The clave: the key to everything
The clave is a five-stroke pattern over two bars that organises the whole song. It is played “3-2” (three strokes, then two) or “2-3”. Every instrument, and every good dancer, stays in step with it, even when nobody is playing it out loud.
The orchestra
- Percussion: congas, bongó (and its cowbell), timbales, claves, maracas or güiro.
- Rhythm section: piano playing the repeating montuno pattern, and bass playing the anticipated “tumbao”.
- Horns: trumpets and trombones, which give salsa its bright attack.
- Voices: the lead singer (sonero) improvises against the chorus (coro).
The structure of a salsa song
Most songs open with an introduction and a verse section (the “song”), then switch to the montuno: a repeating call-and-response between sonero and coro, broken by horn lines (mambos) and a percussion break. The montuno is where dancers have the most fun.
Ten artists to start with
- Celia Cruz, the “Queen of Salsa”
- Héctor Lavoe
- Willie Colón
- Rubén Blades
- Tito Puente
- Eddie Palmieri
- Ismael Rivera
- El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico
- Oscar D’León
- Grupo Niche