Recently a friend asked me what kind of music I could recommend that would help him with his Spanish. At first I had no idea what to suggest. Music is always a tricky medium when it comes to learning a language. While it can be quite helpful to listen to the same words and verses over and over again, in most cases regional accents, poetic license to make words fit the music's rhythm, and not lastly the accompanying instruments can often make it harder for the learner to follow the meanings of many song lyrics. So I asked my friend to wait until inspiration hit me. A week or so later I knew exactly what I would send them:
Silvio Rodríguez
Looking back, the choice should have been obvious from the start. There is a singer-songwriter who basically relies on nothing else but his acoustic guitar to accompany his own voice, creating hardly any sound disturbance, and the listener can focus entirely on his words. Also, while being from Cuba, his Spanish exceptionally clear and well articulated. Nothing at all like the typical Cuban Spanish, which tends to ignore your most common consonants, as if it was all self evident. Believe me, it's not! And I remember being grateful on many occasions that I got to learn Spanish in Mexico. There is a tonal sing-song to the language here, but at least all S-sounds are pronounced properly. Finally, the poetry of Silvio Rodríguez is not too abstract, so the listener doesn't have to venture too far in finding the meaning behind his words. In short, ideal music for learning!
It Worked Quite Well For Me
When remembering what a great suggestion Silvio Rodríguez should be for my friend, as well as any other students of Spanish, I started getting curious about what else he had to offer. After all, until then the only album I was familiar with was Al Final de Este Viaje, which I had enjoyed listening to when I started learning Spanish myself. First I tried to see how much I understood, guessing the meaning of the rest. Then I'd look for the lyrics, read along while listening, and then as a last step I looked up all the unknown words. Following that, as I continued listening to him, the words and phrases gradually became part of my own vocabulary repertoire. But as much as I enjoyed his songs on that one album, I had no clue about who this guy actually was, or what else he has created.
The Face of the Nueva Trova
At the time of the Cuban Revolution Silvio was 13 years old, and understandably enthusiastic about the social changes around him. A passionate guitarist, he continued the Cuban tradition of the trova music, singing and playing old time Bolero tunes, but with a bit of a twist: Instead of relying on the traditional romantic themes in their lyrics, he would incorporate intellectual themes of sociopolitical nature. As such, his music and poetry is laden with references about racism, sexism, colonialism, economic inequalities, and social injustice, along with romantic love themes. Maybe this is why he accumulated a dedicated following not only in Cuba, but virtually all over Latin America. Other musicians followed his example, and the genre they formed became known as the "new" trova.
Best Silvio Rodríguez Experience: Just Himself With His Guitar
As I was checking out his discography, I realized why I liked his first albums most. It was probably the same reason why those songs happened to be his most well-known ones. Because the best way to enjoy his music is reduced to the bare minimum: his vocals and his guitar - no accompanying musicians, no synthesized effects, not even drums. Understandably, this wasn't obvious from the beginning, especially not to the artist himself. As a result, most of his music recorded during the 70's and 80's sounds just like that: trying out the technological possibilities, ending up with ... well, a bit like stereotypical 80's music. It wasn't until the 90's that Rodríguez found back to his roots, with such autobiographical albums as Silvio, Rodríguez, and Dominguez (his maternal last name).
Silvio Rodríguez Today
Having enjoyed such an immense popularity from Chile to Mexico, Silvio Rodríguez keeps performing, writing songs, and recording new albums. Being Cuban, the one country he has had a hard time getting into was the United States, and not for lack of fans there either! Eventually he received a visa in 2010, enabling him to perform in various American cities too. However, his main base of appreciation remains in Latin America. He happened to have a couple of shows in Mexico City recently, which is really what brought him to mind, so I could recommend his music to my friend. Nowadays, even though he performs with other musicians, it is always arranged in a way to keep his voice and simple guitar picking in the forefront, realizing the essence that makes this music not only great for following the lyrics, but simply enjoying its simple beauty. So even if you are not learning Spanish, I can recommend him for the simple beauty of his songs.
