Andean music today is enjoying wide popularity owing to its pleasing combination of instruments such as the Andean panpipe, harp, and guitar.
The distinctive rhythms of the music, too, are very different from modern music. Yet it is uncertain how ancient this kind of music is. Certainly the guitar is post-Inca, having been introduced to the Andes by the Spaniards. But panpipes (made of pieces of cane cut to different lengths to produce different tones) have an ancient history in this area, so they may reflect a continuity of sorts between the past and present. It is not known if the music played on these instruments is as old as the instruments themselves.
Other instruments that the Incas likely used (known either through chroniclers’ reports or archaeological specimens) include simple flutes, drums, seashell trumpets, tambourines, bells, and rattles. Music was apparently important in the entertainment of laborers who came to work for the Incas, in festivals, and in war. Kendall (1973: 50) mentions that musicians were trained to perform at the royal court and that several flutes were played together to extend the range of the music. Both Rowe (1946: 290) and Kendall mention the flute, which resembled the modern recorder. It was used for love songs and was the only instrument in general use throughout the Andes.
Dance was restricted to festivals or rituals; the modern idea of a dance as a purely social function did not exist. Sometimes dances were limited to men or women; sometimes both sexes were involved. As with dances at the royal courts of Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Inca dances were very formalized, with each participant essentially duplicating what the others did.
World History
