Post by David Gordon Burke on Nov 25, 2004 14:25:55 GMT -5
Accordion, Acordeón - Instrument; a free reed instrument, originally invented in China but later re-created and patented in Austria. Principal instrument in various forms of folk music all around the world and commonly associated with the polka.
Bajo Sexto - Instrument; A form of 12-string guitar used as an accompanying instrument by Chicano singers
Bolero - a mid-paced form for string trios, became very popular internationally, usually in a slower and more sentimental form. The modern bolero is a lush romantic popular-song form, largely distinct from salsa, and very few singers are equally good at both. Boleros have also been incorporated into the Norteña music of Mexico.
Bongos - Instrument; Percussion; Drum. A pair of small drums, usually held between the knees and played with the fingers. The smaller drum is called the macho and the larger drum is called the hembra. The heads usually consist of goat skin. The macho is tuned to a "c" and the hembra is tuned to an "a".
Caja vallenata - Colombia; Vallenato; Instrument; Percussion; Drum. Hand drum mainly used in vallenato orchestration.
Campana - Instrument; Percussion; Drum. (spanish: bell) A bell (cow bell') attached to the timbales-stand or held in one hand, played with a wooden stick. In Salsa it often plays a very steady rhythm (1st and 3rd beat of the measure).
Claves - Instrument; Percussion. A pair of hardwood, cylindrical sticks which can be used to play clave rhythms
Conga - Instrument; Percussion; Drum. 1. the most important hand-drum in latin music. Usually about 30"/75cm high, the complete set of congas contains three drums with different diameter: Quinto, conga and tumba. The quinto may be left away. If not, the quinto (and sometimes a "super quinto") is used for soloing or variations. 2. (or Tres Golpes) mid-sized hand-drum in the Conga set, abt. 11.75"/30cm,
Conjunto (lit. "combo") The chicano conjunto consists of an accordion lead, bajos sexto, often bass, with the addition of percussion during the 1960s. Used strictly for instrumental dance music until the 1930s, during the 1940s it became the standard backing for corridos, rancheras, and other vocal forms.
Corrido - This Mexican and Chicano ballad form developed during the 19th century and reached its peak during the first half of the 20th. Pure folk ballads in their simplicity, their detail, their deadpan performing style, the corridos were the history books, news reports, and editorials of the illiterate. They chronicled the whole of the Mexican Civil war, almost all notable crimes, strikes, and other political events, and a hundred other subjects besides.
Cumbia - Colombia; Dance; Rhythm. The most popular dance rhythm of Colombia and the one that has been the most widely spread throughout Latin America. Cumbia is not a clave-based rhythm, but as with many rhythms can be played "in clave."
Güira - Dominican Republic; Merengue; Instrument; Percussion. A metal percussion instrument used mainly in Dominican merengue music. The sound is produced by scraping the textured surface with a metal fork-like scraper
Güiro - Instrument; Percussion. Percussion instrument used throughout Latin America, made from a dried, hollowed gourd, into which grooved ridges are carved on the surface. The sound is produced by scraping these ridges with a stick
Güícharo - Instrument; Percussion. Percussion instrument similar to the güiro, but generally smaller and with thinner ridges. It is played with a metal fork-like scraper. It is used primarily in Puerto Rican music
Hembra - Cuba; Instrument; Percussion; Drum. The bigger drum of a pair of bongos.
Macho - Cuba; Instrument; Percussion; Drum. The smaller drum of a pair of bongos.
Mambo Section - A section of contrasting riffs for frontline instruments, setting trumpets against saxes or trombones, for example, sometimes under an instrumental solo. The section was said to derive from from the guaracha, and got its name during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Common in Salsa but can also be heard in Modern Tropical Cumbias.
Maracas - Instrument; Percussion. "Hand-held rattles or shakers, made from gourds, coconuts, wood or rawhide and filled with beans. Found throughout the Americas as well as Africa." (RM) In the modern Salsa music the maracas became on of the most important percussion instruments because they add a driving pulse in the high frequency spectrum. Perhaps their importance to Salsa is like the role of hihat and snare drum in Pop/Rock music.
Mariachi -Mexican strolling groups of (usually) semi-professional musicians. Originally string orchestras, since the 1940's they have become trumpet-led ensembles. Their name stems from a corruption of the French marriage, since they were frequently hired for weddings.
Merengue - Dominican Republic; Rhythm; Dance; Dominican rhythm and dance. The basic step of the dance is an extremely simple two-step pattern, but it's only Merengue with the right, somehow contrary, hip movement - wich adds the main difficulty to learn the dance.
Quinto - Instrument; Percussion; Drum. Smallest drum in the Conga set with the brightest sound, abt. 11"/28cm diameter
Ranchera - The ranchera, developed in the nationalist theater of the post-1910 revolution period in Mexico, became very much the equivalent of U.S. commercial country music. Professional singers developed an extremely emotional style, one of whose characteristics is a held note at the end of a line, culminating in a "dying fall" that could drop a third or more. Rancheras became an important part of Chicano music from the 1950s onward as moved from a folk-popular form to a greater professionalism.
Timbal - Instrument; Percussion; Drum. Typical Salsa drum set consisting of 2 tuneable drums (different in pitch), 2 cow bells ("campanas"), cybal(s) and possibly woodblock. Played with two sticks.
Vallenato - Colombia; Dance; Music Style. (spanish: babe whale). It's origin is from the atlantic coast of Colombia (South America).
