- History. The African slaves were forbidden to worship their own gods, so they incorporated their own music into the worship of St. James.
- Rhythm. While there are several different styles and rhythms to bomba, it is a music to accompany dancers. ...
- Instruments. Percussion instruments used in bomba include the buleador providing rhythm support, a subidor that dialogs with the dancers and provides the rhythm, palitos (sticks stuck onto a resonating surface), ...
- Dancers. It is no wonder bomba is so interesting and can be so captivating with the dancers in beautiful and colorful flowing skirts challenging the drummer with their moves.
What are the traditional drums used in Bomba called?
The traditional drums used in bomba are called barriles, since they have long been built from the wood of barrels. The high pitch drum is called "subidor" (riser) or "primo" (first), and the low pitch drums are called "buleador" and "segundo" (second).
How many rhythms are there in Bomba?
As a result, bomba now has sixteen different rhythms. The rhythms mark the pace of the singing and dance. Bomba instruments include the subidor or primo (bomba barrel or drum), maracas, and the cuá or fuá, two sticks played against the wood of the barrels or another piece of wood.
What is a bomba dancer?
Unlike other music genres, the bomba dancer sets the rhythm for the musicians rather than the other way around. It resembles a conversation between one dancer in the center and the main bomber. The buleador is the drum that marks the beat, but the seguidor or primo is the star of the show.
Where can I find Bomba?
After a few years songwriter Rafael Cortijo introduced bomba to the Concert Halls by arranging it with brass instruments and more simple rhythm patterns, today bomba can be found anywhere on the island and in fusion with different styles like Jazz or Salsa music.
What type of vocals are used in bomba?
The vocals use melody only and do not use harmony. Meanwhile, the dancers are in pairs and perform their moves never touching each other. Dancers are very important to bomba because they take turns challenging the drummer with their moves.
How is bomba played?
Call and response is a fundamental ingredient of bomba. Musical performances typically start with a soloist called the laina, singing a phrase to which a group of singers responds. This chorus is supported by musicians that provide different rhythmic patterns with percussion instruments.
Is bomba a dance or music?
The Bomba is a traditional Puerto Rican dance and style of music with African roots. Enslaved West Africans were forced to go to Puerto Rico by the Spaniards during the 1500s. By 1530, over half of the Spanish territory's population hailed from Africa.
What instruments are used in plena?
Plena is often accompanied by hollow gourds known as güiros, guitars, and accordions. The bomba dance style that often accompanies plena music is a call-and-response dance where partners take turns telling an expressive story.
How is bomba danced?
Bomba starts with a paseo (or promenade), when the dancer (or partners) slowly strolls around the dance space, signaling to the drummer that the challenge is about to begin. Following this, the bomba dancers then improvise their steps or arm movements, also known as piquetes. Percussion accompaniment.
Who plays the drums in traditional bomba music?
Cultural Evolution The buleador is the drum that marks the beat, but the seguidor or primo is the star of the show. He is the one that follows and imitates in sound the steps of the dancer. There is only one maraca, usually played by the singer, and other instruments like the cuá, that complement the music.
What makes bomba unique?
How to hold and use skirt in the Bomba dancing is unique. This is because the dancer is having a musical conversation or communication with Dresser through their pickets. In the beginning, the barrel was called Bomba and that is where the name of this old traditional music comes from.
What is Puerto Rican bomba music?
0:4911:06Why Puerto Rican Bomba Music Is Resistance - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipBomba was developed in the 16th century by enslaved africans in puerto rico enslaved communitiesMoreBomba was developed in the 16th century by enslaved africans in puerto rico enslaved communities would gather to make music using rhythms and dance to express. Themselves. They told stories shared
What is a bomba?
Definition of bomba 1 : a traditional Puerto Rican drum consisting of a barrel with a goatskin head. 2 : a genre of Puerto Rican dance accompanied by drums and other percussion also : a song sung by a soloist and chorus to accompany a bomba.
What's the difference between bomba and plena?
A Grammy-winning producer with expertise in the Latin Tropical scene, Levinson describes the production of a bomba beat, which incorporates two drums, a maraca and a highly syncopated 5/8 rhythm. On the other hand, for plena, a trio sings in harmony with folkloric hand drums called the panderetas.
What is the Fish instrument called?
The güiro is commonly used in Puerto Rican, Cuban and other forms of Latin American music, and plays a key role in the typical rhythm section of important genres like son, trova and salsa....Güiro.Percussion instrumentOther namesGüira, rascador, güícharo (Puerto Rican, made from plastic), candungo, carracho, rayo7 more rows
How do you play Pleneras?
1:0713:34Plena from Puerto Rico, free lesson by Michael de Miranda - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipThe most common is played like this you can play an optin with your thumb. Like. This and you have aMoreThe most common is played like this you can play an optin with your thumb. Like. This and you have a tip and of course a louder tip more like a schlepping. And the basic rhythm is like.
What are the three bomba styles?
