Part Two Afro-Cuban Rhythms hythms that come {rom Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and other Caribbean nations make up wnat is generally referred to as “Atro-Cuban" Lalin music. These have different feel and style of their own that is distinct from the Brazilian sound. Only repeated lis- tering will allow you to instanty recognize the difference between Afro-Cuben or Brazilian “Latin” styles. ‘Other terms used to describe this music include Afro-Caribbean, or sometimes just the word “salsa” There are many small subdivisions of the siyle; however, the concept presented here is to learn the most common rhythms and loarn them well—onty then can you move on to advanced material. As we ‘ako a look at these essential rhythms, you'll notice they move from slower to faster. These rhythms are based on tempo, and as the tempo rises, the pattems change to establish @ nice groove at that tempo range: stower faster ——— Bolero Chacha Mambo a Nanigo 6/8 5 an: a Chapter BOLERO =e Played with a relaxed feel. The distinctive drum pattern may be mimicked on the guitar, or you. may accompany with half notes or whole notes only You may even play with a azz” ballad feel This is a situation in which you want fo keep your ears open and play what is appropriate. Here is the drum/guitar pattern: B lero is the Latin ballad. Generally speaking, boleros are slow, romantic tunes thai should be Psking: ME *V , v v Trough the drum plays exteanth-note tat here. tha guitar shoud strum only ones Ami] Bmi7es) 7 Now try a little progression that starts out tive key of C major. the Fo-IV in A minor, but then modulates to the rela- 7 7 7 7 Use the next two I-IV and I-II-V chord progressions to gal the bolero rhythm solid, You might not al-34- ways play every attack all the time, but to practice the rhythm, try to play it consistently and evenly throughout the song, Good chordal backing should use some hall notes and whole notes 2s well. aeEmal, 1 Epi? a7 foeChapter CHA CHA oving up in tempo a little, we come to the next groove, called cha cha. This is trom the Cuban dence of the same name. The feol is 4/4, and a constant quarter note is usually plzyed on the cowbell = Try maintaining this pattern over some progressions—first, wo-measures-per chord. This is a thumb- and-fingers unison, oF "block chord” approach to playing the cha cha. Oper se Be =e =¥ m2 += = Now try one chord per measure and use the rhythm anticipation on the upbeat of 4. This anticipation is necessary when a naw chord arrives in the second measure. 2 Cyat Ami] Now try a progression that has some extensions and alterations. D we fp pay 6/9 iChordal Interpretations The next stap is to interpret tho chords in a combination of single notes and double stops and/or three-note voicings. You'll notice that the rhythm for most of these patterns is the same; however, varia- tions can and do occur. Work on the rhythm until you can play it easily and can clap it while listening fo a cha-cha tune. The trick here is to understand how the notes interpret the chord symbal. First just learn the patterns, then figure out how the tones relate to the chord. This fitst idea works as a varrp that moves fram the b7ih-to-6th over a minor chord, can yee Here's one that moves 7th-t0-6th fora major sound. o Bima? lay ies Hore are two more approaches to playing on a minor vamped chord: the familier ‘root-to-major 7th-to minor 7th-and back,’ and a variation, which goes down to the éth. Don comet) nits a7"Short ii-V Progressions ‘While some of these patterns work well on a static C minor chord, they can also relate fo an F chord, ‘making them suitable for a common licV prograssion. As a i-V sound, they are Seen as short iV because they are two beats each: e Cmi7 Pp Cai7 eS = cir FD cmi7 FS Bhma? BS Bema? BIS ae snes Long ii-V Progressions Now let's look at long i-V's. These ave four beats each. They're all varialions of each other: The chord ms remain the same while the single lines that approach them vary. D con 8Now it's #.VA-IV7. e mitt Pp Bhnit 9 Variations Make sure to practice the examples shown in C minor in other keys a8 wall. Also, lear all examples on string seis 4-2 and 3-1. Get to a point where you can switch between short ii-V and the long i-V, Play various combinations (long/short, different siring sets) of the ii-V chord progressions. Here's an example of long/short ii-V's mixed with root movement: D vain >» arnt > 99* Gmi? o Gmi7 oo Dmi? a9 Dimi? as Cmitl 7 The next stop would be to add the | chord with the ii-V's. If the li-V progression leads to the intonded | chord, then its called a resolving ji-V. If it does not lead to the intended tonic, then it is called a nonresolv- ing i-V. D> ann bs Ge? Gmi7 o Fema? Phi? Bo Emi] hg Emi7 AdDra? 7 Here ate some variations in the key of G major. Try these in-other keys as well! Keep practicing until it's automatic. Use a drum machine, and seak out percussionist friends to practice with. This takes time to begin to interpret in this manner. Work hard on each individual pattern and keep track of your tempos (4= 60-100), © wn oo amit on pas a Bass Line with Root So far, we have left the rcot out of the bass, instead using movements of 7ths and sths, or rds. ‘These voicings ere the correct ones for playing with a bassist, where the foot motion is already taken care of by someone else. Sometimes, however, we may want the root mation to be in our guitar pari. Here is an example with that in mind. This concept is great for solo guitar Boo emit! 7 Bhai? bp. play 7 mes