Vallenato actually refers more to an orchestration than a specific rhythm. A traditional vallenato group consists of an accordion, a scraper called a guacharaca, and a hand drum called a caja vallenata. Vallenato groups traditionally play four rhythms called son, paseo, merengue (6/8), and puya.
Bajo Sexto - Instrument; A form of 12-string guitar used as an accompanying instrument by Chicano singers
Bolero - a mid-paced form for string trios, became very popular internationally, usually in a slower and more sentimental form. The modern bolero is a lush romantic popular-song form, largely distinct from salsa, and very few singers are equally good at both. Boleros have also been incorporated into the Norteña music of Mexico.
Bongos - Instrument; Percussion; Drum. A pair of small drums, usually held between the knees and played with the fingers. The smaller drum is called the macho and the larger drum is called the hembra. The heads usually consist of goat skin. The macho is tuned to a "c" and the hembra is tuned to an "a".
Caja vallenata - Colombia; Vallenato; Instrument; Percussion; Drum. Hand drum mainly used in vallenato orchestration.
Campana - Instrument; Percussion; Drum. (spanish: bell) A bell (cow bell') attached to the timbales-stand or held in one hand, played with a wooden stick. In Salsa it often plays a very steady rhythm (1st and 3rd beat of the measure).
Claves - Instrument; Percussion. A pair of hardwood, cylindrical sticks which can be used to play clave rhythms
Conga - Instrument; Percussion; Drum. 1. the most important hand-drum in latin music. Usually about 30"/75cm high, the complete set of congas contains three drums with different diameter: Quinto, conga and tumba. The quinto may be left away. If not, the quinto (and sometimes a "super quinto") is used for soloing or variations. 2. (or Tres Golpes) mid-sized hand-drum in the Conga set, abt. 11.75"/30cm,
Conjunto (lit. "combo") The chicano conjunto consists of an accordion lead, bajos sexto, often bass, with the addition of percussion during the 1960s. Used strictly for instrumental dance music until the 1930s, during the 1940s it became the standard backing for corridos, rancheras, and other vocal forms.
Corrido - This Mexican and Chicano ballad form developed during the 19th century and reached its peak during the first half of the 20th. Pure folk ballads in their simplicity, their detail, their deadpan performing style, the corridos were the history books, news reports, and editorials of the illiterate. They chronicled the whole of the Mexican Civil war, almost all notable crimes, strikes, and other political events, and a hundred other subjects besides.
Cumbia - Colombia; Dance; Rhythm. The most popular dance rhythm of Colombia and the one that has been the most widely spread throughout Latin America. Cumbia is not a clave-based rhythm, but as with many rhythms can be played "in clave."
Güira - Dominican Republic; Merengue; Instrument; Percussion. A metal percussion instrument used mainly in Dominican merengue music. The sound is produced by scraping the textured surface with a metal fork-like scraper
Güiro - Instrument; Percussion. Percussion instrument used throughout Latin America, made from a dried, hollowed gourd, into which grooved ridges are carved on the surface. The sound is produced by scraping these ridges with a stick
Güícharo - Instrument; Percussion. Percussion instrument similar to the güiro, but generally smaller and with thinner ridges. It is played with a metal fork-like scraper. It is used primarily in Puerto Rican music
Hembra - Cuba; Instrument; Percussion; Drum. The bigger drum of a pair of bongos.
Macho - Cuba; Instrument; Percussion; Drum. The smaller drum of a pair of bongos.
Mambo Section - A section of contrasting riffs for frontline instruments, setting trumpets against saxes or trombones, for example, sometimes under an instrumental solo. The section was said to derive from from the guaracha, and got its name during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Common in Salsa but can also be heard in Modern Tropical Cumbias.
Maracas - Instrument; Percussion. "Hand-held rattles or shakers, made from gourds, coconuts, wood or rawhide and filled with beans. Found throughout the Americas as well as Africa." (RM) In the modern Salsa music the maracas became on of the most important percussion instruments because they add a driving pulse in the high frequency spectrum. Perhaps their importance to Salsa is like the role of hihat and snare drum in Pop/Rock music.
Mariachi -Mexican strolling groups of (usually) semi-professional musicians. Originally string orchestras, since the 1940's they have become trumpet-led ensembles. Their name stems from a corruption of the French marriage, since they were frequently hired for weddings.
Merengue - Dominican Republic; Rhythm; Dance; Dominican rhythm and dance. The basic step of the dance is an extremely simple two-step pattern, but it's only Merengue with the right, somehow contrary, hip movement - wich adds the main difficulty to learn the dance.
Quinto - Instrument; Percussion; Drum. Smallest drum in the Conga set with the brightest sound, abt. 11"/28cm diameter
Ranchera - The ranchera, developed in the nationalist theater of the post-1910 revolution period in Mexico, became very much the equivalent of U.S. commercial country music. Professional singers developed an extremely emotional style, one of whose characteristics is a held note at the end of a line, culminating in a "dying fall" that could drop a third or more. Rancheras became an important part of Chicano music from the 1950s onward as moved from a folk-popular form to a greater professionalism.
Timbal - Instrument; Percussion; Drum. Typical Salsa drum set consisting of 2 tuneable drums (different in pitch), 2 cow bells ("campanas"), cybal(s) and possibly woodblock. Played with two sticks.
Vallenato - Colombia; Dance; Music Style. (spanish: babe whale). It's origin is from the atlantic coast of Colombia (South America).
Vallenato actually refers more to an orchestration than a specific rhythm. A traditional vallenato group consists of an accordion, a scraper called a guacharaca, and a hand drum called a caja vallenata. Vallenato groups traditionally play four rhythms called son, paseo, merengue (6/8), and puya.