Home > Salsa music
Salsa music is a diverse and predominantly Caribbean rhythm that is popular in many Latino countries.The word is the same as the salsa meaning sauce. Who applied this name to the music and dance and why remains unclear, but all agree that the name fits, metaphorically referring the music and dance being "saucy" and "tasty". However, the term has been used by Cuban immigrants in New York analogously to swing (Jones and Kantonen, 1999).
| Salsa
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| Stylistic origins:
| Numerous forms of Puerto Rican, Cuban and other Latin genres, especially son montuno, mambo, plena and rumba
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| Cultural origins:
| Early 1970s New York City pan-Latin melting pot
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| Typical instruments:
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| Mainstream popularity:
| Major, especially among Latinos worldwide
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| Subgenres
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| Música tropical , Salsa erotica - Salsa gorda - Salsa romantico
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| Fusion genres
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| Charanga-vallenata - Mereng-house - Salsa-merengue - Songo-salsa - Timba
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| National scenes
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| Colombian salsa - Japanese salsa - Mexican salsa - Miami Sound - Venzuelan salsa
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| Other topics
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Salsa incoporates multiple styles and variations; the term can be used to describe most any form of the popular Cuban-derived musical genreMusical genres are categories which contain music which share a certain style or which have certain elements in common. See also musical form. Some genres, such as Indian music, are geographically defined; others, like Baroque music, are largely defined bs (like chachachá and mambo). One particular style was developed by mid- 1970Events January events January 1 Construction begins on Arcosanti, by Paolo Soleri, in Mayer, Arizona, located 65, miles north of Phoenix, Arizona. January 1 Unix epoch at 00:00:00 UTC. January 12 Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian civil war. Januarys groups of New York City-area Cuban and Puerto RicaThe Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ("Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico") is a self-governing unincorporated organized territory of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic. Puerto Rico, the smallest of the Grn immigrants to the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in, and stylistic descendants like 1980sMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s Years: 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 Events and trends salsa romantica .
1 Characteristics
Salsa music always has a 4/4 meter, i.e., 4 beats per bar. The music is phrased in groups of two bars, i.e. 8 beats, for example by recurring rhythmic patterns, and the beginning of phrases in the song text and instruments. Typically, the rhythmic patterns played on the percussion instruments are rather complicated, often with several different patterns played simultaneously. Salsa music often has around 180 beats per minute, although it can be both much slower or much faster.
A rhythmic element that forms the basics in salsa is the clave rhythm, generally played on claves. A claves is a percussion instrument consisting of two round sticks of hardwood, one being struck against the other. The most common clave rhythm in salsa is the so called 2-3 son clave:
1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8. (count)
..*.*...*..*..*. (* = clave strikes)
The clave is not always played out directly but forms the basis that most other percussion instruments as well as song and accompaniment uses as a common rhythmic ground for their own phrases. For example, this is a common rhythmic pattern played on the cowbells:
1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8. (count)
+.*.+.**+..*+.** (+/* = low/high-pitched cowbell strikes)
Apart from percussion, a variety of melodic instruments are commonly used as accompaniment, such as trumpets, trombones, the piano, and many others, all depending on the performing artists.
