Afro-Cuban music

Afro-Cuban music encompasses Cuban musical traditions shaped by the interaction of African-derived rhythms, instruments, and practices with European forms and instruments.

Clave rhythm: A recurring rhythmic pattern that organizes much Cuban and Afro-Cuban music. Its repeating timeline coordinates melodies and percussion across many Afro-Cuban styles.
Call and response: A musical exchange in which a lead voice or instrument is answered by a group or another performer. Singers and percussionists use this exchange to shape communal performance.
Transatlantic slave trade: The forced transportation of millions of Africans across the Atlantic, chiefly from the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries. Enslaved Africans brought musical practices that became central to Cuban culture.
Mambo: A Cuban-derived dance-music style that developed in the 1940s and became internationally popular. Its big-band arrangements carried Cuban rhythmic ideas to dance halls worldwide.
Afro-Brazilian music: Music in Brazil shaped by African diasporic traditions interacting with Indigenous and European influences. It offers a related but distinct Atlantic history and musical vocabulary.
Conga: A tall, single-headed hand drum used in Afro-Cuban music and other Latin music. Its varied tones and interlocking patterns anchor many Afro-Cuban percussion ensembles.
Polyrhythm: The simultaneous use of distinct rhythmic patterns or meters. Layered patterns let Afro-Cuban ensembles sustain multiple rhythmic roles at once.
Spanish colonization of Cuba: The period of Spanish rule over Cuba, beginning in the sixteenth century and ending in 1898. Spanish language, instruments, and song forms became part of Cuba’s musical mixture.
Cha-cha-chá: A Cuban dance-music genre developed in the early 1950s by bandleader Enrique Jorrín. Its danceable pulse and clear rhythmic pattern helped Cuban music travel internationally.
Afro-Peruvian music: Peruvian music shaped by African-descended communities and their interaction with local and European traditions. Its distinct regional history contrasts with Cuba’s African-European musical synthesis.

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