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Salsa terms - our dictionary of Salsa
Here you'll find explanations of some Salsa terms
Bachata
Rhythm and dance from the Dominican Republic.
It arises from the Bolero. The word
Bachata means something like courtyard or courtyard party,
because they played this music at the parties
in the courtyards only with a guitar and a singer. Bachata was
seen as music from the lower class of population. This music
became more popular and was played also in the clubs in the
late eighties and early nineties. Bachata was spread all over the
country because of a cult radio station in the Dominican
Republic: without radio Guarachita the Bachata would never came
out of the underdog-status. The singer Juan Luis Guerra take a huge part at
the international triumphal success of Bachata through his album &qout;Bachata Rosa". For more information »t; here
Bolero
It's a slow, poetic ballad. On almost every LP of
the label Fania you can find always one or two Boleros
Bomba
In connection with the music: rhythm and dance from Puerto Rico.
Salsa (for example Willie Colon) has sometimes parts of Bomba and Plena.
More informations »t; here
The phrase Bomba also exists in Salsa lyrics in connection with women ? for example "Esa mujer es una bomba" (Oscar D?Leon). But that has nothing to do with Puerto Rico ?
The phrase Bomba also exists in Salsa lyrics in connection with women ? for example "Esa mujer es una bomba" (Oscar D?Leon). But that has nothing to do with Puerto Rico ?
Bongos
Salsa instrument: 2 small connected drums which are held between the
knees and are played with the palms. The Campanero
(musician, which is playing the Campana) is often
also responsible for the Bongos.
Boogaloo
A mixture of Soul and Latin rhythms. One of the predecessors of Salsa.
For more information »t; here
Campana
Rhythm instrument in Salsa: the cowbell. The rhythm is more
complex than intended while hearing it at first. Characteristic
is the accentuated 1. Beginners are
often advised to orientate oneself to this cowbell
so that they can hear and feel the 1.
Cha Cha Cha
Music style and dance ? deflected from the early Mambo-Danzon.
The name Cha Cha Cha comes from the founder of this style ? Enrique Jorrín.
He named the dance after the sound of dancing feet.
For more information »t; here
Changüi
Music style ? predecessor the the Son
Changó
Changó is the Orisha
(godhood) of the fever, the drums and the manhood. In the traditional
Rumba and also in the Cuban Salsa they
often sing about Changó - also in connection with
Ochún.
More information »t; here
Charanga
Certain instrumentation of an orchestra and also a music style
(but not a dance style). Characteristic are 2 ore more violins,
a flute and most a chorus. For more information »t; here
Clave
Most importan rhythm in Salsa. It consists of 5 beats. There is a big discussion about the adjustment of the 5 beats (amongst others 3-2 Clave or 2-3 Clave) ?
For more information »t; here.
The Clave rhythm is mostly played with the Claves.
In recent times it is also played by the Timbalero (Timbales player)
by beating with sticks on the plastic-jam-block or at the side of the drum.
(las) Claves
Instrument, which is used to beat the Clave-rhythm. Generally there are two small round lumbers.
Conga
The most important drum instrument in Salsa ? sometimes it is called also Tumbadora.
There will be played the Tumbao rhythm pattern with the Congas.
Another pattern is the Caballo.
Cuatro
Guitar?instrument from Puerto Rico
Cumbia
Folk dance and music from Columbia with afro-carribean influences. The Cumbia
developed further since its occurrence (probably in the Independence Wars around 1820) and
is doubtless still one of the the most popular rhythms in Columbia (besides Vallenato).
Many Salsa songs shows Cumbia-rhythms. The most popular Salsa-song
with elements of Cumbia is "La Vida Es Un Carnival" from Celia Cruz.
For more information »t; here
Danzón
Music style and dance. It developed in the 19th century. The Nuevo Ritmo ? a
new inserted section of a Danzón - was later called Mambo .
The Mambo became later a own style of music and dance.
Descarga
Mostly an absolute intrumental part of a song or a whole song with improvisation.
It contains a lot of solos and ist often very jazzy.
Fania
Name of a record label. It was founded in 1964 by Jerry Massuci and Johnny Pacheco.
