Comparing Merengue Tipico Music Of The Dominican Republic

This paper will be comparing and contrasting Merengue Tipico music, which is a type of merengue, and bachata music of the Dominican Republic. Merengue and Bachata are the two most popular music genres in the Dominican Republic. These two kinds of music represent the Dominican Republic and its people. Many Dominicans have taken their music and traditions to different parts of the world. Mainly, the Bachata and Merengue have expanded to different cities of the United States and Latin America. Although both genres have a lot of characteristics in common, they also have many differences. Two of the main differences these two genres have are the instrumentation and their artists and composers. Merengue Tipico and Bachata are different music†¦show more content†¦Each one of these instruments complements Merengue Tipico in a way that no other instrument would. The tambora is a two-headed drum that is more used as a background instrument in Merengue Tipico. It originated in Africa and was brought to the Caribbean by the West African slaves that came to work plantation (Larson, 2017). Moreover, the guira is a percussion instrument that is played by rasping a metal stick against the rough surface of the instrument (Solano, 2017). Also, there is the saxophone, which is one of the last instruments that was added to the Merengue Tipico, and contributes to give a better rhythm to it. The other instrument that is essential in Merengue Tipico is the accordion. This is a musical instrument that has form of a box. It is held and played by pulling the sides apart and then pushing them together while pressing buttons and keys. However, the instruments in Bachata are completely d ifferent, except that the guira is also played in Bachata. The instruments used to play bachata are the lead guitar, the segunda guitar, the bass guitar, the bongos, and the gà ¼ira (Marracco, 2014). The lead guitar, the segunda guitar and the bass guitar are essential to play Bachata. These instruments are the ones that make the most improvisation. Followed by the bongos, which are a pair of single-headed drums that are played with hands and fingers (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017). Overall, Merengue Tipico and