15 ARGENTINE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS (FOLKLORIC AND INDIGENOUS) - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The native and traditional Argentine musical instruments are divided into two groups: folkloric and ethnographic. Especially folk music is more influenced by indigenous instruments.

Folklore is the most widespread style throughout the national territory, with a huge variety of subgenres, depending on their composition but also on the region to which they belong.

1- Water drum

This percussion instrument typical of the Chaco area, was used mainly by the indigenous tribes of the region such as the Toba, Pilaga, Wichi, Charota and Nivakle.

The water drum or cataquí has ​​a hollow body, into which water is poured. The mouth is then closed with a corzuela hide, which is struck with a stick.

two-

This wind instrument is made up of two sets of pipes: the ark, which has seven pipes, and the ira, with six. It is originally from the puna and the Quebrada de Humahuaca.

In its beginnings, two people were needed for its interpretation, one for each row, but with the passing of time it began to be used by a single musician.

3- Charango

This string instrument is similar to many others in this family. With a soundboard and a group of strings.

The resonance box of the charango was originally made with the shells of capybaras or other similar animals, something that over time became obsolete.

This instrument has five pairs of double strings and they come in different sizes. Its origin is found in the regions close to the Andes mountain range.

4- Legüero bass drum

It is one of the most typical instruments of Argentina and one of the main components of any folk orchestra. He is originally from Santiago del Estero. Its name is due to the fact that its sound can be heard a league away, almost five kilometers.

This percussion instrument is made up of two sheepskin patches or membranes with hair attached to a wooden box or cylinder, preferably hollowed out logs. Two sticks are used for its interpretation.

5- Erkencho

This wind instrument, also from the puna and the Quebrada de Humahuaca, is known as an idioglottic clarinet, because of its reed.

The erkencho is composed of a reed tube and a bovine horn, joined together. The sound is produced in the first device, while in the second it is amplified.

In this family of instruments the Erke also stands out, which is similar but has a longer reed tube.

6- Tarka

This instrument from the wind family, originally from northern Argentina, has a tender sound that distinguishes it.

The tarka is a kind of flute composed of a vertical orthohedral wooden body, made in a single piece, with six holes in the middle sector.

7- Chiriguano violin

This instrument of the string family is similar to its European pair with the particularity that its body has different shapes, depending on who makes it. He is originally from the Salta Chaco.

8-

This percussion instrument is also known as the Mapuche timbale and its origin is in the land of this indigenous people: Patagonia.

The kultrum is similar to a bass drum, it has a bowl-shaped wooden body whose mouth is covered with a leather membrane, tightened with ties of tiento.

Its interpretation can be in two ways: holding it in the hand or resting it on the ground, always striking it with a drumstick.

9- Mbike or pilaga

This particular stringed instrument is originally from the Toba people, who were mostly located in Chaco, in the northern part of the Argentine Republic.

The mbike, novike or pilaga is a single chord musical artifact, composed of a resonance box, made of gourd or capybara shell, and with a single string (iket), which is rubbed with a bow.

10- Quena

It is another of the typical instruments of the Argentine native music scene, whose origin is in the provinces of Salta and Jujuy. Also from the wind family, the quena is made up of a reed or wood body, with six front holes and one rear hole.

11- Trutruka

The Patagonian trumpet is another of the typical instruments of the Mapuche people, used mainly in rituals and in folk music.

It belongs to the wind family and is made up of two parts: the body, made of beef and which serves as a resonator, and the horn, which is a hollowed plant tube, covered by a sheep or horse gut.

12- Box

Originally from north central Argentina, this percussion instrument is similar to any bass drum but smaller in size.

The box is made up of a completely closed wooden or tin ring, with two patches attached to the main body by hand. It is a lightweight instrument.

The lower head, called "chirlera", has some bourbons that bounce off the leather when struck, give it a particular sound.

13- Takuapu

Image recovered from youtube.com.

This percussion instrument, also known as “rhythm stick”, is originally from the Mesopotamian towns of Misiones and in its beginnings it was only played by women.

The takuapu has a piece of reed, which can be up to two meters long, hollow and with a closed base, which is struck against the ground and generates a deep sound.

14- Sachaguitarra

The name of this instrument, created by Elpidio Herrera, a musician from Santiago del Estero, means "guitar from the mountain."

This instrument, similar to many of the string family, is made up of a clothes washboard (which the creator took from his mother), a neck and strings.

Over time, the washboard was replaced by a small soundboard made of pumpkin, so its sound is a mixture of the guitar, violin, mandolin, and charango.

15- Jaw

The jawbone is the jaw of any vertebrate animal. In this case it is used as a musical instrument. It can be donkey, horse or beef. After being healed, the jaw can be used in different ways.

The jaw belongs to the percussion instruments. The most common way to make it sound is to strike it with your closed hand. In this way, the vibration of the teeth is achieved. Another type of interpretation is rubbing the teeth with a toothpick.

References

1. Les instruments de musique dans les pays andins, Xavier Bellenger, Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Études Andines. Lima, Peru, 1981.
2. Kenas, Pincollos and Tarkas, Antonio González Bravo, Latin American Music Bulletin, Montevideo, 1937.
3. Elpidio Herrera, inventor of the sachaguitarra, Raíces del Folklore, 2009.