Cuban Song Forms
i- The Cuban Sound
It has been mentioned before that the term Afro-Cuban is a little
deceptive, as there are three main components of Cuban music,
the Spanish, the African and the integration of both, which is
"criollo" or Cuban. It would be helpful to think of
it as a wide spectrum with Spanish music at one end and African
music at the other. The typical Cuban is in the middle. It is
important to make the distinction, as pure Spanish music and traditional
African music, both secular and sacred, are still played in Cuba.
At this time it would be appropriate to examine some of the principal
forms of Cuban folklore and see where they stand in the Afro-Cuban
spectrum:
African dances and musical forms. 1- Lucumi (Yoruba). A purely
sacred form, dedicated to the African gods. The dance form is
either individual or in groups. The instrumentation consists of
three bata drums. 2- Nanigo (congo, carabali). A semi-religious
form also used in healing rites. Men only participate in this
dance form. The instrumentation consists of drums and bongos.
3- Tumba francesa. A semi-religious form also used for recreation
purposes. There are several
different dances all derived from the Franco-African
forms that came from Haiti in the late 1700s. The instrumentation
consists of the various drums of Dahomey origins that also came
from Haiti at that time.
From Spanish-Cuban origin. 1- Guajira (punto guajiro). This is
a folk-country dance form used in social occasions in the Cuban
country side. The dances consist of couples dancing separately.
The instrumentation consists of guitars, tres, claves, maracas,
etc. 2- Zapateo. Another folk-country dance form used in social
occasions in the Cuban country side. This dance also consists
of couples dancing separately. The instrumentation is the same
as in the guajira: guitars, tres, maracas, clave, guiro, etc.
To clarify this a bit, we could call it peasant dancing to denote
its rural origin, although I feel the term "peasant"
to be demeaning and to denote a condition of servitude. The Cuban
"guajiros" (country folk) are fiercely independent and
no one's servants. We certainly don't call the American country
folk "peasants" Although the term often used, "hillbilly,"
I'm sure is equally offensive to some. Guajiro is the equivalent
of hillbilly. 3- Habanera. A popular salon dance performed mainly
in the towns and the cities. The dancing is done by couples dancing
together. It is played by a popular orchestra. Of so called Afro-Cuban
origin or what I call simply Cuban music.
1- Danzon.
A salon social dance. Danced by couples together
and played by an "orquesta tipica." The Cuban national
dance. 2- Guaracha. Another social salon dance danced by couples
together. Music is provided by a popular orchestra. 3- Son. Another
social dance, close to the guajira in the spectrum, but with clearly
African elements in the rhythm. It is the marriage of Spanish
folk guitars and African percussion. Danced by couples together
and played by a son group (conjunto). 4- Bolero. The Cuban song
form, very popular all over Latin America and the rest of the
world. This style originated in the XIX century. It is danced
by couples together very slowly. Played by conjuntos, ensembles,
troubadours and also by popular orchestras. 5- Rumba. Another
salon dance form. Danced by couples separately and very fast.
This is normally played by popular orchestras. 6- Conga. This
is a dance form that originated in the carnaval mainly in Santiago
de Cuba. It is danced by groups of couples that form a line. Played
by popular orchestras and carnival groups, with conga drums and
other carnival instrumentation (corneta china, percussion, etc.).
7- Mambo. This is a dance created for social occasions and salon
dancing. It is danced by couples, together or separate and played
by popular orchestras. 8- Cha-cha-cha. Another specialized dance
derived from the faster section of the danzon. Danced by couples,
together and separate. It is played by popular orchestras.
ii- Sub-Families of Cuban Music
According to musicologist Dr. Olavo Alen Rodriguez, director for
the Center for the Investigation of Cuban Music at Havana University
in Cuba, there are five sub-families of Cuban music. These are
1- son, 2- rumba, 3- cancion, 4- danzon and 5- punto guajiro.
We will investigate each one in turn, how they differ in instrumentation
and rhythm and how they resemble each other.
1 - Son.
