enjoys continued popularity in mariachi repertory, in música norteña , as well as in the folk music of Hispanic instrumentalists in New Mexico and southern California. Popular Mexican titles, such as chote vaquero and chote zapatilla , reflect the
genre’s regional and folk heritage.
In Portugal, the schottische became the xote (also xótis, choutiça, xotiça, or sco-tish ), a name by which it was also cultivated in Brazil. In the mid-20th century
in northeastern Brazil, the xote developed alongside the popular style known as
baião and acquired elements of Afro-Brazilian syncopation. Although the rhythms
of both dance types feature a characteristic dotted-8th, 16th-note motive, in the
Seis | 361
xote the 16th-note groups are typically swung or performed unevenly as in jazz,
and the accompaniment parts enter on the upbeat. The xote is typically lighter and
more romantic in character than the baião. Both are associated with the popular
contemporary musical style known as forró , played on electric guitar, bass, accordion, keyboards, and drums. Famous composers of Brazilian xote include the
popular singer, composer, and accordion player Luiz Gonzaga (1912–1989), as
well as his colleague Humberto Teixera (1915–1979). Since the 1980s, singer-
composers Alceu Valença (b. 1946) and Geraldo Azevedo (b. 1945) have created
rock-inflected xote.
In the United States, the schottische was also a popular genre for military band
music and as such was included in instrumental music instruction in schools. Partly
as a result of boarding school music training, Tohono O’odham American Indians
living in Arizona and northern Mexico include chotis in their repertory of social
dances collectively known as waila: instrumental dance music influenced by Amer-
ican band practices, northern Mexican fiddle bands, and by the accordion-driven
conjunto music of northern Mexico.
Further Reading
Loeffler, Jack. La Música de los Viejitos: Hispano Folk Music of the Rio Grande del
Norte. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1999.
Medeiros, Flávio Henrique and Carlos Almada. Brazilian Rhythms for Solo Guitar. Pa-
cific, MO: Mel Bay Publications, 1999.
Raices Latinas: Smithsonian Folkways Latin Roots Collection (compact disc audio re-
cording). Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, SFW4070, 2002.
Sachs, Curt. World History of Dance. New York: Norton, 1965.
Stark, Richard. Liner notes for Dark and Light in Spanish New Mexico, compact disc
sound recording of 1978 original. New World Records, 1995.
Sturman, Janet. “Movement Analysis as a Tool for Understanding Identity: Retentions,
Borrowings, and Transformations in Native American Waila.” The World of Music 39/3
(1997): 51–70.
Janet L. Sturman
Seis
The seis is a song and dance genre from Puerto Rico, and it represents the most
important and largest body of Creole or jibaro music from the island. There are
two broad categories of seis: one of dancing that is fast and lively, and a slower
one for singing. The latter category is sometimes referred to as the seis décima .
There are over 100 types of seises, and each one has its own distinct melody and
may be named after the region from where it originated, the person who performed
362 | Septeto
or popularized it, or the kind of music or choreography that it was modeled after.
A typical seis ensemble will consist of one or two singers, two cuatros , a guitar, bongós, and güiro . The texts may be either memorized or improvised. In modern seis performance, the cuatros play an opening melody-harmonic sequence
twice, played once in between the verses or stanzas, and twice again at the end as
a concluding statement. Since the 1960s, the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña
has supported native musics, and this has resulted in a revival of jibaro music.
Groups such as Ecos de Borriquen, founded and directed by Miguel Santiago
Diáz, have recorded and performed the seis repertoire throughout Puerto Rico and
abroad.
Further Reading
López Cruz, Francisco. La música folklórica de Puerto Rico. Sharon, CT: Troutman
Press, 1967.
“Seis Chorreao.” Puerto Rican Folkloric Dance. Puerto Rican Folkloric Dance, Inc.
2009, last modified July 21, 2009, http://www.prfdance.org/chorreao.htm
Sheehy, Daniel. “ Jíbaro Hasta El Hueso Mountain Music of Puerto Rico by Ecos de Bor-
riquen. ” Jíbaro Hasta El Hueso Mountain Music of Puerto Rico. Smithsonian Folkways
Recordings, 2003, 3–30.
George Torres
Septeto
The septeto is a quintessential Cuban ensemble used to perform traditional son in urban areas. It developed in the second decade of the 20th century, as the result
of the addition of a cornet or trumpet to the sexteto , an instrument widely used in
jazz bands and a favorite for its timbre and improvisatory tendencies. The septeto
formed a transition in the performance of son because, at its peak, certain instru-
ments were added, which came to be considered traditional combinations and pat-
terns in the performance of this musical genre. The musical repertoire of septetos
comes largely from guaracha and other types of son that were popular during its peak. Some septetos assumed bolero as a key element; its dance style was expressed in the bolero son and bolero soneado.
From the sexteto, the septeto borrowed the son language’s outline and basic form.
