Vals criollo

The vals criollo, known outside Peru as the Peruvian waltz, is the emblematic song form of música criolla, the Creole music of Peru's coast. In 3/4 time but phrased very differently from the European waltz, it is played by two Spanish guitars — one playing melodic solos and strongly plucked phrases on the upper strings, the other supplying bass riffs, or bordones — with the Afro-Peruvian cajón providing the rhythmic base since the mid-twentieth century. Its singing is declamatory and nostalgic, and its repertoire, centred on Lima's old neighbourhoods, treats love, loss and local pride.