The sub-family of son is considered by many to be the most important
genre of Cuban music today. If you equate importance with popularity
and monetary value, this is probably the case. From the son came
the salsa, the musical phenomenon that has taken the world by
storm and sold millions of records. Also the different pre-salsa
son styles have had a revival. Many artists, who previously had
retired because of lack of interest in the genre, have seen their
careers blossom again in their old age. You only have to see the
world-wide interest in the music and musicians of the "Buenavista
Social Club" to ascertain the extent of this
revival. The communist regime, hungry for dollars and recognizing
the viability of this sensation, has packaged several of these
old man son bands and sent them abroad. They are busy touring,
playing the old sons to audiences all over the world with great
acclaim.
What is the magic of the son and how did it originate? Lets see
what Dr. Rodriguez has to say about it:
"Not until the end of the XVIII century did we begin to see
the first signs of a national culture, as the evidence in literature
and other artistic manifestations shows. This new "cubaness"
is substantially different from the aesthetic forms of the many
and varied immigrants that had populated the country. The son
was one of the first musical styles (the genres were confirmed
later) that could be considered genuinely Cuban. Its birth occurred
at the end of the XVIII century in the Sierra Maestra, the mountainous
area in the east of Cuba." Rodriguez, HYPERLINK "http://www.americancomposers.org"
www.americancomposers.org
Although Dr. Rodriguez puts the roots of the son as far back as
the XVIII century, most other sources place it in the second half
of the XIX century. Here is another version gleamed from one of
U.C. Berkeley's websites which places it in the beginning of the
XIX century:
"During the early 1800s, the son originated
as a couples dance in the mountainous region of Oriente, a province
of Cuba located on the Southeastern portion of Cuba. The music
of son evolved from the African and Spanish cultures in this region.
The accompanists were typically composed of Spanish-based folk
guitarist and Afro-Cuban percussionists. As it moved west to Havana,
the music dances incorporated the rumba, music of santeria, decima
and guajira styles, grew and evolved with more percussion, especially
in the final montuno section. By the 1920s, son was the most popular
music of Cuba at all levels of society. By synthesizing the African
and Spanish music styles and appealing to all Cubans, it was a
people's music, played by music groups called conjuntos, and was
the true expression of the Cuban people's history and life. This
music, more than any other expresses and identifies the culture
of the Cuban people, and today its become Cuban national music."
Mikoyo Deschamps, Berkeley, http//buffy.eecs.berkeley.edu/Staff/Social/cubantranscript.shtml
Regardless of the true birth date of the son, it is undoubtedly
one of Cuba's principal Cuban genres and the main music export
of the island. In the early days the son was played by conjuntos
that consisted of Spanish folk guitars, a tres guitar, bongos,
maracas, claves, guiro, vocals and a bass instrument. In the beginning
the bass was played by the "marimbula" (a Congolese
box with metal tongs that were plucked, then by the "botija"
(a large ceramic jar used for the importation of olive oil) and
finally by the European contrabass.
In modern son, a piano is also added, a flute improvises over
the rhythm and, in larger groups, we find brass sections. The
group that was mainly responsible for popularizing the son in
the 1920s was the "Trio Matamoros." Miguel Matamoros,
the songwriter of the group, wrote what is undoubtedly Cuba's
most famous classic son, "Son de la Loma."
For the musical structure of the son we refer to Rebeca Mauleon's
excellent book 101 Montunos:
"Within the structure of the son exists a highly syncopated,
polyrhythmic base - the most important ingredient being the clave
pattern which dictates everything from the rhythmic patterns played
by all the instruments to the shape of the melody line, the harmonic
outline, and even improvisation. The lyric from of the son typically
contains a decima - a ten line octosyllabic verse - and
often concludes with an estribillo (refrain) which alternates
with either a vocal or instrumental improvisation in call-and-response
fashion. This section is also known as the montuno (or
vamp). The son is characterized by a layering of three basic,
independent rhythmic figures, including the syncopated tumbao
(bassline), an eight note pattern (played by the guitar, maracas
and bongos), and the clave pattern." Mauleon, 1999.