It was significant involved in the establishment of the name "Salsa" for a new
kind of latin music. We have to thank the Fania label for many Salsa-classics.
Big music legends were born here. Even the messenger boy of the label ?
Ruben Blades from Panama ? arised to a Salsa superstar.
For more information »t; here
Guaguancó
One of the 3 styles of the Cuban Rumba. The sing often in the
Salsa about the Rumba and
the Guaguanco. This is a tribut to the original form of the Afrocuban music.
Guajira
Form of a song ? amongst others deflected from the Son Cubano
Güira
A concave rhythm instrument built made of metal (like Güiro).
The Güira (cucumber) is played with a metal comb on the riffled surface ?
top down and/or reverse. It creates a specific noice.
It comes from the Dominican Republic will be fitted in Merengue and Bachata.
Güiro
The Güiro: also a concave rhythm instrument. Only the cheeper ones are made of lumber. The real are made of a dried and concave Kalebasse, in which are cutted rills before drying. You can play it with a stick. It comes from Cuba and is fitted in many rhythms: Son, Danzon, Cha Cha Cha, Timba and so on.
In the meantime there are also Gürio made of plastic.
L.A. Style
A new dance style of Salsa. It is the New York Style on 1 with
fall figures and other acrobatic figures together with a very fast music.
It is often performed in Shows. You can rareley see it in Clubs, because there is too less place for the acrobatic figures.
For more information
»t; here
Mambo
The Mambo is a complex rhythmic music style and dance.
The Mambo is danced syncopated.
That means on the first slap of every beat you don?t make
any step. The 2 and 4 slap of evey beat are accentuated in
the music. You dance on the 2. The Mambo arises in the thirties
in Cuba and was later mixed with jazz elements especially in
New York. The most important representatives of the Mambo are:
Pérez Prado, Machito, Tito Rodriguez and of course Tito Puente.
The Creole shaped name Mambo stands for "dialogue with the gods".
Musicians see in Mambo the last part of Salsa ?
played only with instruments (mostly the wind section).
More information
»t; here
Maracas
Rhythm instrument. The "rattlings". They are played by pairs.
Rhythmusinstrument. Die Rasseln".
Werden immer paarweise gespielt.
Merengue
Rhythm and dance from the Dominican Republic in a 2/4 Beat.
It is a simple rhythm. Every beat slap is accentuated evenly in
the dance. It arises already in the thirties. The music was significant
advanced by the dictator Rafael Trujilo (1891 - 1961) to found a national
identity. The original Merengue was was played with Conga,
Guiro and
Accordion (still in the north at Cibao valley: "Merenge Tipico"
or "Perico Ripiao"). In the seventies/eighties there came
also wind section, bass and piano. The lyrics are mostly funny lovesongs.
The heart of the Dominican Republic beats in the Merengue pulse.
For more
information »t; here
Montuno
Syncopated and repetitive piano section.
Montuno has 2 meanings. It's also used for the instrumental part of a Salsa song.
The change to Montuno is also marked sometimes through the change of
the Bongos to the Campana.
Also the chorus and the bras section came along.
The tempo also often moves upward.
New York Style
Dance style of Salsa. It's danced on the line, in the original New York style always
on 2. But also on 1. Then it is called also Cross Body Style ? named from the most important
figur "Cross Body Lead".
For more information »t; here
Ochún
Ochún is the Orisha
(godhood) of love, femaleness and inhabitant of the rivers.
She loves sensual delights and all varieties of love.
In the Rumba they often sing about Ochún (together with Changó),
but also in Cuban Salsa. For more information »t; here
Orishas
Orishas are godhoods of the Cuban Santería (religion with African roots). For more information »t; here
Pachanga
Rhythm style from the fifties. It was often played with in a Charanga
formation of the band.
Plena
Rhythm and dance from Puerto Rico. Salsa often has elements of
Bomba
and Plena. More information »t; here
Reggaeton
Mixed music from from Hip Hop, Ragga Reggae, Merengue and Salsa.
Mostly with simple lyrics. The rhythm itself is also simple ? a constant
bassdrum and a rhythm computer are absolute enough. Predominantly
with Spanish vocals. It is very popular at the moment.
