Music of the Canary Islands
An initial map for organising repertoires, instruments, soloists and musicians, ensembles and references on Canarian music.
Repertoire
Songs, dances, festive repertoires and transmission practices of the Canarian musical tradition.
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Instruments
Documented instruments as sound objects: morphology, uses, accompaniment and craft or teaching transmission.
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Soloists and musicians
Artistic profiles of singers, composers, performers, timple players and other musicians linked to the Canary Islands.
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Groups and ensembles
Documented ensembles that perform, preserve and renew popular repertoires from the Canary Islands.
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References
Institutional websites, digital archives and essential books for studying music from the Canary Islands.
Explore subsection ->Starting points
Documented entries for beginning with repertoires, instruments, soloists and musicians, and musical ensembles.
Songs and dances of El Hierro
Repertoire line linked to Valentina Hernández and to discographic and heritage records on Sabinosa.
Open line ->Isa, folía and malagueña
Isas, folías and malagueñas are the most widespread songs and dances in the archipelago, incorporated into Canarian folklore around the eighteenth century.
Open line ->Tajaraste, sirinoque and baile del vivo
Tajaraste, baile del vivo and sirinoque rank among the important dances predating the spread of isas, folías and malagueñas.
Open line ->Arrorró and the Canary Islands anthem
Law 20/2003 adopts as the regional anthem a melody based on the Arrorró from Teobaldo Power’s Cantos Canarios, with lyrics by Benito Cabrera.
Open line ->Ranchos de Ánimas of Gran Canaria
The Valsequillo, La Aldea de San Nicolás and Arbejales-Teror ranchos were declared intangible cultural heritage in 2025; they combine singing, alms-gathering and remembrance of souls.
Open line ->Romance, drum dance and Gomera chácaras
Romance, the drum dance and chácaras are presented in school heritage activities as elements of Gomera folklore.
Open line ->Timple
A small plucked-string instrument, usually with five strings, closely linked to accompanying Canarian popular music.
Open line ->Bandurria
A plucked-string instrument similar to the lute, but smaller.
Open line ->Bucio
A natural trumpet made from a marine conch shell and sounded by vibrating the lips.
Open line ->Limpet shells
A percussion instrument made from limpet shells struck together to mark the rhythm.
Open line ->El Hierro flute
A rustic six-hole flute associated with religious and patronal festivities on El Hierro.
Open line ->Gomera drum
A drum from La Gomera that accompanies the island’s traditional songs and dances.
Open line ->El Hierro drum
A robust, resonant drum characteristic of El Hierro’s musical tradition.
Open line ->Chácaras
Hand percussion similar to castanets but larger, characteristic of La Gomera and El Hierro.
Open line ->Timple and performance school
Totoyo Millares’ career opens the timple section through teaching, composition, outreach and institutional recognition.
Open line ->Chácaras and Gomera drum
The Gomera drum is a percussion instrument typical of La Gomera that accompanies dances and songs together with chácaras.
Open line ->Teobaldo Power
A Tenerife-born composer, pianist and concert performer whose Cantos Canarios turned popular materials from the archipelago into academic repertoire.
Open line ->Valentina la de Sabinosa
A traditional singer from Sabinosa whose voice became associated with recorded transmission of El Hierro repertoire.
Open line ->Totoyo Millares
A Gran Canaria timple player, teacher, composer, researcher and disseminator recognised with the 2015 Canary Islands Prize for Popular Culture.
Open line ->Néstor Álamo
A Gran Canaria composer, writer and researcher whose musical work became associated with twentieth-century Canarian popular song.
Open line ->Alfredo Kraus
A light lyric tenor born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, associated with bel canto and French repertoire and an international opera career.
Open line ->José Antonio Ramos
A Gran Canaria timple player who expanded the language of the timple towards jazz, flamenco, Celtic music and other world-music languages.
Open line ->María Mérida
An El Hierro singer of Canarian folklore whose voice projected island songbook repertoires on national and international stages.
Open line ->Mary Sánchez
A Gran Canaria singer specialising in Canarian folklore, linked to Néstor Álamo, Los Bandama, Las Canteras and Gran Canaria popular repertoire.
Open line ->Caco Senante
A Tenerife singer linked to Nueva Canción Canaria, singer-songwriter culture and popular music with a salsa projection.
