Guabina

One of the most representative musical expressions in Vélez is the Guabina Veleña, a vocal genre traditionally sung by the campesinos (labourers, farmers) during their daily work in the campo (farms). Today, this genre can be observed in the Festival de la Guabina y el Tiple in Vélez as well as in neighbouring municipalities including Bolivar, Puente Nacional, Sucre, Jesus Maria, Guavatá and Vélez (Cáceres 2012, 68). In the entry Colombia, Gradante says that “the Guabina of the departments of Santander and Boyacá has been described as a lyrical lament, coplas performed repetitively by laborers and travelers” (Gradante 1998, 391). Colombian music scholar José Ignacio Perdomo defines Guabina as a ¨canto doliente, una queja del alma de la gleba¨ (Perdomo, 221) [Sorrowful song, a complaint from the soul of the earth].

Blanca, Doris, Cecilia and Mery Rivera, members of Corazon Santandereano, describe how their mother Mercedes used to sing Guabina while doing her everyday chores and that this was the way Mercedes’ children and grandchildren learned Guabina. Paola Cáceres expresses that these songs were sing mainly by women in their everyday labours including collecting coffee, preparing food, taking care of animals, gathering fruits, and washing and mending clothes, (1998,98). Despite the associations with women’s labour, Guabina was also sung by man.

In terms of the context of the performance of Guabina, in an interview Mercedes Hernandez discussed the frequency and everyday use of this songs saying: “entonces era esos lamentos de Guabina por to[d]o la[d]o; Guabina, si iban a coger café, Guabina, a coger maíz, Guabina … si .. así fuera solo o acompaña[d]o (Cáceres 2012, 68). [then it was those Guabina lament all over the place; Guabina, if they were going to have coffee, Guabina, to get corn, Guabina ... yes ... even if it was alone or with someone]. Adding to the discussion of the context of its performance, Perdomo comments that the Guabinas were sing by the promeseros that travel to Chiquinquira and Mongui as part of their religious pilgrimage: los promeseros que se dirigen a Chiquinquirá y mongui atenuan el cansncio de la jornada al compas de esos cantares doloridos que repiten hasta la saciedad, haciendo tonadas y variaciones a cada coda”(1963,221) [the pilgrims who go to Chiquinquira and Mongui fight the fatigue of the day to the beat of those painful songs that they repeat until they had enough, singing tunes and varying each ending].

The Guabina has remained local to the Santander department over the years. Its existence relies on the generational passing as elderly members teach these songs to younger people. Today, the Guabinas are less common to hear in the rural areas or in the village except when regional festivals such as the Festival de la Guabina y el tiple take place.

The Guabina elements

The “purest” version of the Guabina is sung completely a cappela (without any instrumental accompaniment) by one or more people usually singing in unison or in two voices whit the second voice singing in thirds or sixths in relation with the first voice. All Guabinas have two main elements: the use of fixed tonadas (tunes or melodies) and the use of poetic couplets. The traditional Guabina, in which the tonadas are sung a capella, does not follow a fixed metre (3/4, 6/8), as the rhythm of the melodies are interpreted ad libitum. Various traditional tonadas do not have a defined metric structure and it is interpreted by the gubineros and guabineras (people who sing Guabina) according to their preferences. For clarity, I will reference as traditional tonadas as the melodic forms that does not follow a rhythmic metric and modern tonadas to the tunes that has an identifiable rhythmic pattern

Although tonadas are considered traditional tunes and part of the local folklore, usually they are attributed to the families that sing them most often. Also, they can “obtain” their name based on the first verse of the couplet that is mostly used for that tonada. (Cáceres 2012, 71). Some tonadas can be associated with a couplet, however the couplet can be replaced according to the social context in where it is performed.

The second main element of Guabina are the poetic couplets or stanzas that accompany each song. As discussed in the couplet section of the project and briefly on page two and three, couplets are a four-line verse structure comprising seven or eight syllables in which the last word of the second- and fourth-line rhyme. Guabinas are sung in social events such as weddings, birthdays, festivals, daily labour activities and couplet texts address the occasion for their performance. Currently this tradition is still alive in some musical ensembles, mostly in rural areas.

In the Guabina, instrumental accompaniment is found in contexts in which there are instruments already present, such as in festivals or at home. Koorn comments that:

When the campesino is working in the fields he carries no instrument because his hands are occupied with his work. He sings his coplas to entertain himself while he works but without accompaniment. This is the way the Guabina is mostly sung, and many people will sing like this when they have no instruments or do not know how to play one. On other occasions, at home or at a fiesta, for example, it is understood that the Guabina is accompanied by instruments (1977, 208).

