly reminds me of the interaction between singer and instrument in American country-blues music.

Another similarity with the blues (and e.g. the Dominican merengue) is the harmonic simplicity. Whereas most blues have three chords, many Vallenato melodies have only two. (In music theory language these are the tonic and dominant in major scale; in more common words I and V, that is C and G chords on an instrument tuned in C. Those are the only two chords available on a traditional single row instrument.) Still this limited number of chords offers no real limitations to the musicians: they are freely played around with, and in their ears nearly all notes fit the chords. Of course there are pieces of music that use more chords, especially the more modern Vallenato.
The accordion plays an important role in the melody of the music, as a counterpart to the singer, but there usually there is room for a spell for the instrument to be played freely, as well. No doubt there will be improvisation at that point, with the emphasis on rhythmical virtuosity. And frequently the melodic section will be silent, a passage of just basses following. And I suspect that for this reason only a 3-row is used instead of a 2-row instrument. The 12 basses of a 3-row accordion accommodate for all sorts of bass licks to be played, allowing the musicians to display their virtuosities..

Top-of-the-bill musicians

A number of accordion players are self-taught, and not only have they figured out a fingering for themselves, they’ve also developed harmonies and scales all their own. This distinguishes them from their collegues. A distinction like this is important, for between these top musicians a healthy competition exists. This is clearly demonstrated in the piquerias vallenatas. These are meetings between musicians where music and lyrics are improvised, while the musicians try to obtain support from the lookers-on.
The piquerias have received a more formal status at the annual Festival de la Leyenda Vallenata, which has been organised in the town of Valledupar since 1968. The best musician is crowned to be "rey Vallenato" (king of Vallenato). Not everyone is happy about this festival. It is rather conservative in character: It aims to maintain the traditional form of the music. Also, it is not the top class of musicians that perform at the festival. There’s often more to be earned at the parradas elsewhere in town. This indicates that the title of "king" doesn’t have a great deal of status.
We've said it before, the area where the origin of the Vallenato lies has been isolated from the rest of the country for a long time. It was only after the main road from the capital Bogotá was constructed in the nineteenforties that the Musica Vallenata has become renowned in the entire country. Now, many Colombians like to consider Vallenato as the true Colombian music.

Recordings

It would lead us too far to describe the history of the music in detail (my knowledge of the subject would fall short, anyhow) but generally the forties and fifties of last century are considered to be the classical period of the Vallenato. Top-drawer musicians like Alejandro Duran and Leandro Diaz and composers like Rafael Escalona appeared in the limelight. They managed to develop a personal approach to the traditional music and created a repertory of classical Vallenato songs, which are still played today. Of course, you can only get a clear picture of Vallenato music by listening to good recordings a lot. This is more or less what I hope to attain writing this article: more people should listen to Vallenato music! Unfortunately, outside of Colombia it is hard to come by.

Alas, it’s a pity that outside Colombia not quite a lot of this music can be bought.
Still, there is a very good recording: 'Colombie, Le Vallenato' on the french Ocora-label (C560093). It features recordings which were made when running a documentary film for French television, on location, that is: in the Rio Magdalena region. You can hear authentic Vallenato by legendary artists such as Pacho Rada, Tonio Salas en Emiliano Zuleta. All four basic rhythms are represented on this CD. There are some improvisations (piquerias) as well, and even some purely vocal pieces. When you’ve really got hooked, you should try to obtain the 3 CD set 'Cantos originales de legendarios Vallenatos' (on the Colombian label Discos Fuentes/Edimusica E 30010). This is an anthology of Vallenato hits from the fifties up to the seventies. It contains selections by virtually all major artists. Unfortunately, as far as I know this label is not distributed in the Netherlands.
Anyway the CD can be ordered directly with Discos Fuentes in Medellin. It appears Fuentes is in the process of compiling CDs by certain legendary artists.
Alejandro Duran, Juancho Polo Valencia and Luis Enrique Martinez have released CDs of their own. Research established that Fuentes have added electric bass lines to some of the older original recordings, which is the drawback on this set.
Still the 3 CD set is al real gem. Myself, I’m most impressed by the recordings of Alejandro Duran (the very first Rey Vallenato). His rather sad lyrics are accompanied by simple accordion tunes that cut to the marrow. Also a nice CD is ‘Alejandro Duran. El rey negro Vallenato’ (Discos Fuentes D10070).

I've made a transcription of the accordion line of the paseo Cachucha Bacana, as played by Alejandro Duran. It is a clear example of how simple a Vallenato melody can be. Keeping the bass line (which I’ve simplified considerably) flowing while the melodic side plays counter rhythms is tricky. But as always: try to master the song slowly, keep your ears open (a good way is recording and playing back, e.g. using a memo recording device) and practice really often, so the song sticks in your fingers.
 

Alejandro Duran : El rey negro

vallenato, op het label

Discos Fuentes (D 10070, CST 901702).