From the myriad of bomba styles, there are three that most people recognize and know. These are the sicá, yubá, and holandés. Sicá is an ideal introductory subgenre because it is the most popular and widespread of the entire tradition (Peña-Aguayo, 2015).
What is Bomba music?
Bomba is one of the most emblematic and enduring genres of the island of Puerto Rico. Its history serves as a reminder of the strength and resilience of its people. Its sounds carry stories that are still relevant and deserve to be told. Bomba ultimately represents Puerto Rico’s rich African heritage—one that should be remembered and affirmed by all. The inclusion of this genre and the experiences that it involves enrich the general music curriculum and provide opportunities to learn about cultures that might otherwise not be represented in the classroom. Introducing diverse musical cultures to students provides great benefits for all (Wong et al., 2016).
What is the high pitched drum called?
The high-pitched drum is called a subidor and is responsible for improvising above the large drum. This drum is also used to mark dancers’ movements by producing a type of conversation with each other. The name buleador is used in the north of Puerto Rico, while the same drum is called segundo (second) in the south.
How many styles of bomba are there?
It is important to specify that bomba encompasses more than 16 rhythmic styles and that their popularity varies by region. Each rhythm sets the pace of the singing and dance and calls for a different attitude. Some styles, such as sicá, yubá, güembé, belén, corvé, and cunyá, have names that recall their African origin. Others like holandés (from Holland) and leró (the roses) are labeled after European terms and French creole words adopted from neighboring Caribbean islands (Brill, 2017).
What were the dances of the cane workers called?
In these areas, cane workers released feelings of sadness, anger, and resistance through fiery drums played in dance gatherings called Bailes de Bomba (Bomba Dances). Enslaved people also used them to celebrate baptisms and marriages, communicate with each other, and plan rebellions (Cartagena, 2004).
What is the dance in Bomba?
Dancing is another of the central features of bomba. As a song unfolds, dancers break off from the group and step into the drums’ space to challenge the high-pitched drum player to mark their dance moves. The most important terms associated with these practices are paseo and piquetes. Paseo (promenade) refers to the primary dancing step that corresponds to the ensemble’s ostinato rhythm, without calling for improvised beats from the high-pitched drum. It is used when a dancer is about to engage in a dialogue with the lead drummer and waits for its turn. Barton (2004) explains that “this basic step consists of a stylized walk, alternating arms with a toe-touch on each step forward.” (p. 76). Piquetes (accents) are the improvised steps produced by moving a long skirt (females) or different body parts (females and males).
What is the bomba?
Bomba is an emblematic Puerto Rican musical genre that emerged 400 years ago from the colonial plantations where West African enslaved people and their descendants worked . It remains one of the most popular forms of folk music on the island and serves as significant evidence of its rich African heritage. This article explores the main components of bomba by making them more accessible to those that have not experienced it from an insider’s perspective. The material presented in this article provides a learning sequence that could take the form of several lessons, or even a curricular unit. Transcriptions of rhythms typically learned aurally are also included.
Who composed the bomba?
This bomba contains the grácima rhythmic pattern, composed by Jesús Cepeda, Roberto's brother. It features Juan Gutiérrez on the primo and Roberto Cepeda as the lead vocal. The percussion arrangement is by Tito Matos. According to Roberto, Mayelá is a neighborhood on another island of the Antilles.
What is the meaning of the bomba in the chorus?
The lyrics discuss the suffering of laborers in the field, and the chorus explains that they sing and dance the bomba so that they won’t die; it describes bomba as necessary for survival and resistance. Image: Made in the USA. Jesús Ruiz Durand. Latin American Posters, Public Aesthetics and Mass Politics.
What is bomba music?
To them, bomba music was a source of political and spiritual expression. The lyrics conveyed a sense of anger and sadness about their condition, and songs served as a catalyst for rebellions and uprisings. But bomba also moved them to dance and celebrate, helping them create community and identity.
How many rhythms does Bomba have?
As a result, bomba now has sixteen different rhythms. The rhythms mark the pace of the singing and dance. Bomba instruments include the subidor or primo ( bomba barrel or drum), maracas, and the cuá or fuá, two sticks played against the wood of the barrels or another piece of wood.
What rhythm does Viento de Agua play?
Viento de Agua exemplifies gracimá and hoyoemula rhythms in "Mayela" and "Siré-Siré," and Raul and Freddy Ayala perform the yubá or "Juba" rhythm. circle. play. Plena developed from bomba music around the beginning of the 20th century in southern Puerto Rico. Plena lyrics are narrative.
What is the meaning of Bomba and Plena?
Bomba and plena are defining musical sounds of the Afro-Puerto Rican population. Matos says, "In Puerto Rico you go to Black and humble communities and you´re going to find bomba and plena without a doubt.". These Afro-Puerto Rican musical traditions have also enjoyed an active life in New York City and other communities in which Puerto Ricans have ...
How did the Bomba music evolve?
