Merengue is a type of lively, joyful music and dance that comes from the Dominican Republic [1]. It is popular in the Dominican Republic. Merengue means whipped egg whites and sugar in Spanish, similar to the English word meringue. It is unclear as to why this name became the name of the music of the Dominican Republic. But, perhaps, can trace its meaning from the movement on the dance floor that could remind one of an egg beater in action. This style of music was created by Ñico Lora in the 1920s; however, it was promoted by Rafael Trujillo, the dictator from the 1930s through the early 1960s, and eventually became the country’s national music and dance style. It was during the Trujillo era that the popular merengue, "Compadre Pedro Juan", by Luis Alberti, became an international hit. World famous Merengue singers include Miriam Cruz & Las Chicas Del Can, Los Hermanos Rosario, Juan Luis Guerra, Wilfrido Vargas, Sergio Vargas, Johnny Ventura, Kinito Mendez, Ravel, Josie Esteban y la Patrulla 15, Pochy y su Cocoband, Fernando Villalona, Cuco Valoy, The Freddie Kenton Orquestra, Elvis Crespo and Conjunto Quisqueya. Other artists popular in the Dominican Republic as of 2006 include Julian, Toño Rosario, Aguakate, and Amarfis. Milly Quezada is known as the Queen of Merengue. Contredanse (also contra-dance and other variant spellings) refers to several folk dance styles in which couples dance in two facing lines. ... In Roman mythology, Decima was one of the Moirae. ... Plena is a folkloric genre native of Puerto Rico. ... Méringue (also mereng) is a kind of Haïtian music related to twoubadou and the Dominican merengue. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... A sunburst-colored Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ... Binomial name Guira guira (Gmelin, 1788) The guira (Guira guira) is a cuckoo related to anis. ... For other uses, see Guitar (disambiguation). ... The saxophone (colloquially referred to as sax) is a conical-bored instrument of the woodwind family. ... Trumpeter redirects here. ... The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... Merengue Cibaeno is a type of music orginated from the northern part of The Dominican Republic, El Cibao( Santiago,La vega,Montecristi,Puertoplata,Moca,and many more). ... Merenrap, or meren-rap, is a style of hip hop music which was formed from the fusion of Dominican merengue music with rapping. ... Pambiche, a Latin American Dance derived from the Merengue - the national dance of the Dominican Republic. ... Merenhouse is a style of music developed in the US and Latin America by groups such as Proyecto Uno and Zona 7. ... Merenrap, or meren-rap, is a style of hip hop music which was formed from the fusion of Dominican merengue music with rapping. ... La Voz Dominicana was the official radio and television station of the Dominican Republic during the regime of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. ... For other uses, see Music (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Dance (disambiguation). ... Lemon meringue muffins For the Dominican folk dance and the music it is performed to, see merengue. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup, as it does not appear to have been written by a native English speaker. ... This article is about Rafael L. Trujillo, former dictator of the Dominican Republic. ... Los Hermanos Rosario is a merengue music band, originally consisting of siblings Rafa, Luis and Toño Rosario. ... Juan Luis Guerra (born June 7, 1957 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is one of the most internationally recognized Dominican singer/songwriters. ... Music sample: Wilfrido Vargas - Abusadora ( file info) — 30 second sample from Wilfrido Vargas Abusadora, from the compilation Serie 2000: Wilfrido Vargas. ... Sergio Vargas (born March 15, 1963) is a famous merengue singer and, as of 2006, politician, from the Dominican Republic. ... Johnny Ventura (born Juan de Dios Ventura Soriano, March 8, 1940, La Romana, Dominican Republic) is a Dominican merengue composer and singer, the first to achieve widespread fame outside of the Dominican Republic. ... Fernando Villalona is a Dominican merengue singer whose popularity started to grow in the early 1980s and has not declined ever since. ... Cuco Valoy is Dominican salsa and merengue singer. ... Elvis Crespo Elvis Crespo (born July 30, 1971 in New York, New York) is a Puerto Rican Merengue singer. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Look up Julian in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Máximo Antonio del Rosario (born November 3, 1955), known as Toño Rosario is a merengue singer well-known in his native Dominican Republic and Latin America. ... Grupo Aguakate is a prominent Dominican merengue, bachata and reggaeton performer. ... Milagros Quezada (born May 21, c. ...

