Keyboard
The keyboard (and the synthesizer) came into Cuban dance music through Los Van Van. Next to or instead of the acoustic piano it gives the band new sound colours: strings, horns, organ and electronic sounds.
When Juan Formell founded Los Van Van in 1969, César "Pupy" Pedroso played keyboard in the first line-up, alongside two electric guitarists. Los Van Van was the first Cuban band to use synthesizers and drum machines. That is how the charanga base (flute, strings and rhythm section) grew into the sound of songo.
In timba too the synthesizer has become a regular instrument. One example is Manolito y su Trabuco, whose line-up includes a synthesizer next to piano, strings and horns. The keyboard fills out the sound: while the piano plays the tumbao, the keyboard lays down string or horn pads underneath, or plays its own effects.
💃 For dancers
You mostly hear the keyboard as colour. Listen to the piano and the bass for the groove; the keyboard tells you more about the mood of a section.
📝 Sources
Dances
- Danzón – The quintessential Cuban ballroom dance, elegant and formal, often seen as the "national dance of Cuba."
- Danzonete – A sung variant of danzón that became popular in the 1920s–30s.
- Cha-cha-chá – Created in the 1950s by Enrique Jorrín while playing with a charanga; specifically designed for charanga orchestras.
- Pachanga – A playful dance and rhythm from the late 1950s/early 1960s, closely linked to charanga bands.
- Mambo (in its earlier Cuban form) – Before the big-band New York mambo, charangas also played early mambo-style danzones.
- Charanga is a Cuban ensemble style and musical tradition that dates back to the early 20th century. It became especially popular in the 1940s–50s and played a crucial role in the evolution of salsa, timba, and Latin jazz.
Lees meer >Timba is the music this site is dedicated to exploring. It emerged as a distinct genre in the late 1980s and crystallized in the early 1990s — born in a moment of social crisis, built on the full accumulated history of Cuban music, and still evolving today.
Lees meer >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.
Lees meer >Songo is the direct bridge between traditional Cuban music and timba. Developed by Los Van Van in the early 1970s, it rewired Cuban popular music by absorbing funk, rock, and jazz into the Afro-Cuban rhythmic foundation — and laid the groundwork that timba would build on.
Lees meer >The 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.
Lees meer >A tumbao is a rhythmic and melodic pattern that is repeated over and over, usually in a cycle of two, four or eight bars. Piano, bass, tres, guitar and percussion each have their own tumbao; together they make up the groove a song rests on.
Lees meer >Timba, 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.
Lees meer >The flute is the lead voice of the charanga, from Antonio Arcaño's wooden five-key flute to Orquesta Aragón. In timba it returns with bright melodies, call-and-response with the singers, and virtuoso solos that cut through the dense rhythm section.
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