The septeto was initially composed of a guitar, tres , bongós, maracas , sticks and a marimbula , botija or counter bass ( contrabajo ). At a certain point in its development, the substitution of the marimbula for the counter bass was definitively estab-
lished in septets, and this change, along with the addition of the aforementioned
trumpet, contributed to the increase of its expressive and sonorous possibilities.
The tres is the defining feature of the tumbao of each piece and at the same
time provides the melodic function that can be improvisatory and free while the tres
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363
performs a melodic and harmonic function. The marimbula or the botija support
and give color rather than contribute to the harmonic function, which is later per-
formed by the counter bass. In terms of the percussion, the maracas and the sticks
provide stability for the tempo while the bongo plays a steady marcha, which is at times enhanced by enriched patterns and improvisatory moments within the form.
In this way, the typical timbre levels of the son genre were established.
The first septeto to include a trumpet was recorded in 1927 by the Sexteto Ha-
banero but it may have been used in other situations, such as at balls. In fact, evi-
dence of its presence in sextetos can be found prior to 1927, as in the case of the
Matanzas-based orchestra Botón de Oro, and the Sexteto Oriente, both of which
had used the additional trumpet since 1924. Another orchestra, the Enrizo, used
the clarinet in recordings as early as 1926. Other later additions to the genre in-
clude the piano and conga . The first record with a piano was made by the son sex-
teto Gloria Cubana in 1925. The first recording with congas dates back to 1936,
when rumba player Santos Ramirez included percussionist Vidal Bolado in his
Afro-Cuban sexteto. Other sextetos, such as the Mikito, added both the piano and the congas, together
or independently, and continued their own evolution within
the style in the 1930s. All this would later contribute to the creation of the orches-
tra in the 1940s.
The septeto ensemble still exists today and has brought recognition to several
key players in Cuban popular music, such as the Septeto Habanero and the Septeto
Nacional Ignacio Piñeiro, among others. Many modern orchestras have resumed
and re-created the septet. These include Sierra Maestra and Jóvenes clásicos del
son in Havana, and the Septeto Turquino in Santiago de Cuba. It is important to
note that the septeto helped to define the urban son typical of the western region
through the work of the Septeto Nacional Ignacio Piñeiro, directed by Ignacio
Piñeiro. The performance of this group epitomizes the synthesis and interaction
of the son with other genres of Cuban music. Their first pieces brought together
rumba, son, guajira, and elements of trova to set the standard for future septetos and ensembles.
Further Reading
Davies, Rick. Trompeta: Chappottín, Chocolate, and the Afro-Cuban Trumpet Style.
Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2003.
Gerard, Charley. Music from Cuba: Mongo Santamaria, Chocolate Armenteros, and
Cuban Musicians in the United States. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2001.
Robbins, James. “The Cuban ‘Son’ as Form, Genre, and Symbol.” Latin American Music
Review (Revista de Música Latinoamericana) 11, no. 2 (Autumn–Winter 1990): 182–200.
Neris González and Liliana Casanella
Septeto de Son. See Septeto.
364 | Serenata
Serenata
Serenata is a type of musical performance popular in parts of Latin America, nota-
bly Mexico, Guatemala, and Colombia, that is intended as a gift or offering to one’s
beloved. Traditionally it is done when a man hires a small group of musicians to
perform at night or early morning outside of his sweetheart’s residence, preferably
under her bedroom window.
In places where the genre of performance is popular, the man will hire musi-
cians in advance and arrange the details of time and location, as well as which se-
lections the group is to perform. In some cases the man will sing while the group
accompanies him.
The purpose of the event is to wake the partner up with music that is special to
her and symbolic of the couple’s romance, or songs that they have enjoyed together
in their courtship. The woman wakes up and listens from inside her room, and if it
pleases her, she will open the window and look out at her loved one, thus showing
her approval.
Musically, this type of performance often uses the genre of boleros , with their
themes of romantic love, and a common instrumentation is the trío romántico con-
sisting of two guitars and a requinto . Some songs from the repertoire that have the
serenata as their theme, and are thus favorites for this type of musical event, in-
clude “Despierta” by Luis Luna, “Serenata sin luna” by Jose Alfredo Jimenez, and
for birthdays, “Las Manianitas.”
Further Reading
Sheehy, Daniel E. Mariachi Music in America: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture .
New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
George Torres
Seresta
The seresta is a Brazilian romantic love song that is closely related to the modinha
and attained prominence during the 19th century. So synonymous is the seresta
with the modinha that composers have used the term interchangeably so that the
musical differences between the two are indistinguishable. The word seresta means
serenade in Portuguese, and so the seresta has an association with music for out-
door activities, or performances. The instrumental accompaniment at the turn of the
20th century, which was the core accompanying ensemble for popular serestas , was
the same as for the modinha and consisted of guitar, wooden flute, and cavaquinho , a combination referred to as either a terno (trio) or pau e corda (wood and string).
