Cuban music genres from rural roots to modern dance music: timba, songo, son, charanga, danzón, contradanza, changüí, nengón and rumba. More ›
- Timba
Timba: high-energy Cuban dance music from the late 1980s, grown from son, songo and rumba with funk and jazz. Explosive and full of gear changes.
- Songo
Songo is a Cuban music and dance style that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It bridges Afro-Cuban rhythms with modern influences like funk, rock, and jazz.
- Son
Son: the foundation of Cuban popular music, from eastern Cuba, with Spanish and African roots, tres, bongó and clave. The source of salsa and timba.
- Charanga
The Cuban orchestra format with flute, violins, piano and timbales, known from danzón, danzonete and cha-cha-chá, and later from songo and timba.
- Danzón
Cuba's elegant "national dance" from 1879: a salon dance of the orquesta típica and later the charanga, and a key step towards mambo and cha-cha-chá.
- Contradanza
The first Cuban salon music, from the 19th century: a European form with an African-coloured bass, the source of the habanera, the danza and the danzón.
- Changüí
Changüí is one of the oldest surviving forms of Cuban popular music, originating in the Guantánamo province of eastern Cuba in the early 19th century. It is widely regarded as a direct precursor to Son Cubano, and its raw, syncopated energy offers a window into what Cuban popular music sounded like before Son was refined and urbanized in Havana.
- Nengón
Nengón is a traditional Cuban music and dance style that originated in the mountainous region of Guantánamo (eastern Cuba). It is considered one of the precursors to changüí and later son cubano, which went on to influence salsa and other global genres.
- Rumba
Cuban rumba as music: percussion, rumba clave, call-and-response singing, the yambú, guaguancó and columbia styles, and its influence on son, songo and timba.
The instruments of Cuban music — the percussion at its core, the strings that carry harmony and tumbao, and the winds that give each ensemble its sound. More ›
- Percussion
Cuban music is built on percussion. The extraordinary density and variety of Cuban rhythmic culture reflects the meeting of West and Central African drumming traditions with Spanish, Haitian, and creole musical practices over four centuries. The instruments below form the core percussive vocabulary heard across Son, Rumba, Timba, Danzón, and their descendants.
- Strings
String instruments in Cuban music span a wide range, from the rural Spanish-derived guitar traditions of eastern Cuba to the sophisticated double bass lines of urban son and the refined violin textures of the charanga orchestra. Each instrument carries a specific historical and functional role.
- Wind
Wind instruments in Cuban music define the character and sonic identity of the major ensemble types. The choice of wind instrument is not incidental — it determines whether an ensemble sounds like a charanga, a conjunto, a big band, or a timba group. Each instrument carries a history and a functional role specific to Cuban musical culture.
The rhythms behind Cuban music and dance — from the clave that holds everything together to the cha-cha-chá, the pilón, and the Abakuá brikamo. More ›
- Clave
Clave: the five-stroke pattern Cuban music is built on. Son and rumba clave, 3-2 and 2-3, its Abakuá roots and what clave means for dancers.
- Cha-cha-chá
Cha-cha-chá is a Cuban dance music rhythm by violinist and composer Enrique Jorrín, who according to EcuRed created it as early as 1948; in 1953 it became a huge hit with the Orquesta América, a charanga from Havana. It became one of the most successful Cuban music exports of the 20th century, spreading rapidly through Latin America, Europe and North America.
- Pilón
Pilón is a Cuban dance rhythm from the early 1960s, created by composer Enrique Bonne and singer Pacho Alonso, both from Santiago de Cuba. The name comes from the pilón, the hollowed log in which peasants pounded coffee.
- Brikamo
Brikamo (bricamo): Afro-Cuban religious tradition from Matanzas, rooted in the Efó people of the Cross River Delta and closely related to Abakuá.
- Tumbao
Tumbao: the repeating pattern of piano, bass, tres, guitar or conga in Cuban music. The tumbao per instrument and how timba plays with it.
- Mozambique
Mozambique: Pello el Afrokán's dance rhythm (Havana, 1963), grown from the carnival comparsas, with drums, bombo, bells and trombones.
- Batanga
Batanga: Bebo Valdés's 1952 rhythm, the first to put a batá drum in a dance orchestra. Meant to rival the mambo, it lost out to the cha-cha-chá.
- Batá toques
Batá toques: the shared, foundational rhythms of Afro-Cuban batá, not tied to one Orisha, played at the start of ceremonies or as transitions.
- Cáscara
Cáscara: the pattern the timbalero plays on the metal shell of the timbales, aligned with the clave. Where you hear it and when the bell takes over.
- Bombo-ponche
Bombo and ponche: the two offbeats of the tresillo on which the bass tumbao of son and salsa rests, and why timba departs from it.