This Saturday saw us in Old San Juan at the Conservatory. In addition to our lessons several of the music faculty put on a special production and overview of
Puerto Rican music. Featured here are typical instruments. From left to right... the
Guiro, a hollow and dried gourd, stroked with a wire or wooden brush, the Bongo's, the Conga, the
Cuatro and the Guitar, and not seen are the cowbell or the tiple.
The concert presented the genres of typical music:
Plena (a bit like our country music), Aguinaldo (like Christmas carols),
Seis (
originally a 17
th century Spanish dance music),
Vals (a bit like a waltz) and
Danza (a structured stylized formal dance music). Within the types are the basic rhythms - each with a different beat. The instruments each have their own role in either establishing melody, foundational beats and supporting or filling melodies and rhythms.
The cuatro always began the musical piece as that instrument was playing the melody and then the others joined in. The guitar to play the chords corresponding to the key of the melody, the bongo and conga with traditional drum beats of the music and the guiro either following the melody or the beats, depending upon the song. Most traditional Puerto Rican music is very fast, regardless of the time (4/4 or 3/4 or 2/4) and vigorous. Listening to the melodies and beats, the excitment became contagious and soon everyone was tapping their feet or gently clapping their hands...impossible to sit still!
As those of you reading this blog over the past few months know, we (Ted and Bella Jane) have been taking Puerto Rican music classes for the past year...Bella Jane playing the cuatro and tiple and Ted playing the bongo. In the photo is Bongocera Ted...he played with a group playing En Mi Viejo San Juan at our Dia de Logros (graduation day recital) at the Ballaja. He is dressed in the appropriate attire with his white shirt, hat and Puerto Rican pin on his left lapel. He was just perfect! As a percussion instrument, the bongo is critical to a song. The bongo beats tell the other players the tempo. Mi Viejo San Juan is a cuatro por cuatro or 4/4 piece. The cuatro players played a short five note introduction and then Ted came in with the beat. His hands hit the bongo heads and the low notes (hembra) and the sharp staccoto notes (seco) were just right for the song. He played a martillo beat (the clip shows a man playing that beat). We had a great day! Ted's entry into Puerto Rican music was a grand success. Below you can see Ted's hands as they move from one bongo drum head to the other....