Rueda De Casino
Several dancing couples are forming a circle (Rueda: wheel) and are
dancing synchronical by commands of a Cantante (singer). The most popular
commands are surely "Dile que no", "Dame" and "Enchufla".
In the fifties arises
this style in the so called "Casinos Deportivos" of Cuba.
Therefore they call it "Rueda De Casino".
Today they dance Rueda de Casino at Timba music.
Rumba
This original Cuban music style is only with drums and
voices (mostly in the form: answer ? question). Rumba has African
but also Spanish roots. There are three secondary forms of Rumba: Yambú,
Guaguancó and Columbia.
This has nothing to do with the Rumba of standard latin dancers.
Salsa
Music and dance style in 4/4 beat. The basic instruments are Conga
and Claves.
About Salsa you could write a lot of pages. And yes, we did this
? please have look »t; here
Salsa Dura
The ?hard? Salsa. They do not mean the soft rhythm like Salsa Romantica.
It is the original form of Salsa. It arises in the seventies. The lyrics are
mostly of an upper niveau (for example: mi rumba es candela). Salsa Dura
was a little bit lost in the eighties and nineties,
but now it is back again.
Salsa Brava
Another word for the original Salsa of the seventies like it arises in the Fania label.
Salsa Romantica
Belongs to the history of Salsa. It is a soft,
commercial rhythm of Salsa with slushy lyrics about love.
It's also called Salsa Erotica. It arises in the eighties
and had its best times in the nineties. Tony Moreno (known
as producer and owner of the label MP) had the idea of rearranging
old Boleros and Ballads into Salsa songs. Many Salseros sniff
their noses at this music ? but wrongly. What they didn?t see
is that many people suddenly were interested in this music and
dance because of the simple structured and very popular Salsa Romantica.
They maybe never encountered the real Salsa.
In a way the Salsa Romantica was the "starter drug".
Son
MMusic style ? arises in the last half of the 19th century in
eastern provinces of Cuba (Oriente) by the fusion of afrocuban drum
rhythms and guitar music of the spanish farmers. It is the most important
forerunner of Salsa. They also call it Son Cubano.
El Son Es La Esencia De La Salsa ? sayd Issac Delgado once.
For more information »t; here
Syncope
Important musical concept in Salsa and Mambo.
A syncopes is a rhythmic movement of the beat focus.
You accent a slap within a beat which you usually don?t
accentuate (for example in 4/4 beat the second
slap instead of the first).
Dancing (on "1" or "2")
Dancing On 1 means that at the first slap of a beat you change the direction of
your foot. This mostly danced in Europe and South America. The change of the direction
at 2 is typical for the Mambo. For more information
»t; here
Tempo
Only fast Salsa is good Salsa? Our opinion: NO. The speed of a song has
nothing to do with the quality and power of Salsa. As the most Salsa dancers are
not high performance athletes they
dance in a tempo of 90 to 100 BPM ? a tempo in which you can dance all night long.
Timba
Current Cuban form of Salsa: Arises at the beginning of the nineties.
Compared to the usual Salsa here were have also really western drums (Bateria) to boost
the rhythm section. Thereby the hard rhythms of the Timba to show the advantages.
Typical are also Rap parts and Reggaeton.
The came out of Timba was sureley a backlash to the harmless and soft Salsa Romanticas.
Timbales
The drum section of Salsa. Two drums at one holder and with
it a lot of other rhythm instruments like Campana, Jam-Blocks or Cymbal.
The Timbales is beaten by two sticks.
It's a simple instrument, but good Timbaleros raise real rhythm storms with it.
Tres
Guitar from Cuba. Typically used in Son Cubano.
Tumbadora
Cuban version of an African drum. Also Congas are called sometimes.
Tumbao
Name for Bass or Conga-pattern. A pattern is a circulating rhythm part.
Vallenato
Vallenato comes fom "valle" and "nato" with the meaning: born in the
valley. It refers to the music. One side says it is the valley between
Pico Cristobal Colon and the Serrenia De Perija in the northeast of Columbia.
The other side says it's the valley "Valle de Upar". Whatever ? it is a very popular columbian dance and
rhythm with afro-carribbean and European (Accordion) influences.
For more information »t; here
