I'm not talking about the steps its just the music!. like i sometimes have a hard time knowing weather its a salsa or merengueWww@QuestionHome@Com
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Position:Home>Dancing> How can you tell if the song is a salsa or a merengue?Question: How can you tell if the song is a salsa or a merengue!? I'm not talking about the steps its just the music!. like i sometimes have a hard time knowing weather its a salsa or merengueWww@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Angelito had some good points about the instrumentation of merengue versus salsa and also about the congas!. You can usually hear the saxphones very well in merengue!. Depending on how the song has been mixed it might be hard to hear the congas!. Merengue is written in 2/4 time which is why if feels faster than salsa which is written in 4/4 time!. In fact it feels twice as fast, although some merengues can be slower and some salsa very fast!. The basis of all salsa is the clave which is a syncopated rhythm consisting of 3 beats plus two beats!. It gives salsa a "swing" that merengue doesn't have!. Merengue has a marching feeling, while salsa swings!. A full clave stretches over 2 measures of music!. Here is a sample of a basic 3/2 son clave!. The cowbell at the beginning is just to set the speed and also helps you to feel the syncopation of the clave!. http://www!.timba!.com/artists/charangahab!.!.!. For a very detailed article about clave with audio examples see http://www!.timba!.com/fans/clave_debates!.!.!.!. Merengue has no clave so if you hear the clave, you know it is salsa!. Often there are no actual clave sticks played in a song!. It may be played on a jam block or sometimes you can feel the clave in other instruments!. In this example you can hear the "bam bam bam bam bam" of the clave in the bass and piano very clearly starting from 11 seconds!. At times you can hear it on the jam block as well!. Salsa: http://www!.youtube!.com/watch!?v=88slEnn2M!.!.!. Merengue: Here is Elvis Crespo's Suavamente which has to be one of the most played merengue songs of recent years!. http://www!.youtube!.com/watch!?v=9WBypBiXf!.!.!. Notice the 1,2 1,2 feel!. In the end the only way you will get to hear the difference is by listening to both salsa and merengue, and listening and listening and listening and listening and listening and!.!.!.well you get the idea!. The more you listen the faster you will leran!. So to help out here are more links so you can listen and compare the differences in merengue and salsa as *you* feel them!. Merengue: http://www!.youtube!.com/watch!?v=wmJftSw9n!.!.!. Salsa: http://www!.youtube!.com/watch!?v=p7Nf7kpr9!.!.!. You can feel the swing in the piano at the beginning and at 1:52 they stop playing and actually clap the clave!. Merengue: Juan Luis Guerra plays very classic merengue which doesn't have as "harsh" a horn sound as some newer groups, but it should not be confused with salsa!. http://www!.youtube!.com/watch!?v=uJimpth-y!.!.!. Salsa: This is a fast salsa, and also a funny video about a guy at a wedding party who keeps getting smashed up against the wall by a girl with a very shaply rear end who keeps bumping up against him as she dances!. Finally he see that she has stuffed a pillow in her skirt to get the full bottom!. http://www!.youtube!.com/watch!?v=HnITDpBnQ!.!.!. Merengue: Notice the sound of the horns in this song is quite different from in the salsa you have heard so far!. http://www!.youtube!.com/watch!?v=QoWsIJxjh!.!.!. Salsa: Here you actually see the old guy on the street playing claves at the beginning of the song!. http://www!.youtube!.com/watch!?v=NgGGESNow!.!.!. Well that should be enough to get you started!. Listen, listen, listen and soon the difference will be obvious to you!. Www@QuestionHome@Com You could tell a salsa song from listening to the conga sounds!. The "pumpum, pa" sounds!. The first two sounds are low and are played consecutively!. There's a pause before the second sound which is high, is played!. My salsa on 2 instructor used to tell us, beginners students, that if a salsa song didn't have those conga sounds, it wasn't salsa!. Those sounds mark the 8,4, beats(pumpum) and the 2,6, beats(pa)!. Merengue songs are mostly faster tempo songs, although some merengue songs take the balada form with slower tempo!. In merengue songs you'll hear the saxophone play a lot specially during the middle section of the song!. Other instrument that make merengue identifiable is the 'guirra' sound!. This is a Dominican metal shreder that replaced the 'guirro' it's wooden version that is played with a stick!. Merengue can't be played without the 'tambora' too!. This is longer drum that a 'tamborero' plays while he's sitting down and holding it on his lap!. He plays it with a stick in one hand and slaps the other tambora end with his other hand!. The tambora sound is to merengue what the conga sound is to salsa!. There's this merengue song from "Krisspy" called 'Mis Musicos' where he introduces his musicians and they play a little solo following the introduction!. The instrument mentioned above are played in the solo maybe you could check it out to get a better idea!. "Krisspy" has a merengue "tipico" sound which uses the acordion a lot!. Elvis Crespo's merengue is a good example of the slower merengue tempo!. Check his song "Suavemente" Www@QuestionHome@Com It depends on the beat!. Merengue has a simpler beat!.!.!. if you can imagine your arm going from one side to the other with the beat!.!.!. it's usually faster than salsa!.!. Salsa has a more complex beat!.!.!. errrr, I guess i'm not doing a good job in explaning but i hope it helps some!.!.!. though now i see i did a better job explaining than these other pple!.!.!. and no, it is not hard to tell the difference, you just have to be used to hearing both genres!.!.!. you'll get the hang of it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Merengue tends to have a simple beat structure!. Most salsa music is really mambos, with the peculiar syncopations of the genre!. If you listen for the clave instead of simply breaking on one as most salsa dancers are wont to do, it won't be a problem!.Www@QuestionHome@Com it is very hard to tell!. you can actually look at the steps to see what kind of music it is!. you just need to listen to the song over and over and over until you notice specific characteristics that distinguish it from each otherWww@QuestionHome@Com Merengue is very easy to identify as the beat is about as simple as any dance can get: 1-2, 1-2 & so on!. Much simpler than salsa which is 3 steps within 4 beats!. HTH GeorgeWww@QuestionHome@Com Merengue is a lot quicker than salsa!. Salsa is slower paced!. Its really easy to distinguish!.Www@QuestionHome@Com salsa is more caliente!.Www@QuestionHome@Com as long as you can dance to it do it matter!. its like not knowing how to spell the difference between whether and weatherWww@QuestionHome@Com |