The instrumental accompaniment of traditional Guabinas can vary. In the case of the Guabinas that used traditional tonadas, the tiple and requinto often play an introduction and an instrumental interlude, leaving the voices singing without accompaniment. In this case the singing of the Guabina does not correspond with the same melodic or rhythmic structure of the torbellino that accompanies it. Gradant describes the performance of the Guabina as followed:

Performances of the Guabina veleña typically begin with an interlude plucked on one tiple while a second strums a chordal accompaniment. Percussion is provided ideally by a carraca, a zambumbia, a quiribillo, a pandareta (tambourine, usually without jingles), a guacharaca, and a chucho until the introduction is completed. Coplas, fixed or improvised, are then sung unaccompanied—a trait that makes the Guabina veleña unique among Andean Colombian genres. After the first half of the copla has been rendered, the instrumental interlude is repeated, leading to the vocalist's completion of the copla. The melodic line is simple, almost modal—a trait that has led some observers to posit its origin in the plainsong taught to the region's inhabitants during the colonial era. As with the rajaleña of the southern Andean region, informal, noncompetitive performances may last from a few moments to a few hours, depending on the endurance and improvisatory skills of the copleros. (1987, 391).

One could say that the Guabina that Gardant describes corresponds to the traditional Guabina, as it cannot be sung with torbellino in the background. This way of singing Guabina is still practiced, but now some Guabinas are sung with the constant and metered accompaniment of torbellino. These Guabinas fit into the rhythm of the torbellino, meaning that the singing will follow the same harmonic and metric structure of the torbellino. Although it is beyond the scope of this project, it would be valuable to study how this genre has evolved and if, for example, a Guabina that follows the metre of the torbellino should still be called Guabina or if it might be called instead a torbellino cantado, (sing torbellino), meaning a tune that is sung with a constant accompaniment of torbellino.

Cuando mi mama me tuvo

It is a traditional Guabina with intermittent instrumental accompaniment. The tonada and the couplet were composed by Miguel Roberto Hernández, member of Corazon Santandereano and it was recorded by the duet Sonia y Nelly in 1989. This Guabina has the following structure: 1) instrumental introduction using torbellino; 2) pause; 3) a capella singing of the four lines (the entire couplet); 4) repetition of the last line, followed by the estribillo “oy ayayyy si la Guabina;” 5) instrumental interlude of torbellino; and 6) singing of the second line, using the same structure as the first one. Estribillos are textual interludes with a lament quality that can be interjected before, between and/or at the end of the performance of the couplets.

Guabina loca

This Guabina loca uses a tonada that is characterized as having a happy and vivid character. Although the composer is unknown, this tonada is often associated with the Rivera family (Corazon Santandereano members) as they have performed it most often and have made this tonada known in folkloric presentations, parties, meetings, among others. Blanca Rivera comments that “Cuando hay una parranda la gente siempre pide la Guabina loca de la familia Rivera” [when there is a party, the people always ask the “Guabina loca” by the Rivera family]

The structure of this Guabina is: 1) instrumental introduction using torbellino; 2) pause; 3) singing of the four lines (the entire couplet) a capella repeating the fourth line twice followed by a repetition of the third line of text; 5) instrumental interlude of torbellino; 6) singing other couplets following the same structure.

Tu amor me mata negrita

This Guabina can be classified as a modern Guabina with instrumental accompaniment and use of estribillo. This Guabina was sung and recorded by the Trio Chicamocha (Vélez, Santander). Some music ensembles sing it with other couplets according to the context in which it is performed. This tonada is characterized by the use of the estribillo “Oooy.. Negritaa” at the beginning of each couplet. At the end of the couplet estribillo says “tu amor me mata negrita.” This tonada follows this order: 1) instrumental introduction using torbellino; 2) pause; 3) a capella estribillo (“oooy negrita”); 4) singing of the two first lines with repetition of the second line; 5) estribillo (“tu amor me mata negrita”); 6) instrumental interlude of torbellino; and then 7) singing of the last two verses of the couplet following the same structure.

Lindas son las Chipateñas

This is a moderate/ fast Guabina with constant torbellino accompaniment. This tonada has a vivid and happy character and the couplets have a picturesque and happy theme. This Guabina is usually heard in the parrandas (fiestas) when people are euphoric. The structure of this tonada is the following:1) instrumental introduction using torbellino; 2) pause; 3) singing of the four lines (the entire couplet) with instrumental accompaniment; 4) repetition of the four line and third line; 5) instrumental interlude of torbellino; then 6) singing of other couplets following the same structure. As with other Guabinas the tonada remains the same, but different text is added; here the sentiment is alludes to courtship, including reference to unfilled interactions with their partner and possible prostitution and public shaming as a result of unfilled love. As with many couplets, there are many ways to interpret the implied meaning.