The ABCs of Cuban Music

  A, B, C,  D, E, F, G,  H, I, J, K, L , M,  N, O, P, Q, R , S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z

Nueva Trova. This musical movement first appeared in 1971 and brought a new, more urban direction to Cuban music. This poetic and political music was made popular by such artists as Pablo Milanes and Silvio Rodriguez, and later on by the guitar and vocals duo Gema Y Pavel.

Obatala. Obatala represents creation, harmony and peace. Obatala is the king wearing the white loin cloth, and is compared to Jésus Cristos.

Ochun. Dressed in yellow, Ochun represents water, femininity and love.

Ogun. The Yoruba divinity of iron and fire, syncretized with St. Peter or John the Baptist, he is the master of all metals.

Percussion. Bongos, tumbadores, batas, etc.; drums are the most prevalent percussion instruments used in Cuban music. But percussion also includes a whole series of smaller instruments that either provide the beat, complete or establish the polyrhythms in Cuban music (claves, maracas, shékérés, palitos, campanas, etc.).

Palo Monte. A religion of bantoue origin, not as well known as Santeria, which has its own drums and rhythms.

Pachanga. A new rhythm created in 1960 by Eduardo Davidson.

Piano. One of the instruments in a salsa band. The piano conducts a kind of dialog with the percussion instruments and establishes rhythms by hammering out tumbados in a regular rhythm with variations.

Punto. The songs of the white Creole peasants or mountain people called the guajiros, which originated in the romantic songs of Andalusia and Estrémadure. The songs are poems composed of ten verses (décimas) with the tres as accompaniment, they talk about daily life.

Quinto. The name of a high pitched drum. One of the yuka drums of Bantu origin (Congo). The quinto player is the one who improvises during the rumba.

Quijada. Percussion instrument. The jawbone of a horse, mule or donkey, with all its teeth. The quijada player scrapes, shakes and hits the instrument to create sounds. This instrument is the ancestor of the more modern vibra-slap.

Rumba. The rumba is ,first of all, a very sensual dance in which the two partners mime a man's desire for a woman. The rumba is one of the pillars of Cuban music. Vocals and percussion accompany the dance's sexual choreography which came to the island in the 16th century. There are three types of rumbas: the Yambu, the Guaguanco and the Columbia. The Cuban rumba is not just Son style music or a march for carnaval. Nor is it the rumba of the Gypsies in Barcelona. The veritable Cuban rumba is the one that is played, sung and danced to the rhythms of percussion in the regions of Havana or Mantanzas. The rumba consists of a choir that sings in unison and a lead singer, both of whom answer each other in music. Modern rumba can be separated into three genres: guaguanco, yambu and columbia. These genres can often be heard in the "solares", collective housing projects. The rumba became famous in the early 60s with the singer Celeste Mendoza. The rumba brava is a dance of African origin that gets its rhythm from vocals and percussion instruments. In the guaguanco rumba, a man and a woman dance inside a circle of people.