But bomba also moved them to dance and celebrate, helping them create community and identity. The music evolved through contact between slave populations from different Caribbean colonies and regions, including the Dutch colonies, Cuba, Santo Domingo, and Haití. As a result, bomba now has sixteen different rhythms.
What is the smallest drum in the Plena?
The smallest of them is the requinto, which improvises over the rhythm of the other drums.
What is a plena in Puerto Rico?
Puerto Rican Bomba and Plena. Puerto Rican. Bomba. and. Plena. Bomba and plena are percussion-driven musical traditions from Puerto Rico that move people to dance. Often mentioned together as though they were a single musical style, both reflect the African heritage of Puerto Rico, but there are basic distinctions between them in rhythm, ...
What is Bomba music?
Brought to Puerto Rico by enslaved ancestors hundreds of years ago, most of the island’s cultural expressions evolve from it. The music can be an upbeat holandé, which is played and danced with great enthusiasm or a yubá, which is more somber and spiritual.
What is the bomba dancer?
Unlike other music genres, the bomba dancer sets the rhythm for the musicians rather than the other way around. It resembles a conversation between one dancer in the center and the main bomber. The buleador is the drum that marks the beat, but the seguidor or primo is the star of the show. He is the one that follows and imitates in sound ...
Who broke the rules of bomba?
Then came Caridad Brenes de Cepeda, a woman who broke the unspoken rules of bomba, changing the genre forever. She used her skirt to make more aggressive moves, raising it higher than before as a sign of rejecting oppression.
What is the name of the dance in Puerto Rico?
In Puerto Rico, you don’t just listen to bomba, you feel it! Before there were styles like salsa and reggaetón, there was bomba. The name does not only refer to the ancient music genre, but it is also the name of the instruments and the dance that accompanies the music. Bomba is everything.
What instruments are used in bomba?
Percussion instruments used in bomba include the buleador providing rhythm support, a subidor that dialogs with the dancers and provides the rhythm, palitos (sticks stuck onto a resonating surface), and a maraca (only one) usually played by one of the female singers.
What is the Bomba dance?
While there are several different styles and rhythms to bomba, it is a music to accompany dancers. It developed as an expression of the colonial slave system and to strengthen spirituality. Bomba is more than just music. It is an event full of music, dancing, and singing.
Overview
Instruments
It consists of drums called barriles or bombas (made from barrels of rum, one named buleador and another primo or subidor), cuá (two sticks that were originally banged on the side of the barril) and a maraca. Dance is an integral part of the music: The drum called "Primo" replicates every single move of the dancer, this is called "Repique". Although the origins are a little scarce it's easy to spot the elegance and poise of the Spanish Flamenco and the energy and soul of Africa…
History
Bomba was developed in Puerto Rico some time after the trans-Atlantic African Slave trade in 1501. Although it is unclear when exactly Bomba was developed in Puerto, the first documentation of Bomba dates back to 1797. During the 1800s there were several documented accounts of the use of Bomba as a rebellion tool against the slave owners, and organizational methods for initiati…
Characteristics of the Bomba
Bomba is described to be a challenge/connection between the drummer and the dancer. The dancer produces a series of gestures to which the primo o subidor drummer provides a synchronized beat. Thus, it is the drummer who attempts to follow the dancer, and not the more traditional form of the dancer following the drummer. The dancer must be in great physical shape, and the challenge usually continues until either the dancer or the drummer discontinues.
Rhythmic Styles
There are several styles of bomba, and the popularity of these styles varies by region. There are three basic rhythms and many others that are mainly variations of these three, they are: "sica", "yuba", and "holandés".
duple metre
• sicá
Performers
Today there are many groups playing Bomba both as a traditional style and as a fusion with some other style. The most well-known traditional players are the Cepeda Family who have been playing Bomba for generations and the Ayala family, who are a family with a tradition of arts and crafts as well as Bomba music. Rafael Cortijo took Bomba to the mainstream with his Combo in the 1950s and 1960s. Puerto Rican composer Roberto Angleró wrote and sang "Si Dios fuera negro" ("If Go…
See also
• List of Puerto Ricans
• Music of Puerto Rico
Further reading
• Aparicio, Frances R., "Listening to salsa: gender, Latin popular music, and Puerto Rican cultures", Wesleyan University Press, 1998. ISBN 978-0-8195-6308-8. Cf. p. 12 and book index.
• Barton, Halbert Everett. The drum-dance challenge: an anthropological study of gender, race and class marginalization of Bomba in Puerto Rico (Cornell University, 1995).
Abstract
Bomba in General Music Classrooms
Initial Analysis
Call and Response
Three-Part Basic Instrumentation
- Bomba ensembles are made of a percussion section that includes the following: (a) two or more drums of two different diameters called barriles de bomba (bomba barrels); (b) one large gourd maraca; and (c) one cuá-a stick drum made of a hollow bamboo log (Figure 1). Drums, traditionally made with rum barrels and goatskin, have a hierarchy establish...
Styles of Bomba
Improvised Bomba Steps
Song Structure
Conclusion
Suggested Resources