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Music of Honduras Topics
Reggaeton
Paranda
Bachata
Classical music	Punta
Merengue	Hip Hop
Latin pop	Cumbia
Salsa	Reggae
Techno	Electronic Music
Timeline and Samples
Central American music
Belize - Costa Rica - El Salvador - Guatemala - Honduras - Nicaragua - Panama

Music of Honduras is very varied. Punta is the main "ritmo" of Honduras with other music such as Paranda, Bachata, Caribbean salsa, cumbia, reggae, merengue, soca, calypso, dancehall, Reggaeton and most recently Afrobeats widely heard especially in the North the Department of Atlántida, to Mexican rancheras heard in the interior rural part of the country.

Overview

Honduras' capital Tegucigalpa is an important center for modern Honduran music, and is home to the College for Fine Arts.^[1]

Folk music is played with guitar, marimba and other instruments. Punta is popular in Honduras.^[2] Popular folk songs include La ceiba and Candú.^[3]

There is an Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Honduras (a national orchestra) in Comayagua.^[4]

Punta

Punta is the main genre heard around Honduras. Punta originated through the Garifuna people. The Garifuna people have a mix of Afro-Indigenous roots as demonstrated in their music. Punta is not only a genre of music but also a lively form of dance as well. Like many Latin genres, Punta form through slave trades and this tribe creating this music as a way to dance and celebrate. Today Punta has evolved into various different styles with the most popular being Punta Rock which came in around the late 1980's-1990's.^[5]

Early Punta started as a ritual or used in celebrations and moved towards folk and poetic music to the Garifuna tribes. Garifuna tribes began to immigrate to Latin American countries around the late 1700's landing in Honduras by the end of the 18th century. Punta was often performed by females which equates to the movement of the dance. Punta dance is described as a sensual dance, moving the hips and shaking their bottoms. This dance moves the lower half while keeping their upper half almost stagnant. Though men can also dance Punta, oftentimes it is women who are dancing together in a circle while the men watch. This dance is also competitive and it may be seen that the dancers will try to outdo each other.^[6]

Punta has been seen in various different types of context. Punta can be danced at festivals, celebrations and even funerals. Punta uses traditional musical instruments deriving from the roots of Garifuna tribes. The drums are one of the most prevalent instruments that can be heard in any Punta song followed by strings and wind instruments. As time moves on more modern instruments have been added to add more depth to the music and fit modern taste however the standard instruments have stayed through all the musical trends.^[7]