African Diaspora: South American Music

In this class, students learn the history of how African culture shaped the music of Latin America through studying various performance aspects and historical backgrounds of selected African descendent musical genres from regions of South America and the Caribbean, including Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Argentina, and Haiti. Students learn to play different rhythmic percussion patterns and folk songs. Class discussions focus on historical, social, religious, cultural, and economic events, as well as geography, in order to understand how these factors shaped the music of South America and the Caribbean. Students learn and practice these rhythms collectively and individually in and out of class. Students are also required to compose music arrangements to be performed in class.