Ariel Ramirez began his piano studies in Santa Fe, and soon became fascinated with the music of the gauchos and creoles in the mountains. He continued his studies in Córdoba where he met the great Argentinian folk singer Atahualpa Yupanqui. Following a suggestion from Yupanqui, he visited the Nordeste and deepened his research into the traditional rhythms of South America. At the same time continuing his academic studies as a composer at the Conservatorio Nacional of Buenos Aires. In 1946, with RCA, he made his first recording.