There are many hybrids of the son, including son guajiro, son
montuno, rumbason, son-pregon and afroson.
2- The Rumba
The rumba appears during the XIX century in the outskirts of the
cities of Havana and Matanzas. It is a direct descendent of African
secular songs, complete with a call and response pattern in both
Spanish and African languages. The instrumentation consists of
claves, which starts the rhythmic line. Then the vocals start
with a long lyrical melody until the percussion is in full swing.
African drums and percussion instruments are used.
The word rumba means fiesta, celebration, and so dancers are part
of the show. On a signal from the leader the chorus joins in and
a call and response pattern emerges. The dancers then take a central
position and let the party begin!
3- Cancion.
The Cuban cancion (song) is the third sub-family of Cuban music.
This encompasses a wide area of urban and country music. Habanera,
boleros, trovas (troubadour songs), lyric songs and Cuban classical
music are some of the genres that belong to this sub-family. Of
these genres, besides the habanera, the bolero is probably the
best known both inside and outside of Cuba. The boleros are the
slow, romantic ballads that people love the world over. The bolero
began with the trova singers of Santiago de Cuba (Villalon, Sindo
Garay) and started as love songs sung with the accompaniment of
a single guitar. The most common form is the trio, composed of
either three guitarists or two guitarists and a percussionist,
all singing in harmony. When played by a conjunto, piano, percussion
and strings are added.
The bolero, being a romantic song form, it is meant to showcase
and accent the lyrics of the song and the phrasing of the singer.
The most famous bolero singer has been Benny More, who is a figure
in Cuban music who would correspond to Frank Sinatra in America.
As with the habanera, it has been embraced the world over, producing
a timeless music that is loved and played everywhere.
Another descendent of the trovas that has to be mentioned is the
"filin."
Born in 1946, is a reinterpretation of the cancion genre, blended
with American harmonization. It featured modulations and dissonances
not heard in Cuban music before.
Danzon.
The danzon has already been extensively discussed as having evolved
from the contradanza francesa and having been Cuba's national
dance. Here we can add that in the mid XX century from the danzon
was born the cha cha cha, which is still one of Cuba's most popular
genres. It was created by violinist Enrique Jorrin in 1951 from
the final and fast section of the danzon. It was a huge success
and it spread all over the world (including United States) in
the mid 1950s.
The mambo was also born in the early 50s from the danzon. There
is much controversy about who created the mambo. Some say that
Perez Prado wrote the first one in 1952, while others attribute
it to Israel "Cachao" Lopez and his brother Orestes.
Many ingredients of the son genre were incorporated into the danzon
to create the mambo. Other important dances that derived from
the danzon included the charanga and the pachanga. They were also
very popular in the second half of the XX century.
5- Punto guajiro
The punto guajiro include all the rural musical genres from west
and central Cuba. Of course, from the east we already have the
son. This includes the zapateo cubano, a dance form that is a
direct descendent of flamenco dancing. In the zapateo, as the
name implies (zapateo comes from zapato, shoe), danzers keep the
rhythm by stomping on a "tablao" (a wooden dance stage
or floor).
The punto guajiro is played with guitars while two singers go
head to head in an improvised contest. It is sung in decimas,
ten-line stanzas, and a topic is given to the singers. The first
singer will improvise a decima on the topic, the last line being
the "pie" (the foot). The next singer has to use the
pie and improvise a new decima, complete with rhyme and leave
a new pie for his opponent. With good improvisers, contests sometimes
last a long time, a winner being declared when one of the singers
falters or loses the rhyme.
There are other important musical genres that haven't been covered
yet. These include the descarga, guaracha, guaguanco and early
Cuban jazz in older genres. In more modern styles we'll investigate
the mozambique, nueva trova, songo, and Latin Soul among others.
We'll also take a good look at Cuban Jazz and other Cuban-American
hybrids when we resume the musical discussion in the
ensuing sections. The cross pollination between American and Cuban
music will also be discussed, as it is a very important and fascinating
subject.
next: Cuban Music Into the 20th Century