Musicology

Meter: 2/4, tempo: fast.

The traditional instrumentation for a conjunto típico (traditional band), the usual performing group of folk merengue, is a diatonic accordion, a two sided drum held on the lap called a tambora, and a güira. A güira (Gwee-ra) is a percussion instrument that sounds like a maraca but in fact is a sheet of metal perforated with a nail, shaped into a cylinder, and played with a stiff brush. The guira is brushed steadily on the downbeat with a "and-a" thrown in at certain points, or played in more complex patterns that generally mark the time. "Caballito" rhythm, or a quarter and two eighths, is also common. The double headed drum is played on one side with a stick syncopation and on the other side with the palm of the hand. The traditional (some say fundamental) signature rhythm figure of merengue is the quintillo, which is essentially a syncopated motif whose pattern is broken by five successive drum head hits at the transition between every second and third beat, alternating between the hand and the stick. To purists, a merengue without quintillo is not truly a merengue, a viewpoint that has gradually fallen in disuse as other alternate figures are used more frequently (as the one traditionally called "jaleo", also known as "merengue bomba", wrongly identified as a mixture of merengue and Puerto Rican bomba music, and which actually also has its roots in traditional merengue). In Music theory, the diatonic major scale (also known as the Guido scale), from the Greek diatonikos or to stretch out, is a fundamental building block of the European-influenced musical tradition. ... This article is about the instrument as a whole. ... Tambora, as a place name, may refer to: Mount Tambora, a volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa. ... A güira [] is a percussion instrument from the Dominican Republic that sounds like a maraca but in fact is a sheet of metal-- in practice, often from a five gallon oil can-- evenly perforated with a nail, shaped into a cylinder, and played with a stiff brush, similar to... Maracas Maracas (sometimes called rhumba shakers) are simple percussion instruments (idiophones), usually played in pairs, consisting of a dried calabash or gourd shell (cuia - kOO-ya) or coconut shell filled with seeds or dried beans. ... In music, syncopation is when a stressing of a normally unstressed beat in a bar or failure to sound a tone on an accented beat occurs. ... For other uses, see Bomba (disambiguation). ...

Típico groups play a variety of rhythms, but most common are the merengue and the pambiche. In the 1930s-50s a bass instrument was also often used. Called marimba, it resembles the Cuban marimbula, and is a large box-shaped thumb piano with 3-6 metal keys.

In more urban settings, merengue is played with all manner of instrumentation, but the tambora and the guira are signatures. Today, orquesta, or big band, merengue is most popular. It uses a large horn section with paired saxophones, piano, timbales, hi-hat, backup singers, and conga in addition to tambora, guira, and bass. In modern merengue típico a saxophone is an addition to the accordion, along with electric bass guitar. A proof of the great adaptability of the music can be found in the Dominican National Symphony's presentation in 2003 of a concert series entitled "Symphonic Merengue" in which the Symphonic Orchestra consisting of woodwinds, brass, strings, and the like played popular tunes. The saxophone (colloquially referred to as sax) is a conical-bored instrument of the woodwind family. ... A sunburst-colored Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument in which sound is produced by blowing through a mouthpiece against an edge or by a vibrating reed, and in which the pitch is varied by opening or closing holes in the body of the instrument. ... “Brazen” redirects here. ... A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ...

References

• Manuel, Peter (2006). Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae (2nd edition). Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 1-59213-463-7. 

Films

• 1984 - Caribbean Crucible. From Repercussions: A Celebration of African-American Music series, program 6. Directed by Dennis Marks and Geoffrey Haydon.

External links

• An article about Merengue, its history and styles - with music & video clips
• Live Bachata & Merengue music Stream / Musica Domincana, en Viva
• Merengue History

See also

• Merengue Tipico, the earliest form of merengue
• Merengue (dance)
• Bachata
• Grupo Mania
• Cuarteto (Argentine variation)
• Dominican rock
• Haitian Méringue