What makes Salsa music different than other types of music is the key difference that Salsa uses a lot of percussion and a greater focus on rhythms. The percussion involves many people to play, and many instruments to play on. Salsa music almost always has a 4/4 time signature, with the exception of of some African based songs. The tempo often stays the same in Salsa music, as it does not speed up or slow down.
The Clave Rhythm
All Latin music is based around the ancient Clave rhythm. Most of the time, the Clave is in 6 beats instead of 8 beats,which is why sometimes the rhythm changes to a 6/8 measure to quote this African rhythm. But mainly, the music stays in 4/4 time and is based on the 8 beat version of the Clave in Salsa music. The Clave is also a a 2-measure rhythm.
The Rhythm Cheat Sheet shows the beats of the clave. Note that one of the clave notes is on an up-beat – between beats 6 and 7 of the count. The following audio clip explains the rhythm and how it fits the beats of the count:
SAMPLE: 2-3 clave with counting
Music is “phrased” differently on different songs. In some cases, the emphasis of the music is on the 2-side of the clave. This means that musical phrases or lyrics start on the measure that is the 2-side of the clave. Hence, such music is referred to as being in “2-3 Clave”. In other cases the phrasing is such that the emphasis is on the 3-side. That music is referred to as being in “3-2 Clave”, which is explained in the following clip:
SAMPLE: 3-2 clave with counting
To make matters even more confusing, the phrasing of the music often changes DURING the same song. So, the clave sense will change from 2-3 to 3-2 and visa-versa during a song. NOTE that the clave itself never changes from start to end of any song. It is just the phrasing of the music that changes! Any section of music that has an odd number of measures will cause the clave (2-3 to 3-2 or opposite) to switch.
Salsa Band
A Salsa band often has 3 percussionists. The 3 players often play different rhythms that often fit together to form the overall complex rhythm. The three players play, 1-Conga, 2-Timbale, and 3-Bongo/cowbell.
In addition, there is usually a piano and a bass player that form the rest of the rhythm section. There are also sometimes horn players and singers.
Rhythm players also play a "basic" too- in other words, they play a basic rhythm as their part when the music is steady. In songs there are "breaks" which are extra rhythmic passages and of course each player will embellish their playing with other variations while they're playing.
The basic rhythm is called the "Tombao" or sometimes "Marche".
The Conga Rhythm
The Conga drum is the basis and core of the rhythmic section and it plays a rhythm that emphasizes the 2nd and 4th beat.
SAMPLE: Conga beat explanation
Here is a clip of the conga beat with the clave on top of it:
SAMPLE Conga beat medium with Clave
The “slap” that the conga player hits on beat 2 is loud and identifiable and dancers that dance on-2 will use that to sync up. But it can be very confusing to people trying to find “1” in the overall count!
THE BASS RHYTHM
The bass tumbao is actually a subset of the clave itself. Note that ALL of the rhythms discussed here contain emphasis on clave beats which gives the overall music the feel of the clave. So, experienced listeners can pick out the clave quickly in the music. The bass plays the upbeat between musician’s count 2 and 3 plus the beat 4 in every measure. This is like repeating the last two notes of the 3 side of the clave continuously. It is explained in the following clip:
SAMPLE : Bass beat with counting
THE PIANO RHYTHM
The piano plays a basic rhythm called “montuno” which is also the type of music from which Salsa derives. It is explained in the sample below:
SAMPLE: PIANO medium with counting
THE BELL AND GUIRO
The bongo player in the band plays drum during the verses or “down” sections of the music. The basic marche rhythm for bongo is only 1 measure long and it is basically 1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and, or every ½ beat. The sound played on 4 of the beat is on the lower of the two drums in the bongo and hence a lower sound.
When the music energy picks up, the bongo player in turn picks up his bell or campana and plays to keep a basic time for the band. The open sound – when he hits near the mouth of the bell – comes on beats 1 and 3 of every measure and is often referred to as the pulse.
The Guiro is traditionally made from a gourd with ridges cut in it to make a scratching sound with a stick is pulled along the ridges. The sounds of the Bongo Bell and the Guiro are explained in the next clip:
SAMPLE: BELL AND GUIRO medium with counting.
THE TIMBALE
The third main percussion player in a salsa band plays the closest thing resembling drums in non-Latin music. Two metal drums are mounted on a stand along with bells and one or two cymbals. The timbale player also switches roles during a song, playing the sides of the drums (called the shells) a rhythm called “cascara” during the lower energy portions of the song (when the Bongo player plays his drum) and then moving up to the bell and cymbal during the high-energy portion.
THE SALSA SONG
Putting these all together forms the complex rhythms of a salsa song. Beyond that, the song structure is often very much like any pop song with one or two verses, followed by a chorus section. In salsa, the chorus section is called the “mambo section” and it is the higher energy portion where the bells are played. It is also the easiest to hear the beats, which can be unfortunate since most songs do not start with a mambo section!
Singers sing the versus and during the chorus section, they engage in “coro/pregon” where a chorus is sung and then a lead singer often improvises during sections between the chorus to tell a story. It is the same structure of “call and response”, or antecedent/decedent, that makes up such a large portion of this type of music, dating back to the ancient African rhythms themselves such as Clave, which were the way tribes communicated from a distance – with calls and responses.
The horns play melodies too like in pop music and often play a repeating phrase called a “mona” during the mambo section of the song. All together you have a salsa song.
The samples below contains the elements described above together:
SAMPLE : Full band medium with counting
SAMPLE Full band medium without counting
With horns added and an arrangement, a full salsa song is exemplified with the sample below:
SAMPLE : Full Salsa Song
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