MUSIC: Gaita the Rhythm For All Seasons

CARACAS, Dic 20 (IPS) - No Venezuelan Christmas is complete without the 'gaita', a contagious Caribbean rhythm that even has displaced traditional songs at festive gatherings.

With a little help from modern technology and a profusion of new instruments, the gaita's chords mix with merengue to dominate parties and discotheques. The rhythm has religious roots, with hundreds of songs about the Virgin and the saints offering "gaiteros" and churchgoers a lively alternative to the traditional soft Christmas music.

The gaita was born in the city of Maracaibo, some 700 kilometres west of Caracas and the capital of the oil-producing state of Zulia. It spread throughout the country with the rise of the oil industry, television and the mass media in the last 50 years.

Despite a strong regional flavour, the gaita has since then been accepted in urban areas throughout Venezuela, and several successful bands have taken advantage of the broader market to introduce other rhythms and carry the gaita beyond the Christmas season.

One result is that the traditionally religious lyrics - which later evolved into political protests - now include songs on as many topics as any other rhythm.

Marisela Herrera of the Maracaibo Friends of the Gaita Foundation told IPS that the changes "are not necessarily a regression," and new expressions can be as legitimate as the traditional ones.

"A gaita is a gaita - so long as its metre is respected, and the cadence unbroken," Herrera said, denying that the use of instruments contradicts the nature of the rhythm.

She added that "it could even be played by a symphony. In fact in the 19th century wealthy families of Maracaibo used many instruments."

According to folklore specialist Isabel Aretz, the gaita is traditionally played on the "cuatro" - a small guitar with four strings - two kinds of drums, maracas and the "charrasca" - an irregular tube that is scraped with a stick.

But now, Aretz said, gaita groups have added instruments to enrich the sound and expand the rhythm.

Research has showed that the origin of the gaita is closely linked to that of Maracaibo. The city was founded in 1529 by Ambrosio Alfinger - who was accompanied by a priest named Juan Rodriguez, who had a celesta (an early version of the piano), flutes and a small drum. (MORE)

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© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service