OK, so I'm watching this Cuban TV station (internet TV of course) and they've been talking about this program in Havana that teaches music and dance (not just salsa but also regional Cuban stuff, very cool) but they mentioned "guajiras". I have probably heard several but thought they were salsa or son. What is a guajira/what does it sound like? I'd apprecaite any youtube links =D
Anyone know some good "guajiras"?
- Thread starter El Conguero
- Start date
Its 2 separate concepts..1st ( the most important ) its one of the " Son " rhythms..it is played in very slow to very up tempo rhythms..( may sound to the untrained ear, like a Cha Cha).... the classic, that Im sure you know..is Guantanamera.. I posted a list of several songs played as Guajiras, somewhere on the forum quite recently...
2nd.. its a dance.. its very similar to Cha Cha, normally danced with much less variety, and danced with a different syncopation (1.2. 3and4 )...
Thanks for explaining that. I had thought it was a separate musical style but wasn't sure. I don't know the first thing about the dance (aside from whta you've told me LOL) but I'll definitely have to check out those links on that other post. 
sweavo
Changui
musically I've had a lot of trouble separating guajira from cha cha cha. The best help I've managed in this is to think of guajira as a son, as terence says, and to remember that cha cha came out of danzon. So:
Guajira: campana, tres, son-like melodies
Cha cha: flutes, violins, cha cha bell
Guajira: campana, tres, son-like melodies
Cha cha: flutes, violins, cha cha bell
You could.. but the basic construction of Guajira is different..
One other "trap "... some songs are written using a dble syncop.. I have several that do that ..
I didn't know cha-cha came from danzón. I can definitely see that tho.
sweavo
Changui
Here's the example I always roll out to really show it youtube.com/watch?v=N9DqEANItZ0&feature=related
/edit: here's another nice danzon (apart from the low timbale resonatin' like anything) youtube.com/watch?v=fPT03A-2ixQ&feature=related the changeover is about 3minutes in
Great videos, actually it was nice to see what a danzón band looked like - most of what i know comes from reading and also that LP video series I mention from time to time (which really only deals with percussion). The instrumentation sort of resembles that of charanga, but the style is very different and yes, very cha-cha like
Cha Cha came from Guajira ( which breaks on "1"), and also Triple Mambo, often seen in up tempo Son .. Danzon ( as I previously stated ) is a form of Square Rumba...this is the dance that precipitated the evolution ( and Bolero ) of the modern day genres of.. Mambo.. Cha Cha and Salsa ...
The Square form of Rumba is still taught in the States, and the open style ( like Bolero, also taught in US ), is taught in the International style, breaking on "2".( Bolero is on "3" )....
sweavo
Changui
That may be true for the dance steps, but most origin tales about the music say it grew out of the mambo section of the Danzon.
I think we are discussing 2 different avenues... the music reference is correct.. my post was deliniating the pathway of the current dance forms...
Danzon ( the dance ) in its square box format was "opened up if you will, into the same structure as Bolero and then transitioned to become Mambo .
That very same design,( Mambo box ) was exactly replicated to the basic format of Bolero . Add into this format the Son Guajira rhythms, and the rest as they say , is history...
Its also worth mentioning, that Guaracha ( the dance ) was the up tempo version of Danzon in its basic format ( with some embellishments )... In addition, they all were originally danced in close hold position .
It's interesting to hear about the dance steps (though I have no clue what you're talking about, sorry ). I suppose as the styles developed and changed, the way people moved to them had to change with the times. Either way, thanks for the posts.
). I suppose as the styles developed and changed, the way people moved to them had to change with the times. Either way, thanks for the posts.