Music of Colombia

The music of Colombia is an expression of the Colombian culture, which contains diverse music genres, traditional and moderns according with the features of each geographic region; although it is frequent to find different musical styles in the same region. The diversity in musical expressions found in Colombia can be seen as the result of a mixture of African, native Indigenous, European (especially Spanish) influences, as well as more modern American and Caribbean musical forms, Cuban, and Jamaican.

In a globalised world, many musicians are fusing traditional music with other styles (usually styles from the popular music genres). While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it is no longer traditional music since it is not entirely based on local culture, being influenced by the music that it has been fused with. As a result traditional music tends to be found in a pre-commercial setting. While traditional music continues to evolve today, but generally as a continuation of the music from a pre-globalised culture.

Styles like vallenato and porro were especially influential. When the waltz became popular in the 19th century, a Colombian version called pasillo was created.