Incas adopted wind and percussion instruments from their Quechua ancestors and their use carries into the musical traditions of all Andean countries, including Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. Quechua culture is indeed the undercurrent of the entire Andes region and was in place for hundreds of years before the rise of the Inca Empire in the 14th century and its zenith at the time of the arrival of Spanish in 1532. String instruments brought by the Spanish inspired the Incas to create their own. The first Inca string instrument was fitted over a body of an armadillo shell and was known as charango. Contemporary charangos, or Andean string instruments, resemble more a classic mandolin, even violin, both of which as well as guitar have become widely used not only by the  Inca descendents but also the Spanish speaking Mestizo musicians of today. Andean music as we know it today draws on a mixture of genres, from vernacular musical styles of the Quechuas and the Incas, often combining them with even those of a Spanish Flamenco, a Creole mixture of Spanish, French and African influences as well as contemporary international genres of recent decades.

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