Guaguanco

This rhythm is probably the most popular and well known of the three forms of “Rumba”. Unlike the “Yambu” which is traditionally played on boxes (cajones) at a slower tempo, or the brisk tempo of the rhythmically complex “Columbia”, the guaguanco is the rumba that most people recognize as the center piece of folkloric conga playing. It consists of a quinto (lead drum), a segundo  (the middle drum), a salidor (the bottom drum), a stick part (gua-gua), a shaker (maruga), claves, and very intricate vocal parts.  All three drums in this style have an opportunity to significantly improvise within their patterns, and so the resulting percussion conversation can be very beautiful and complex.

It is important to remember that all forms of rumba consist of three distinct elements---singing, dancing and drumming. A good rumbero must understand all three of these components, as it is essential to accompany the singers properly during the verses, and in turn support and inspire the dancers who will enter during the call and response section (the estribillo or montuno) that is coming after the verses. In turn, the dance form of guaguanco is a beautiful interplay between a man and woman, acting out a “courtship” in which the woman tries to resist the advances of her partner, who attempts to “possess” her through a movement known as the “vacunao”. The drummers must understand these movements in order to play  properly, as the quinto in particular (but actually of three of the drums) must follow along and “dialogue” with the male dancer.

  • Guaguanco Supporting Parts-Spiro

    In this section we will introduce you to both the basic supporting parts, known as the salidor and the segundo (or tres golpes). Traditionally these parts used to play fairly static roles, as they were in support of the improvising drum (the quinto). But in contemporary guaguanco they improvise prolifically as well, and it is essential to get a really good handle on the basic techniques and approaches to these two parts before trying any further sophistication.

  • Guaguanco-Supporting Parts-Diaz
    Guaguanco Supporting Parts-Jesus Diaz
  • Guaguanco Quinto-Spiro

    Probably the most frequently asked question of me centers around how to solo (or play quinto) in a rumba. Either the person has a lot of chops but doesn’t know where to put them, or understands the concept of integrating the quinto into the larger rhythmic context, but doesn’t really have any rhythmic ideas with which to get started. This of course is an extremely popular, but also a very difficult chair to sit in, so we are going to spend a lot of time on the site explaining the how, what and why of improvising from the quinto chair in rumba guaguanco. We will show you a basic part you can use to integrate yourself into the larger structure, how to begin to phrase ideas within the clave, how to develop those ideas into longer “sentences”, and finally we will show you a number of rhythmic  “cells” to work with to get you started in creating your own ideas.

     

  • Guaguanco Rhythmic Cells for Quinto-Spiro

    Once we understand how to form and structure our ideas when playing quinto, we still have to figure out WHAT to play. In this next section of quinto classes, we explain and demonstrate where and how you can get ideas to use for playing the lead drum. After all, there are only a finite number of rhythmic sub-divisions available to us to use within one clave pattern, so we can systematically go about discovering and exploring some standard phrases that come out of these sub-divisions, or units of time. I call these “rhythmic cells”. After we explain and demonstrate each one, we follow a specific methodology for developing and using the cell (which we have further delineated in my book, “The Conga Drummer’s Guidebook”)—We re-voice it, we displace it, we thematically develop it, and finally we integrate all of it into the guaguanco rhythmic structure. If you slowly and carefully go through all these, I guarantee you that you’ll listen to quinto players with new ears and a new awareness of what’s going on, and your own playing will dramatically improve!

     

  • Guaguanco Ensemble
    Highlights from CongaMasterClass' ensemble performance.