Open line ->Benito Cabrera
A timple player, composer and producer linked to Lanzarote who has taken the timple into symphonic music, fusion and contemporary Canarian song.
Open line ->Domingo Rodríguez «El Colorao»
A Fuerteventura timple player born in La Vega de Tetir, also trained in classical guitar, who has developed a career in concert performance, teaching and Canarian roots repertoire.
Open line ->Luis Morera
A singer, songwriter and creator from La Palma, lead voice of Taburiente, whose musical work connects Nueva Canción Canaria, roots music, landscape, identity and defence of nature.
Open line ->Rosana
A Lanzarote singer-songwriter and guitarist born in Arrecife, author of Lunas rotas and an internationally projected figure of Spanish-language authorial pop.
Open line ->José Vélez
A Gran Canaria singer born in Telde, linked to melodic ballad, Vino griego and Bailemos un vals, with national and international projection from the 1970s.
Open line ->Braulio
A Gran Canaria singer-songwriter and singer from Santa María de Guía, Spain’s 1976 Eurovision entrant and a Latin-ballad figure with a career across the Canary Islands, Spain, the United States and Latin America.
Open line ->Rogelio Botanz
A singer-songwriter born in Legazpi and based in Tenerife since 1978, co-founder of Taller Canario de Canción and a key figure in combining singer-songwriter music, Canarian sounds and island cultural content.
Open line ->Arístides Moreno
A Gran Canaria singer-songwriter born in Gáldar, active since the mid-1990s, whose music combines authorial song, humour, social criticism, Atlantic rhythms and a distinctive view of Canary Islands issues.
Open line ->El Guincho
The artistic project of Gran Canaria musician Pablo Díaz-Reixa, centred on electronics, tropical pop and contemporary production.
Open line ->Ale Acosta
A Lanzarote producer and musician who moved through Mojo Project and Fuel Fandango before opening a solo phase with El Porvenir.
Open line ->Bejo
A Tenerife rapper and composer known for wordplay, humour and a career that moved from Locoplaya to solo work.
Open line ->Don Patricio
A rapper and singer from El Hierro who brought Canarian trap and urban pop to a broad audience with Contando lunares and a series of high-reach collaborations.
Open line ->Cruz Cafuné
A Tenerife rapper and singer who turned BNMP, Maracucho Bueno Muere Chiquito, Moonlight922 and Me Muevo Con Dios into one of the most visible trajectories in Canarian urban music.
Open line ->Ptazeta
A Gran Canaria rapper and singer who moved from freestyle and social networks to become one of the visible voices in Spanish trap and urban pop.
Open line ->Sara Socas
A Tenerife rapper and singer who moved from freestyle battles to her own catalogue of rap and urban music, with TFN-MAD as her first album.
Open line ->Quevedo
A Gran Canaria singer in the Latin urban scene who moved from early studio work and viral songs to sustained international projection.
Open line ->Julia Rodríguez
A singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Fuerteventura who combines Canarian folklore, singer-songwriter music and jazz in a contemporary roots language.
Open line ->Ana Guerra
A Tenerife singer who emerged from Operación Triunfo 2017, with a pop career built on hit singles, EPs and studio albums.
Open line ->Valeria Castro
A La Palma singer-songwriter born in Los Llanos de Aridane, known for an intimate writing style that moved from social-media covers to the success of Chiquita, Con cariño y con cuidado and el cuerpo después de todo.
Open line ->Pedro Guerra
A Tenerife singer-songwriter born in Güímar, linked to Taller Canario de Canción and to the national expansion of singer-songwriter music from Madrid.
Open line ->Fajardo
A Majorero singer-songwriter based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, active since 2009 between singer-songwriter music and alternative folk.
Open line ->Olga Cerpa
A Gran Canaria singer linked to Mestisay since 1986, with work connecting Canarian roots music, fado, bolero, Latin American song and Atlantic world music.
Open line ->Lothar Siemens Hernández
A Gran Canaria musicologist, composer and music documentalist who researched, edited and disseminated musical creation from the Canary Islands.
Open line ->Fermín Cedrés Hernández
A Tegueste musician, composer and conductor remembered for Lo Divino, his religious arrangements and his musical teaching in Tegueste and La Laguna.
Open line ->Dacio Ferrera
A Canarian folk singer remembered for Tenderete, his time with Los Sabandeños and his reference voice in the island repertoire.
