The music from the Plains The Plains
Cuatro
Maracas
Harp

The music from the plains comes from a combination of Spanish and native Colombian influences.  The rhythmical structure of the Joropo is a combination of ternary and composite rhythms, but since it's descendant of the Waltz is written in a measure of 3/4.  

The typical ensemble is made by three instruments: El Cuatro, which is a small guitar with four strings, hence the name Cuatro, and which is very similar to the Hawaiian ukulele; the maracas or Capachos, which are of native Colombian origin and the Harp.  The Cuatro is in charge of rhythmic and harmonic support, the Maracas, which are the only percussion instrument in this music, are in charge of rhythmic support and the harp is in charge of the melody and counter melody.  To this three instruments is usually added the electric bass.  In the following sample we can listen a type of music from the plains called Pasaje.

One of my favorite aspects of this type of music is the degree of sophistication achieved in playing the maracas.  It always amazes me how versatile can they be in the different amount of patterns and sound they can produce.  Since they are spherical, the experienced maracas player can achieve either a dry or watery sound and all sounds in between.  The following is a video that I thought is a must see:  It's of a Colombian band playing a Venezuelan song and I want you to pay attention to the maracas player, he is remarkably good!  This song belongs to a type of music called Joropo (pronounced Horopo).
Finally I want to show you a song that I like very much, this is one of those songs that I never get tired of listening to.  The band is called Guafa Trio and in this ensemble there are only three instruments: Bass, Cuatro and Flute.  One of the things I like of this song is that it includes all elements of the music of the plains in each one of the instruments.  This type of music is called pajarillo (pronounced paharijo).  One last think I need to mention is that the bass's volume is a little low at the beginning.
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