La Musica Andina

Andean music comes from the approximate area inhabited by the Incas prior to European contact. It includes the countries Chile, Peru, Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia.

Wind and percussion instruments are known to have existed even prior to the Incas, but musical evolution peaked with the Incan empire. The arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th century brought string instruments and new forms, spurring the invention of the distinctive charango, a stringed instrument similar to a lute.