History of Latin Music

The history of Latin American music, or simply the history of Latin music, began with the arrival of the Spanish and their music into the new world. Upon the Spanish explorers' advent, regions of Spain and Portugal were governed by the Moors of North Africa who tolerated diverse ethnic groups, such as the Roma, Jews and Spanish Christians, each of the four ethnic groups favoring their own style of music that contributed to the early development and evolution of Latin music. Moorish instruments, North African nasal pitch and the Roma vocal trill all spread through Spain and Iberia, and in some form made their way to the Americas along the Spain-Mexico conduit. Both Spaniards and Moors picked up and then influenced the French troubadour tradition whose off-shooting decimal song form remains an integral part of Latin music in corridos, bolero and vallenato tunes. The history of Hispanic music is not simple, nor can it be definitely traced. This resulting muddled composition is precisely what gives Hispanic music or Latin American music its popular and widespread nature.