Open line ->Juan Hidalgo Codorniu
A Gran Canaria-born composer and experimental artist, a pioneer of electroacoustic music in Spain and founder of ZAJ.
Open line ->Luis Cobiella Cuevas
A La Palma-born composer and central figure in the island’s musical and cultural life, associated with the Bajada de la Virgen and the Canary Islands Prize for Fine Arts and Performance.
Open line ->Juan José Falcón Sanabria
A Gran Canaria-born composer and music teacher whose choral, symphonic and symphonic-choral work occupies a central place in contemporary Canarian music.
Open line ->Santiago Tejera Ossavarry
A Gran Canaria-born composer of zarzuela and regionalist music, author of a repertory that links stage writing, island identity and Canarian popular forms.
Open line ->Juan Reyes Bartlet
A musician from Puerto de la Cruz, band director and composer linked to the choral, lyrical and popular repertoire of the town.
Open line ->Manuel Bonnín Guerín
An instrumental musician, teacher and composer from Tenerife whose chamber and piano works became closely associated with the Real Academia Canaria de Bellas Artes.
Open line ->Enrique González Bethencourt
Founder and director of Afilarmónica NiFú-NiFá, a decisive figure in the musical consolidation of Tenerife carnival.
Open line ->Enrique Mateu
A Canarian composer, producer and musician linked to Gran Canaria, founder of ARTENARA and a pioneer in applying technology to live performance.
Open line ->Said Muti
A Gran Canaria singer-songwriter, singer and guitarist linked to songwriter rock and to a solo recording project with backing band.
Open line ->Laura Vega Santana
A composer and music teacher born in Vecindario, Gran Canaria, in 1978, with a catalogue of more than sixty compositions in the field of contemporary music.
Open line ->Los Sabandeños
Since 1965, Los Sabandeños have made the Canarian repertory the starting point for work open to Latin America and bolero, with more than 95 recordings and exceptional international reach.
Open line ->Los Gofiones
Founded in 1968 to research, recover, create and disseminate Canarian popular music, Los Gofiones have combined heritage work, Atlantic repertory and stage innovation for more than half a century.
Open line ->Los Canarios
Emerging in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria from Los Ídolos, Los Canarios brought Canarian beat, soul and progressive rock into the Spanish and international circuit of the late 1960s.
Open line ->The Conqueror Project
The Conqueror Project, also referred to in its channels as The Conqueror or The Conquerors, is a Tenerife dub and reggae project based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife with an active discography since Reality Check.
Open line ->Efecto Pasillo
Efecto Pasillo is one of the Gran Canaria bands that most visibly projected island pop into Spain’s national circuit in the 2010s, mixing rock, funk, pop and Latin song.
Open line ->Los Coquillos
Los Coquillos were one of the most recognisable Canarian pop rock bands of the 1990s, with songs that became generational memory and later circulated in Latin America.
Open line ->Los Salvapantallas
Los Salvapantallas are a Gran Canaria live covers and party band that has, since the early 2000s, turned popular repertory into a stage proposal tied to the Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, popular celebrations and large-format events.
Open line ->Última Llave
Última Llave is a Gran Canaria pop project born in Arucas that has connected the island circuit with institutional venues, music radio and collaborations in contemporary Spanish pop.
Open line ->Ni 1 Pelo de Tonto
Ni 1 Pelo de Tonto is a Tenerife pop rock band with a festive live approach, combining original songs, reworked covers and continued presence on Canarian stages.
Open line ->Palmera
Palmera, formerly El Eructo del Bisonte, was a Tenerife band central to understanding the shift from late-1970s Canarian rock to early-1980s new wave pop.
Open line ->Krull
Krull is one of the historic bands of Canarian hard rock, formed in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in 1983 and known for taking island hard rock and AOR to records and widely followed stages.
Open line ->Birkins
Birkins, formerly The Birkins, represents Gran Canaria’s 2010s indie projection, with an aesthetic shaped by international alternative pop and a personal reading of David Bowie.
Open line ->The Amaroses
The Amaroses was a Gran Canaria indie rock, grunge and garage band that won La Caja Sonora 2010 and became linked to the island’s early-decade alternative scene.
Open line ->This Drama
This Drama is a Tenerife band that connected Canarian alternative rock with national and international circuits, from Villa de Madrid to the US label Deep Elm Records.
