Several styles of the traditional music of Venezuela, such as salsa and merengue, are common to its Caribbean neighbors. Perhaps the most typical Venezuelan music is joropo, a rural form which originated in the llanos, or plains.
The joropo, better known as Música Llanera, is a musical style resembling the fandango, and an accompanying dance. It originated in Venezuela and it has African, European and Native South American influences. There are different joropo variants: tuyero, oriental, and llanero. It is a fundamental genre of Colombian and Venezuelan música criolla. It is also the most popular "folk rhythm": the well-known song "Alma Llanera" is a joropo, considered the unofficial national anthem of Venezuela.
Gaita zuliana is a style of Venezuelan folk music from Maracaibo, Zulia State. Dating as far back as the 1800s, gaitas began as improvised songs in the neighborhoods of Zulia where, as Robert T. Carroll describes, “people would gather in a circle and encourage each other to make up verses to a song." Gaita incorporates various instrumentations and rhythms from Spanish, Indigenous and African music. According to Joan Coromines, it may come from the word "gaits," the Gothic word for "goat", which is the skin generally used for the membrane of the furro drum. Other instruments used in gaita include maracas, cuatro, charrasca and tambora.
Aldemaro Romero was a Venezuelan pianist, composer, arranger and orchestral conductor. He was born in Valencia, Carabobo State.
Dinner in Caracas is a 33-RPM LP album by Venezuelan composer/arranger/conductor Aldemaro Romero, released in 1955, under contract with RCA Victor.
El Diablo Suelto, published originally in 1888, is one of the most renowned songs in Venezuela's music history. Composed by Heraclio Fernández, this popular waltz created in the western state of Zulia is played as a joropo, as it forms part of Venezuelan folk culture.
Rodrigo Riera, was a Venezuelan guitarist and composer. He wrote a vital and important body of works for the guitar, inspired by and dedicated to the rich musical legacy of his region in the Lara state in Western Venezuela, displaying a loving nationalism that led him to be associated with the work of Antonio Lauro but with a technique that is more accessible to beginners and intermediate guitar players.
The Venezuelan waltz is a hall dance and accompanying musical genre that was popularized in 19th-century Venezuela. Federico Villena is considered as the father of the Venezuelan Waltz, which changed the European waltz in form, and by adding African and local rhythms.
Merengue is a musical form extended through all the Caribbean. The first occurrences of merengue in print in Venezuela are from scores of “dance merengue” of the second half of the 19th century. As a dance craze, merengue acquired popularity in Caracas during the 1920s. It is distinct from the vastly more popular Dominican merengue. Although they share the same name, the rhythms have very little in common, except that they were commonly written for partner dancing.
Valses venezolanos is a compilation album by Aldemaro Romero and his hall orchestra, released in 1990 by the record label Fonográfica Gilmar.
Sketches in Rhythm is a 33-RPM LP album by Venezuelan composer/arranger/conductor Aldemaro Romero, released in 1958, under contract with RCA Victor.
Almendra - Aldemaro Romero en Cuba is an LP album by Venezuelan composer/arranger/conductor Aldemaro Romero. It was recorded in Havana, Cuba, and released in 1957 by RCA Victor. It was reissued in 1992 on CD.
Dinner in Colombia is a 33-RPM LP album by Venezuelan composer/arranger/conductor Aldemaro Romero, released in 1956, under contract with RCA Victor.
Criollísima is a 33-RPM LP album by Venezuelan composer/arranger/conductor Aldemaro Romero, released in 1957, under contract with RCA Victor and distributed by Grabadora Venezolana de Discos.
El Garrasí is a 33-RPM LP album by Venezuelan composer/arranger/conductor Aldemaro Romero, released in 1959, with the record label Cymbal.
Flight to Romance is a 33-RPM LP album by Venezuelan composer/arranger/conductor Aldemaro Romero, released in 1956, under contract with RCA Victor.
Aldemaro Romero en Maracaibo is a 33-RPM LP album by Venezuelan composer/arranger/conductor Aldemaro Romero, released in 1967, along with the label Cymbal.
Dinner in Caracas II is a 33-RPM LP album by Venezuelan composer/arranger/conductor Aldemaro Romero, released in 1966, under contract with RCA Victor.
Fogaraté! is the seventh album of the famous Dominican songwriter and musician Juan Luis Guerra. It was released on July 19, 1994. The album mixed a variety of music genres including rural and flolklroic rots of merengue called "Perico Ripao" with elements of African soukus music and Tropical Music such as Reggae with the collaboration of African guitarist Diblo Dibala and Dominican accordionist Francisco Ulloa, along with Son, Bachata and Salsa. Also, the album features a particular, bachata-styled adaptation of the Lacrimosa movement from Mozart's Requiem Mass in D Minor and Guerra's first song fully in English "July 19". Exploring lyrics and themes about magical realism of Latin American literature and commenting on the politics of the Caribbean, for many fans and critics, Fogaraté! is one of his most musically complex album.
