The beats and tunes of Cuban Music

Cuban music represents the flavor of history and culture of Cuba. Everything related to the Cuban music like the beats, tunes, and the varied musical instruments represent the collective aspirations of this culturally rich country and its people. Music is a way of life for the people of this country. The music in Cuba has been influenced by people from various parts of the world and is a mix of their music that was brought into Cuba. However, main roots of the Cuban music lies in West African and Spanish music brought in by slaves and immigrants from those regions.

An Afro-Cuban religion known as Santeria, had a great influence on the Cuban music and its development. They merged the musical culture from Youruban and Catholics, which led to a kind of religious music that attracted everyone and required a whole range of instruments. With the passage of time, the Cuban music was greatly influenced by music from Jamaica, France, and USA. This brought in a lot of new vibrant form of music to the Cuban shore. There was a kind of musical cultural exchange between the Cuban music and other forms like Argentinian Tango, Jazz, Spanish Nuevo Flamenco, and Ghanaian Highlife.

The Cuban music has two distinct groups such as Folk music and Classical music. Cuban Classical music yielded a greater influence on the music of this country as people were able to enjoy the soberness and grace of waltz, piano, and violin and dance to the tunes of the folk music like Guajira. This genre of classical music combined the music of both folk and classical form to present a new form of music that Cubans simply fell in love with. Some of the legendary figures from Cuba associated with the classical form of music were Gasper Villete and Robredo Manuel Samuell.

The different types of Folk music in Cuba include Guajira or the music of the peasant’s and Musica Campesina also known as the music of the farmer. Some of the folk music required instruments from other parts of the world like the music of Areito, which required Cornetin Chino from Chinese music, Clave from the European music, and Congas or Bata drums from Western African music. The other major musical forms in Cuba, which are not of the folkloric type, include Contradanza, Criolla, Canción, Danza, Comparsa, Rumba, and Timba.

The Timba music is similar to the music of Salsa Cubana, with a little bit of difference in some of its beats. It has its roots in the Salsa music but has its own characteristics. This music is closely associated with the cultural life of Havana. The Rumba music originated in Cuba but has a style based on African music. It uses voice, percussion, and dance to bring the music close to the people. This music originated from the docks of Matanzas and Havana with a very secular kind of style attached to it. The Rumba musicians use drums similar to the conga drums or cajones to play this music.

Criolla type of music was developed during late 19th century and is similar to musical forms such as Bolero, Canción, and Guajira. The music starts with a short introductory performance followed by tunes spread across two sections with 16 musical bars in each of them. The music has a very slow tempo unlike the other Cuban musical forms. The Danza form of music is very brisk in nature and is the child of the more sophisticated Contradanza music. The Comparsa is the carnival music of Cuba, which has two styles like Conga and Mozambique. The Conga comparsa music is used for social occasions with the beating of the conga drums. The comparsa draws its roots from the street celebration music of Africa. This music is extremely popular during carnivals at Havana and Santiago de Cuba.

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