Open line ->Texxcoco
Texxcoco is a Gran Canaria independent rock band that moved its project to Madrid and linked the island scene with labels, festivals and venues in Spain’s alternative circuit.
Open line ->Pumuky
Pumuky is a Tenerife-born project around Jaír and Noé Ramírez, now one of the Canary Islands’ references for introspective indie pop and post-rock.
Open line ->Mento
Mento is a Tenerife alternative-rock band included in the Canarias Crea mobility programme, with a career of more than a decade and a notable stage around the album Oxímorón.
Open line ->The Good Company
The Good Company is a Gran Canaria alternative pop-rock band linked to Víctor Ordóñez, with national reach and a discography including 28, Dearland and Walden Year.
Open line ->GAF y La Estrella de la Muerte
GAF y La Estrella de la Muerte is a Tenerife collective led by Mladen Kurajica, crossing avant-rock, space rock, experimental jazz and psychedelia.
Open line ->Guagua Band
Guagua Band is a Gran Canaria ska, reggae and fusion outfit combining horns, a rock base and Latin rhythms within the islands’ mestizo scene.
Open line ->Skachaos
Skachaos is a Gran Canaria ska-punk band born in Telde in 2001, which travelled with Canarias Crea support to Getafe’s Konciertos festival programme.
Open line ->Hackers
Hackers is a Las Palmas de Gran Canaria band focused on melodic rock and AOR, with musicians from the islands’ hard-rock tradition.
Open line ->Brutalizzed Kids
Brutalizzed Kids is a Tenerife electronic punk, industrial and punk-rock band, emblematic within the Canarian rock scene.
Open line ->Ataúd Vacante
Ataúd Vacante is a Tenerife punk-rock band that emerged in 1983 and is one of Canarian rock’s reference points.
Open line ->Escorbuto Crónico
Escorbuto Crónico was a La Laguna punk band formed in 1977, a pioneer of punk in the Canary Islands.
Open line ->Las Ratas
Las Ratas is a Tenerife band that emerged in early 1993, known for its mix of hardcore, metal and rap and its appearance at Festimad 2012.
Open line ->The Mistake
The Mistake was a Tenerife post-hardcore and alternative-rock band whose album Polaroids is a reference in Canarian alternative sound.
Open line ->Esclavitud
Esclavitud is a La Laguna heavy-metal band formed in 1996, one of the longest-running careers in the Canarian underground scene.
Open line ->Meridian Zero
Meridian Zero is a Tenerife melodic heavy-metal band known for Doors of Creation and for its impact on the 2000s Canarian metal scene.
Open line ->Sadic Smile
Sadic Smile is a Tenerife band born in 2015, linked to groove metal and metalcore and winner of LALAcore 2018’s metal category.
Open line ->Apostles of Perversion
Apostles of Perversion is a brutal death metal band linked to Gran Canaria after Héctor Sena’s move, with South American tours and several specialist releases.
Open line ->Taburiente
Taburiente was decisive in Nueva Canción Canaria: from 1974 it transformed La Palma’s folk roots through songwriting, electronics, rock and Atlantic music, with social, identity-centred and environmental lyrics.
Open line ->Atcheré
Atcheré is a Canarian Latin jazz fusion band linked to Tenerife, recognised for bringing together Cuban and Brazilian rhythms, funk and jazz in original repertoire and for its presence at Canarias Jazz & Más.
Open line ->Mestisay
Created by Manuel González in 1980 and centred on Olga Cerpa’s voice, Mestisay has developed contemporary Canarian music in dialogue with Cape Verde, Portugal, Africa and the Latin American songbook.
Open line ->Los Campesinos
Founded in 1964, Los Campesinos have turned Lanzarote’s rural music, dance and clothing into a living heritage that brings together research, performance and transmission between generations.
Open line ->Tigaray
Founded in Realejo Bajo in 1985, Tigaray creates Canarian popular music open to the Atlantic, combining isas, sones and tajarastes with joropos, boleros and rancheras.
Open line ->Hautacuperche
Hautacuperche was founded on La Gomera in 1992 to keep traditional songs and dances alive; its repertory combines baile del tambor, music from across the islands, habaneras and original work.
Open line ->Los Benahoare
Since 2014, Los Benahoare has revived the musical legacy associated with Felipe Vargas and expanded it through Canarian folklore, boleros and new songs built from La Palma texts and roots.
