Beyond Salsa for Beginners - book
Beyond Salsa for Beginners:
The Cuban Timba Revolution: An Introduction to Latin Music for Dancers and Listeners
🎶 Beyond Salsa: A Listener’s Guide to Cuban and Latin Music
📘 Overview
After writing over 20 instructional books on Cuban piano, congas, drums, timbales, clave, and bass, Kevin Moore has created his first book for non-musicians — listeners, dancers, and fans of Latin music.
Beyond Salsa bridges the gap between performers and enthusiasts, offering both a historical perspective and hands-on rhythm training.
🎧 Structure of the Book
1. Listening Tours
These sections guide readers through the evolution of Cuban and Latin popular music — complete with song analysis, music history, and record-collecting advice.
The Four Listening Tours:
- Pre-Revolution Cuban Popular Music (1900–1959)
- Salsa and Post-Revolution Cuban Popular Music (1959–1989)
- Timba (1989–2012)
- Afro-Cuban Folkloric Music, Comparsa, Changüí, and Rumba
2. Rhythm Exercises
Practical chapters with singing, clapping, and dancing exercises designed to develop a deep internal sense of rhythm.
Includes:
- The basic rhythms of each instrument
- Clave fundamentals
- Essential dance steps
- Guidance on how to feel the Latin groove naturally
- A special chapter addressing common challenges new listeners face when hearing Afro-Cuban folkloric rhythms
🔊 Audio Resources
- 🎵 Free audio download with 107 tracks corresponding to the rhythm exercises
- 💿 Optional paid download with additional examples and practice material
📚 Extras
- Extensive glossary of musical and cultural terms
- Beginner’s guide to Spanish and Cuban slang in music, written for English speakers
🕺 Who It’s For
“Beyond Salsa” is the perfect companion for anyone who loves Latin music — dancers, DJs, listeners, or musicians who want to understand the groove from the inside out.
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 >Rumba is the most African-rooted of all Cuban music and dance forms — born in the streets, courtyards, and docks of Havana and Matanzas in the late 19th century, with no European instruments, no salon setting, and no pretense of European propriety.
Lees meer >Before son, before danzón, before any of the named genres — there was Nengón and Changüí in the mountains and valleys of eastern Cuba ( Oriente, especially Guantánamo province). These are the oldest surviving roots of Cuban popular music.
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The clave is a fundamental rhythmic pattern and organizing principle in Cuban music. It serves as both a musical pattern and a guiding concept, deeply rooted in Afro-Cuban traditions.
Lees meer >The 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.
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 > 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 >A Cuban popular dance music genre that emerged in the 1980s–90s
- emerged in the 1980s–90s
- influenced by songo, rumba, funk, blues, jazz, pop, rock and Afro-Cuban rhythms.
- Known for complex rhythm shifts, aggressive bass lines, and high energy that push dancers to improvise.
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