Salsa and Bachata are dance and music styles. They are both fun, sensual, and great dance styles to learn. However, many people have a hard time distinguishing the difference between Salsa and Bachata music. This article will shed some light by explaining the main differences between Salsa and Bachata music.
What is the difference between Bachata and Salsa music? Salsa musical instruments usually follow determined patterns. On the other hand, in Bachata music, variations are left to the percussion. The guitar bass also plays a crucial role in Bachata music. Also, Salsa music is more energetic while Bachata is slower and more romantic.
What Is Salsa Music?
Salsa music can be described as dance music that originates from the Caribbean and Latin America. Still, more specifically, Salsa is influenced by the Cuban genre created in New York in the 1960s.
Every dancer should know the basis of Salsa music regardless if they are just a beginner or professional. It makes that much more sense to understand the music while dancing to it.
Salsa is a musical style that originated from Son Cubano, an Afro-Cuban music genre. Additionally, Salsa has roots in cha-cha, rumba, guaracha, mambo, Cuban danzon, Latin jazz, and cumbia.
Salsa music can be very rich in musical instruments due to the different Salsa styles. That’s why it is no surprise that it is possible to use other instruments in Salsa, such as violin and trumpets, among others.
The clave and conga are the most important musical instruments in Salsa music.
Salsa Musical Instruments
The main Salsa Instruments are the following:
- Guitar or tres
- Trombone
- Trumpet
- Piano
- Vocals
- Double bass
- Saxophone
- Bongos
- Congas
- Cowbell
- Timbales
- Claves
- Guiro
- Maracas
Characteristics Of Salsa Music
- Spanish Lyrics
It is undeniable that the Spanish language is sensual and romantic. Therefore, it is no surprise that the songs in Spanish lyrics sound so sexy and unique.
Singers or “soneros” sing these songs very elegantly. Puerto Rican Salsa is known to be very romantic that emphasizes romance and love. On the other hand, Columbian salsa lyrics are all about their local culture.
- Influenced by various Latin American Styles
Different Latin American styles influence salsa music. Merengue, Rumba, Bossa Nova, Brazilian Samba, Cumbia, and Bolero are Latin styles that have influenced the Salsa music genre.
- Afro-Cuban Rhythm
Salsa features various Afro-Cuban and Afro-Caribbean rhythms that originate from Central and West Africa. Salsa rhythm that comes from timbales, bongos, and conga drums is the West African Instruments version.
- Bell Patterns
Percussionists play bell patterns on handheld claves while other instrumentalists reference the rhythm in their playing. The most popular bell patterns in Salsa music are the son and rumba clave rhythms.
- Ostinato Patterns
Ostinato patterns are also known as montunos, moñas, and guajeos. The piano montuno is similar to clave patterns. The salsa band’s brass section plays guajeo ostinato melodies.
- Bass Tumbaos
Bass Tumbaos is based on the tresillo pattern. This pattern is clave neutral, which means it can align equally with the 2:3 bell pattern and the 3:2 bell pattern.
Here is an example of contemporary Salsa music. Enjoy 🙂
What is Bachata Music?
Bachata music originates from the Dominican Republic in the early 20th century. As you may know by now, Bachata is both music and dance style. However, in this article, we will focus entirely on the music part.
The first Bachata song was recorded by Jose Manuel Calderon in 1962. That song was called “Borracho de Amor” or “Drunk in love.”
The genre mixed the Pan Latin American style called bolero with African elements coming from Son and the musician singing about traditions common in Latin America.
The first thing I have noticed while listening to Dominican Bachata is the unique way the guitar plays, which gives a sharp sense of rhythm.
The core rhythm depends on the two main instruments, which are the bongo and guiro. The rhythm that these two instrument plays are enriched with variations, decorations, and syncopations.
Salsa musical instruments usually follow determined patterns. On the other hand, in Bachata music, variations are left to the percussion. The guitar bass also plays a crucial role in Bachata music.
Bachata music consists of five instruments:
- Bongos has two drums: hembra, which is bigger, and macho, which is a smaller one. There are four techniques of playing bongos: muted slap, open tone, heel, and toe.
- Bass guitar. Derecho section of the song base will be played on a downbeat and emphasize one, three, and four countings. This means the base will not be played exactly on the 1234 beat counts. Instead, it will be played with half a beat delay on the second note. The base is played on – 1 beat, 2 1/2, beat three beats, four beats.
- Guiro is held with one hand at a 45-degree angle. Conversely, gancho is used to play short strikes on four principles and syncopated beats. Others follow the Guiro rhythm, which implies that Guiro is the principal timekeeper.
- Segunda or rhythm guitar is divided between different strumming patterns and bass notes.
- Lead guitar or requinto is the same as a regular guitar but is much smaller and is higher pitched. In Bachata music, requinto plays repeating syncopated patterns, but the number of notes can vary.
Bachata has a distinct musical rhythm, and instruments need to be played on a specific beat. Also, there is a specific way how to play these instruments on different parts of a song.
For example, a Bachata song has three sections: majao, mambo, and derecho. Bachata’s rhythm is 4/4, but musical instruments are played on four downbeats and four upbeats.
So the count goes on the 1st, 2nd, 3th, and 4th beat. These five musical instruments I mentioned earlier will fill the gaps between various upbeats and downbeats to create this fantastic music.
Here is an example of Bachata music. This is my favorite mix.
Final Words
I hope that this article has helped you in understanding the main differences between Salsa and Bachata music. As you can see, Salsa is more upbeat, and Bachata is a slower and more romantic style of music. Listening to these videos will better assist you in understanding the difference between Salsa and Bachata music.