While the modinha was a favored genre among elite social groups, the seresta
was looked upon with some degree of scorn, probably because of its associations
with street musicians. Nevertheless, the seresta was an important part of love song
Sesquiáltera
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365
Anotonio Carlos Jobim playing his guitar. Jobim recorded a
popular version of Heitor Villa-Lobos’s “Seresta #5: Modinha”
on his 1987 album Inédito. (AP/Wide World Photos)
performance in late 19th and early 20th century performance, and composers today
still use the term as a nostalgic tribute to a tradition of sentimental song from the past,
for example, Baden Powell’s Seresta Brasileira album from 1988. Antonio Carlos
Jobim recorded a popular version of Heitor Villa-Lobos’s “Seresta #5: Modinha” on
his 1987 album Inédito, and more recently, on his UFO Tofu album from 1992, Bela
Fleck recorded “Seresta,” composed by fellow bandmate, Howard Levy.
Further Reading
Livingston-Isenhour, Tamara Elena, and Thomas George Caracas Garcia. Choro: A So-
cial History of a Brazilian Popular Music. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005.
George Torres
Sesquiáltera
From the Latín sesquialter, sesquiáltera refers to the ratio of three and two. In
music, the sesquiáltera or hemiola, literally seis que altera (six that alternate), is a combination of groupings of two or three pulses played by the same instrument
within melodic lines, or simultaneously by different instruments within an ensem-
ble as if a melodic instrument plays in 3/4 meter and a rhythmic instrument in
366 | Sexuality in Latin American Music
6/8 meter. Both meters have the same number of beats although they are arranged
differently due to the accents in those beats within a measure (accents in a 6/8 mea-
sure subdivide in two and accents in a 3/4 measure subdivide in three). It alternates
between duple and triple meter as if musicians were combining 6/8 and 3/4 meter.
According to Arturo Chamorro, the sesquiáltera rhythmic feature was present
in the old Spanish dances called zaranbandas or sarabandes that were introduced
into Spain by the Moors. According to Rolando Pérez Fernández, the sesquiáltera
is the result of the binarization process of some African ternary rhythmic patterns.
Sesquiáltera occurs frequently in many folkloric Latin American musical styles
that use a triple meter organization or time signature, such as the Argentinean cha-
carera , Bolivian and Chilean cueca , Venezuelan joropo , etc. It is especially present in the overall rhythmic organization of Mexican sones and it contributes to their
rhythmic intricacies.
Further Reading
Chamorro, Arturo. La herencia africana en la música tradicional de las costas y las tier-
ras calientes. Zamora, Michoacán: El Colegio de Michoacán, 1951.
Pérez Fernández, Rolando. La música afromestiza mexicana. Xalapa, Veracruz, México:
Editorial UV, 1990.
Stanford, Thomas. “The Mexican Son.” Yearbook of the International Folk Music Coun-
cil 4 (1972): 66–86.
Raquel Paraíso
Sexteto. See Septeto .
Sexuality in Latin American Music
Two important characteristics of Latin American music are dance and sexu
ality,
which together represent the importance of expressive rituals in Latin American
culture. Though it has no prechoreographed movements, dance in Latin America
is a combination of decentralized moves, and dense, polyrhythmic figures to act
out the roles that each gender plays. It is sensual, expressive, and in some cases
erotic. The dance floor is where flirting takes place, and sexuality comes to life in
dances such as the bachata , champeta, reggaetón , cumbia , axé , punta, mambo , and tango. Music is the companion to these Latin American dances and is the
medium through which the dancers communicate. Intertwined syncopated rhythm
flow together with fast spins, footwork, and ula-ula-hips based to create a combined
interpretation of the social role that each dancer plays. Sexuality is not understood
as a one-dimensional dialogue, but as a multidirectional communication between a
partner, a role, and rhythm, which is why music is such an important part of Latin
Sexuality in Latin American Music | 367
American social events. The stylish and thematic elements of music are funda-
mental to dance. The conception of timbre and tone unfold in rhythm, modes, and
pitch, creating different movements that allow the dancer to innovate his or her
own choreography.
Such an assemble, in which each gender repeats motives whose constancy cir-
cumscribes to a specific space, shapes the traditional standard of simultaneously
combine repetition and change, which elaborates diverse rhythmic patterns per-
formed by pairs. Consequently, rhythmic patterns create variations in the body
movements that intensify in order to reach a climax, where the compatibility
reached by the couple will increase the sensuality and eroticism of the dance.
Individuals identify with the stories that are sung as they dance, which creates
a connection between listening and moving that is a unique cultural distinction.
As a result, the subject matter of songs is very important. They often describe ele-
ments of everyday life such as social classes, feelings, and emotions between men
Encyclopedia of Latin American Popular Music Page 62
