Latin Music History: the “Aguinaldo” Tradition

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The “Aguinaldo” is a cultural tradition that defines Christmas in Latin America. It’s a legacy we inherited from Spain and could be in the form of a musical or a monetary “gift”.

In this blog I’ll provide a brief summary on the origin and types of “aguinaldos”. Additionally, I’ll also touch on why it’s a vital part of our Christmas tradition in our Latin culture.

Types of “Aguinaldo”

There are two types of “aguinaldo”:

a) the musical form to which I’ll refer mostly in this blog, and

b) a gift typical of the Christmas season.

This gift could take many shapes. It could be children showing at your door singing Christmas songs with rustic instruments in exchange for a small monetary gift. Or it could be as formal as a formal government process of providing a Christmas bonus for employees.

Growing up in Puerto Rico, I remember giving monetary “aguinaldos” to service workers. As a kid I helped my mom give “aguinaldos” during the Christmas season to the “basureros” (waste management workers). We also gave “aguinaldos” to the gardener and other service workers we interacted with through the year.

People would also give bigger than usual tips to their hair stylists and even supermarket baggers. The latter was a job I did one Christmas and was very rewarding!

Origin of the “Aguinaldo” through the “Villancico”

Group singing
The aguinaldo is a musical tradition of Puerto Rico and other countries in Latin America.

The “Aguinaldo” developed in the rural areas as a way to sing religious poems during the Christmas season.

The musical “aguinaldo” originates from the Spaniard “villancico”, a word with roots on “villano”, which means “a person from a ‘villa’ (town)”. The “villancico” roots go back to the middle ages. It is known to be traditional folk songs with a religious theme, sang by the common people of a town. The “aguinaldo” was developed later with a more narrowly defined format than the “villancico”. I’ll explain this below.

When the colonization of America occurred the words “villancico” and “aguinaldo” meant almost the same thing. Even today they may still be erroneously used interchangeably, despite having clear format differences.

The “aguinaldo” follows a tempo of two by four (similar to the “seis”). Also,  it’s poetic medium is the “décima hexasilábica” (ten 6-sylable verses). It  has no chorus, is played with native instruments, it’s rural, and it has no title.

The “villancico”, on the other hand, can be of any rhythmic format, can be of any poetic form, can have chorus, has no instrumental limitations, is urban, and has a title.

The “Aguinaldo” as a Latin Christmas Tradition

I should correct myself and say that the “aguinaldo” is a Hispanic (instead of Latin) Christmas tradition as it originated in Spain. There, it’s religious poems were mostly performed around the Christmas season.

Puerto Rico's typical guitars used in the aguinaldo.
The “tiple”, “cuatro”, and “bordonúa” are the typical Puerto Rican guitars used in folk music.

My uncle Pedro Escabí and my aunt Elsa Escabí wrote about the religious theme used in the “aguinaldo” and it’s association to the “décima” in their book “La Décima, vista parcial de folklore de Puerto Rico” (Rio Piedras, P.R., 1976).

In this seminal work they cited “…the people make a distinction between the “décima”, an octosilabic verse, and the “aguinaldo”, an hexasilabic verse or “decimilla”. Both have thematic reminiscences, since the name “décima” implies a profane theme, and the name “aguinaldo” a poem with a religious theme.

These categorizations are not absolute; you can find “décimas” of religious themes and “decimillas” of profane themes. To distinguish them, our people call “décima de aguinaldo” those of a religious theme, and “seis con décima” those of profane themes”.

The traditional form of performing “aguinaldos” is in the Christmas “parrandas” or “trullas”. You could call these a Latin version of Christmas caroling. In “parrandas” a group of friends and family go merrily from house to house singing in exchange for drinks and food provided by the host.

The “Aguinaldo” in Latin America

Although the “aguinaldo” can be found in various Latin American countries, it has a stronger presence in Puerto Rico and Venezuela. Trinidad and Tobago (with its proximity to Venezuela) and even the Philippines also have forms of “aguinaldo”.

Aguinaldo Puerto Rican singer "Ramito" in the cover of an album.
Flor Morales Ramos a.k.a. “Ramito” (1915-1989) was one of the main performers of “Aguinaldo”.

In Puerto Rico the form of the “aguinaldo” has evolved into forms of “décimas” or “villancicos”. The instruments typically used are the “bordonúa” (a Puerto Rican type of bass guitar), “tiple” (a small Puerto Rican guitar), “cuatro” (the folk Puerto Rican guitar), “guiro” (or “guicharo”), and “maracas”. Since the “bordonúa” has been hard to find, the Spaniard acoustic guitar has taken its place.

True to it’s rural origins described above, the “aguinaldo” in Puerto Rico is closely associated to the “campesino” folk music. “Ramito”, “Davilita”, and “Chuito el de Bayamon” are some of the most popular performers of this music.

In Venezuela, the “aguinaldos” are also mostly performed in “parrandas” during the Christmas season. There “aguinaldos”are played with typical instruments such as the “cuatro” (Venezuelan guitar similar to the one from Puerto Rico), “furruco” (a friction drum), and “maracas”. They may also use violins, guitars, mandolins, “caja” (a percusive box), and “marimbula” (an Afro-Venezuelan instrument).

The Enjoyment of “Aguinaldos”

There are many recordings of “aguinaldos” and I find them very enjoyable. Not only they have the religious messages, but the poetic format of the lyrics, along with the skilled execution of native instruments, makes them a refreshing break from regular commercial music.

For me, “aguinaldos”are associated with Christmas, and Christmas is associated with happiness and spirituality. That is if you can take aside the excessive gift commercialization that starts with Black Friday. Therefore, I find “aguinaldos” an enjoyable musical manifestation of our Latin Christmas tradition and culture. I also associate Christmas with the Puerto Rican folk genres of “Bomba” and “Plena”. For more on this, check out my blog on “plena” HERE).

Video of “Aguinaldo” with Chuito el de Bayamon

In this video you see the late Puerto Rican great folk singer Jesus Sanchez Erazo aka Chuito el de Bayamon, performing an “aguinaldo”. He is accompanied in the cuatro by Millito Cruz.

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8 Comments
  1. Mazdak says

    Nice article, Can you also tell some musicians of aguinaldos from Venezuela?

    1. Hector Aviles says

      Hi Mazdak,
      Unfortunately I don’t know any aguinaldo musicians from Venezuela.
      Saludos,

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