Llanero

Venezuela's llanos (plains) region is an area rich in tradition, and is home to a number of mestizo music and dance genres, including the golpe and the joropo (the national dance). With Spanish-derived guitars and indigenous instruments, música llanera (music of the plains) serves as one of Venezuela's most vibrant contributions to Latin America.

Harp music in the plains region has its roots in the Spanish Renaissance period, and it was the indigenous population in Venezuela that was first exposed to the instrument by Spanish priests. By the mid 1800s, the joropo became the epitome of Venezuelan folk dance, and the harp ensemble was the most famous for accompanying the songs and dances. The word "joropo" refers not only to the style but to the actual event as well as the specific song and dance (which features intricate footwork and is often performed by several couples).

By the 1920s, the joropo was one of the most popular expressions of folklore in the country. The music is quite sophisticated, and features a rhythmical quality found throughout many South American rhythms (with roots in both Spanish and African tradition): sesquiáltera. This term refers to a musical rhythm that alternates the two time signatures of 3/4 and 6/8—a characteristic of many Latin American rhythms including the Chilean cueca, the Mexican huapango and the Argentine chacarera.

The collective instrumentation of música llanera includes the arpa llanera (which shares in the melody role with the main singer), the cuatro (Venezuela's premiere guitar relative, with four strings) and the maracas. Since the mid-20th century, an acoustic or electric bass was added to the ensemble as a way to emphasize the lower strings of the harp. In other groups, the four-stringed bandola (a lute derivative) takes the place of the harp, and in some areas there is an eight-stringed version as well.

One of the most notable musicians to popularize the plains music tradition is Simón Diaz, who devoted himself to spreading the wealth of the genre on record, film and television. The joropo (and its cousin the golpe) are still preserved along with the richness of Venezuelan traditional folk music, and many artists have begun to include the genres in more contemporary settings featuring political lyrics, keeping current with Venezuelan life.
—Rebeca Mauleon