Portugal has a rich musical culture, with roots dating back to the Provençal troubadours, followed by ballads and fado and, in recent times, incorporating the rhythms of the former Portuguese colonies of Africa western. Each of these elements is still alive in current Portuguese music, such as the French Provençal influence in the popular music played at festivals in the northern part of the country, as well as in the rock and jazz prevalent in larger cities. A further element is added by a large number of singer-songwriters, most of whom come from the extremely political "New Song" movement. This movement began to spread in the 1970s, when the country freed itself from a thirty-year dictatorship under Salazar and was forced to withdraw from its colonies. In Portuguese popular music, there is a wide variety of instruments. Some of the most common include bagpipes, harmonicas, accordions, flutes, drums (adufes, bombos, caixas, pandeiros, sarroncas), and numerous percussion instruments (ferrinhos, genebres, reco-reco, trancanholas). However, Portugal is best known for its stringed instruments: violins, twelve-stringed "Portuguese guitar", and six variations of "violet guitars" unknown to other European countries. Design, character and tuning are unique to each of the viola guitars. The best known is the small four-stringed cavaquinho. The others have elaborate combinations of single, double and even triple strings. One of the common combinations of instruments is the zes-pereira. Consisting of a large bumblebee, a caixa and a bagpipe or fife, it is often used to announce special occasions. Another traditional combination popular throughout the country is the rancho, composed of violins, guitars, clarinets, harmonicas and ferrinhos, to which is then added the accordion. The singers of Porgtugal are excellent. In every city there is an amateur choir. It is customary for someone to start an a cappella after a good meal, and others at the table to join him. It is not at all unusual, if you go to a fado show, to find the entire staff of the venue taking part, from the owner to the person in charge of the cloakroom. To listen to a three-woman vocal ensemble from Manhouce, or a male choir from the Alentejo, is to listen to authentically popular...... middle of paper...... Her work is full of erratic oscillations and sudden changes of direction More recent folk music has become known as Musica Popular, which owes its renewed popularity primarily to the songwriters who have dedicated themselves to it and the musicians who have made records dedicated to these unique folk instruments. Among the instrumentalists, perhaps the greatest guitarist Carlos Paredes. explores both the folk and classical sides of the Portuguese guitar, with surprising results. Another excellent instrumentalist is Julio Pereira, who began as a singer-songwriter but became interested in traditional stringed instruments and has recently experimented to great effect combining them with synthesizers, rhythm boxes and samplers in compositions inspired by the folk tradition. From what has been examined here, it is clear that Portugal's history and music have had a major influence on each other, particularly during the transition period that occurred when Portugal became a democracy and abandoned a dictatorship thirty years. It is also important to note that traditional Portuguese music still survives in contemporary Portuguese music.