ARTS: El Cafetal: Cafetal_FLedit2-2

Mr. Dario Lopez's Vallenato music school in Villanueva. Youg boy practicing accordion. Dario teaches mostly Acordion and holds his lessons in his home's patio. The accordion carries the melody in vallenato. Here the three row button model is used, known in different regions and at various times as “el moruno,” “guacamayo” and “espejito” (“machine screw”). The accordion first came to Colombia in the latter 1800s where it was used in European dance music. From the very beginning it was considered a lowbrow instrument, a position it proudly maintains to this day. Most accordions continue to be imported from Honer in Germany where they are tweaked to produce the warm and reedy sound Colombians prefer.

Mr. Dario Lopez's Vallenato music school in Villanueva. Youg boy practicing accordion. Dario teaches mostly Acordion and holds his lessons in his home's patio. The accordion carries the melody in vallenato. Here the three row button model is used, known in different regions and at various times as “el moruno,” “guacamayo” and “espejito” (“machine screw”). The accordion first came to Colombia in the latter 1800s where it was used in European dance music. From the very beginning it was considered a lowbrow instrument, a position it proudly maintains to this day. Most accordions continue to be imported from Honer in Germany where they are tweaked to produce the warm and reedy sound Colombians prefer.