Open line ->Artenara
ARTENARA is Enrique Mateu’s multidisciplinary project for updating the folkloric roots and tradition of the Canary Islands with a new sonic and visual perspective.
Open line ->Acatife
Founded in the town of Teguise in 1983, Acatife links the recovery of Lanzarote folklore with original creation and the island’s social memory. Its career encompasses more than five hundred performances and eight recordings.
Open line ->Tabajoste
Founded in Puerto del Rosario in 1988 from the Popular University’s Folklore Workshop, Tabajoste has developed a musical approach centred on Fuerteventura tradition, vocal and instrumental arrangements, and the dissemination of the island’s repertory.
Open line ->Tetir
Founded in 1973, the Tetir Folk Ensemble combines the recovery of Fuerteventura folklore with research into traditional clothing, community celebrations and educational outreach.
Open line ->Los Faycanes
Founded in Telde in 1969 and led throughout its career by Antonio Cejudo, Los Faycanes has built a repertory linking Canarian folklore, original songwriting and Latin American music.
Open line ->Bejeque
Founded in Sardina del Sur in October 1995, Bejeque combines popular music, historical research and original creation to tell the story of south-eastern Gran Canaria’s memory and cultural identity.
Open line ->Los Granjeros
Founded in Montaña de Cardones, Arucas, around 1969–1970, Los Granjeros made original songwriting and social criticism two of the most recognisable features of Canarian popular music.
Open line ->Añoranza
Formed in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1976 by former members of the Real Hespérides de La Laguna, Añoranza set out to renew Canarian folk music at a time of decline, introducing elaborate multi-part vocal arrangements and female choruses uncommon in traditional parrandas.
Open line ->Verode
Verode is one of the Canary Islands’ longest-running folk ensembles, founded in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1977 to research and spread the archipelago’s traditional music. With more than four decades of activity and an extensive discography, it has become a benchmark of Canarian popular song and a training ground for new generations of performers.
Open line ->Achamán
Achamán is a popular-music group formed in 1976 in the Barrio Nuevo district of San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife), initially mentored by Los Sabandeños, from whom it took the nickname "Jóvenes Sabandeños" (Young Sabandeños). With half a century of activity, it blends Canarian and Ibero-American folklore and was awarded the Gold Medal of La Laguna (2012).
Open line ->Chijeré
Chijeré is a folk ensemble from the municipality of Vallehermoso, on La Gomera, dedicated to Canarian and Gomeran popular music. Honoured in 2017 for its tenth anniversary, it appeared on RTVE’s Tenderete programme in 2018 and continues to perform regularly at the municipality’s patron-saint festivities through 2025.
Open line ->Tendal
Agrupación Tendal is a popular-music ensemble from San Andrés y Sauces (La Palma) that has kept the bolero, son, isa and habanera traditions alive since 1999, alongside Latin American repertoire. Part of the Asociación Cultural Harán, registered in 1998, it has performed across the Canary Islands and remains active in 2026.
Open line ->Aduares
Folk ensemble from Breña Alta (La Palma), founded in 1997 to preserve and spread traditional Canarian music and dance. With dance corps, string ensemble and voices, it has run an annual folk festival since 1998 that has hosted groups such as Los Gofiones.
Open line ->Tejeguate
Founded in 1976 in La Frontera after the death of singer Valentina la de Sabinosa, Tejeguate is the second-longest continuously active folk ensemble on El Hierro. Half a century on, it still recovers the island’s traditional songs, dances and instruments and passes them to new generations through its Tejeguatito school.
Open line ->Sabinosa
The Agrupación Folclórica de Sabinosa is regarded as the cradle of El Hierro folklore. Its spontaneous gatherings date back to the late 1920s, but activity was interrupted during the Spanish Civil War, and the group was formally re-founded in 1945 by Benigno Hernández, Felipe León and Valentina Hernández, "Valentina la de Sabinosa".
Open line ->Joapira
Founded in 1989 in Tigaday, La Frontera (El Hierro), Joapira takes its name from the old toponym of the mountain on which the bell tower of the parish of Nuestra Señora de Candelaria stands. The ensemble is devoted to recovering and passing on traditional Herreño folklore, best known for its stage reconstruction of the Baile del Fraile.
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