Instruments Music
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.
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. More ›
- BatáThe batá drums are a set of three double-headed hourglass-shaped drums central to Yoruba religious tradition and Afro-Cuban sacred music (Lucumí / Santería).
- ClaveThe claves: two hardwood sticks that play the clave rhythm. How they are made, how to hold them (hembra and macho) and where they come from.
- BongoThe bongo is a pair of small open-bottomed drums played with fingers and palms. It originated in eastern Cuba and became one of the defining percussion voices of son and timba.
- GüiroThe güiro is a notched gourd scraped with a stick or fork to produce a rasping, rhythmic sound. It is a standard feature of charanga orchestras and is central to danzón, cha-cha-chá, son, and salsa.
- Caja chinaThe caja china (woodblock) and its plastic successor, the jam block: from rumba and son to the timbales and drum-kit set-up of songo and timba.
- CajónThe cajón de rumba: wooden boxes from the docks of Havana and Matanzas on which the first rumba was played, forerunners of the tumbadora and the quinto.
- CowbellThe campana (cowbell) is the metal bell of Cuban dance music, played by the bongocero or the timbalero. In timba and songo it is more than a rhythm: it tells dancers how much energy the music is asking for.
- CatáThe catá or guagua: a wooden cylinder from eastern Cuba, played with sticks, that gives the main rhythm in tumba francesa and sets the clave together with the claves in rumba.
- ChekeréThe chekeré (aggüe): a gourd covered with a net of beads or seeds, of Yoruba origin, played in Cuba as a trio in the toque de güiro and as the pulse keeper in rumba and conga.
- CongaThe conga (also called tumbadora) is the primary hand drum of Cuban music and the rhythmic backbone of timba, son, rumba, and salsa.
- GuayoThe guayo is a metal scraper used in Cuban folk and popular music, most commonly associated with changüí and early son from the Guantánamo region in eastern Cuba.
- MaracasMaracas are a pair of rattles — originally hollow gourds filled with seeds — that go back to the Taíno, the Indigenous people of the Caribbean. In Cuban music they add rhythm and texture rather than melody, above all in son, where they are often played by one of the singers.
- MarímbulaThe marímbula is an Afro-Cuban bass instrument derived from African lamellophones (thumb pianos). It provided the bass voice in early son ensembles before being replaced by the upright bass.
- TimbalesThe timbales (pailas criollas) are a pair of shallow, metal-shell drums mounted on a stand, played with wooden sticks. They are the rhythmic engine of charanga orchestras and play a critical role in timba.
- Timpani (Kettle Drum)The timpani (kettledrum) played a foundational role in Cuban music history as the original pitched drum of the 19th-century orquesta típica — before being replaced by the lighter timbales.
- Drum setThe drum set (batería) in Cuban music, from Los Van Van's songo to timba: the hybrid set-up with timbales and bells, and the kick drum of timba.
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. More ›
- TresThe tres is a Cuban guitar-like instrument with three pairs (courses) of strings. It is the defining melodic-rhythmic instrument of son cubano and its ancestor genres.
- BassTimba, the explosive and rhythmically rich genre of Cuban dance music, transformed how the bass functions in popular music. In Timba, the bass is not just foundational — it’s fiery, funky, and free.
- ViolinThe violin came into Cuban popular music through the charanga, where violins and flute give danzón and cha-cha-chá their elegant sound. In timba it is not a core instrument, but it still turns up as a colour and a nod to that charanga tradition.
- GuitarThe guitar came to Cuba with the Spaniards. According to EcuRed, people from every social sector play it, in punto, in almost every form of son and in song. The tres grew out of the Spanish guitar.
- Electric GuitarThe electric guitar is not a standard instrument in traditional Cuban dance music. It was, however, in the first line-up of Los Van Van (1969), and in pilón and in some charangas it plays guajeos alongside the piano.
- Electric BassThe electric bass: the bass instrument of Cuban popular music since the 1970s. In timba it became a lead voice, fiery and improvisational.
- PianoThe piano is the harmonic and rhythmic heart of Cuban popular music. In timba, it is one of the most demanding and expressive instruments in the ensemble.
- KeyboardKeyboard and synthesizer in Cuban dance music: from Pupy Pedroso in Los Van Van, the first Cuban band to use synthesizers, to the sound colours of timba.
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. More ›
- TrumpetThe trumpet is the leading brass voice of son. In the late 1920s son sextets became septets by adding a cornet or trumpet; Arsenio Rodríguez's conjunto (1940) had two.
- FluteThe flute is the leading voice of the charanga, from Antonio Arcaño to Richard Egües on the five-key wooden flute in Orquesta Aragón. It is heard in timba too: NG La Banda was founded by flautist José Luis "El Tosco" Cortés.
- TrombonesThe trombone is an important brass voice in timba. Where early son relied mainly on trumpets, trombones came into modern Cuban dance music through the charanga bands: Juan Formell added trombones to Los Van Van in 1980, and Orquesta Revé did so around the same time.
- SaxophonesThe saxophone in Cuban music: brought in by the mambo big bands of the 1940s and 50s. In timba it adds brightness and range to the horn section.
- ClarinetThe clarinet in Cuban music: the characteristic instrument of the orquesta típica that played early danzón, until the charanga with flute and violins took over.
- CornetThe cornet in Cuban music: the warm-sounding brass instrument that played the melody in the orquesta típica of early danzón, before the trumpet took over.
- Ophicleide and tubaOphicleide and tuba: the bass winds of the orquesta típica in early danzón, which later made way for the double bass.