One thing that all cultures share in common is that they have some musical traditions. The Mapuche people of Puelmapu (Argentina) have many musical practices, including different genres of songs and musical instruments. In this field note, I will focus on Mapuche musical instruments and their importance to this community.
Over the past few weeks, I have had the privilege of learning about Mapuche musical instruments from Mapuche luthier (instrument maker) Alvarino. Alvarino lives in a rural Mapuche community about an hour away from Esquel. He builds his instruments in a small workshop behind his house. It takes a long time to build the instruments, as much as several months depending on how many other projects he is working on and how long it takes to gather the materials that he needs.
There are many sorts of Mapuche musical instruments. The trutruka, ñolkin, pfilka, kultrun, cascahuillas, pilolo, and trompe are some of the most common. Alvarino makes most of these instruments. After showing me some of the instruments that he is currently working on, Alvarino let me try playing a truturka and a pfilka. The trutruka was really difficult to play.
