Open Your Ears to Latin Pop

From the hip-shaking Shakira to the romantic crooning of Enrique Iglesias, Latin pop music, or Pop Latino, infiltrates every stratum of our world: the World Cup, Zumba classes, movies, romantic dinners…

In our previous article, Open Your Ears to Traditional Latin Music, you learned about traditional Latin dances like salsa, tango, and samba, and the music that accompanies them. Latin pop music today brings a new spin to centuries of traditional music, adding in contemporary electronic dance music beats, synthesis, and a lively pop music sound.

Here’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca”, a late-nineties hit by the prince of Latin pop, Ricky Martin:

Global Influence

From New York to Mexico, Latin pop music exploded onto the scene in the 1990s, but its exciting dance rhythms and catchy hooks can be traced back to the smooth romantic ballads of forerunners like Julio Iglesias and Sergio Mendes. Latino millennials today can remember their abuelas swooning over the sexy Iglesias, who always made you feel as if he was personally addressing you when he spoke of sensual love and romance:

Earlier Latin love ballads incorporated the familiar musical sounds of the 1960s and 1970s, but added a unique Latin touch, with light Latin rhythms and percussion and Spanish lyrics that glorified eternal love and heartbreak. Some well-known artists are Julio Iglesias, Sergio Mendes, and Roberto Carlos.

Other more traditional singers, like Cuban legend Celia Cruz, attained almost god-like status during their lifetimes. Singer Jon Secada followed in his forerunners’ footsteps with pop ballads in the 1990s after working with legendary Cuban star Gloria Estefan, whose band Miami Sound Machine truly brought Latin pop into global popularity in the 1980s and 1990s.

Gloria Estefan

Born in Havana, Cuba, Gloria Estefan’s rise to worldwide fame mirrors the hopes and dreams of the Cuban exiles after Castro’s revolution left many fleeing their homeland because of political persecution. Many came to the United States hoping for freedom and a better life for their children and grandchildren.

Estefan’s journey from humble beginnings to pop diva showed that the United States was truly the land of opportunity. A bus accident severely injured Estefan’s back, preventing her from dancing to her own music, but the dance diva continued on. Estefan’s hit songs “Conga” and the “Rhythm is Gonna Get You” have become iconic in pop music. Her music often has playful lyrics accompanied by strong Latin rhythms and percussion. She paved the way for artists like Ricky Martin and Shakira, who took dance clubs by storm.

Selena

Another Latina, the talented Mexican-American singer simply known as Selena, had just begun to make waves in the United States when her life was cut tragically short by a former employee. Despite her early death, Selena had become a Latin icon with her albums Entre a Mi Mundo and Amor Prohibido. She is often credited for bringing Tejano music, a complex blend of Mexican traditional music found in southern Texas, to international fame.

Selena has posthumously sold tens of millions of albums, and her legacy is kept alive with the film Selena, showcasing the acting talents of Jennifer Lopez, a Latina music icon in her own right.

Heard Worldwide!

Latin pop music has been heard at the Olympics, FIFA World Cup, Hollywood films, and television from the Americas to Europe to Africa to Asia. Contemporary Latino artists include Romeo Santos, Juan Gabriel, Enrique Iglesias, Nicky Jam, Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, and Julión Alvarez y su Norteño Banda. Latin pop music today has spread into other genres like hip hop, R&B, and reggae, while still maintaining close ties to its traditional musical roots.

Musical Elements of Latin Pop Music

There are a few key musical elements that you will find in Latin pop music. While the genre spans artists from almost every corner of the world, Latin pop has several distinctive hallmarks that distinguish it from other popular musical styles.

Tradition

Latin pop music stems from the rich musical histories of the artists. Whether the music is derived from salsa, bossa nova, tango, or Tejano, strains of centuries of music passed down from generation to generation are recognizable in the genre.

Listen to Cuban-American rapper Pitbull’s “We are One (Ole Ola)”, which was the 2014 FIFA World Cup Song, and see if you can spot his influences:

Instrumentation

Latin pop music includes classic Latin percussion instruments like maracas, congas, and bongos. Other traditional instrumentation, for example, including a Mariachi band or Spanish guitar, helps give Latin pop music a distinct Latino flavor. Gloria Estefan’s “Turn the Beat Around” glorifies percussion, with an incredible mix of syncopated Latin rhythms and percussion solos accompanied by a familiar disco beat.

Language

Even English-version Latin pop songs have a smattering of Spanglish (Spanish + English), Portuguese, or even African dialects. For example, Shakira’s famous song “Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)”, performed at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, can be found in several languages, and was adapted from a traditional military song from Cameroon.

This global approach to music has helped make Latin pop music more than a provincial genre. Many of the most popular songs are sung in Spanish or Portuguese but still maintain international popularity.

Rhythm

Latin pop music often meshes traditional Latin rhythms with American pop and dance music. Gloria Estefan often incorporated a disco beat in her tunes and Colombian singer Shakira, whose father was Lebanese, adds in Arabic music to her hip-shaking Latin music. These rhythms are often syncopated with a steady beat, to keep people dancing.

Listening Practice

In Puerto Rican Elvis Crespo’s “Suavemente” you can hear the many complex rhythms of the percussion following a catchy electronic dance beat in the NYC Remix version. The original “Suavemente” has a Dominican merengue beat.

Compare the traditional version to the NYC Remix version. While you listen, think of the following:

  1. What are the differences in instrumentation?
  2. What are the primary differences between the NYC Remix and the original version?
  3. Why do you think an artist like Elvis Crespo would create an “Americanized” version?
  4. How does the NYC Remix keep true to its Latin roots?

Elvis Crespo Suavemente (Original):

Elvis Crespo Suavemente (NYC Remix):

A Contemporary Celebration of the Past

Latin pop music has grown to become an international phenomenon, blending the rich traditions of Latin music with contemporary pop to create tunes that recall the past while embracing modernity.

Take the time to listen to genre superstars like Shakira, Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez, and Gloria Estefan, seeing if you can hear which Latin music traditions influenced their sound. Invite a friend or two or three over and enjoy shaking to the rhythm of Latin pop!

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Bass: Beginning Improvisation

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Beginning Improvisation: Resource Pack Preview

Improvisation on bass can go far beyond a simple turnaround fill or technique-heavy solo. This month Steve Lawson introduces an easy and practical way to get started, as well as some insightful tips on the mindset you should take to exploring improv on bass.

Including:

* How to approach improvisation

* How to gradually develop your improv skills

* Thinking in terms of a grid of notes, not just a linear sequence

* Two starting exercises and other interesting ways to explore this pattern

* MP3 tracks demonstrating two styles and providing backing tracks for you to experiment with

With these specific exercises (and the large number of interesting musical variations Steve introduces to expand on them), combined with the overall approach he teaches, you will be well equipped to begin creating your own licks and lines and start taking real ownership of what you play on bass.

Interested in getting access to these resources and much more, with an Instrument Pack membership? Just choose that option during checkout when you join Musical U, or upgrade your existing membership to get instant access!

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Bass: Beginning Improvisation

What is Musicality?

New musicality video:

What is Musicality?

Musicality is a very useful catch-all for “being musical”. It encompasses many of the skills we help people to learn at Musical U. Like all catch-all terms though, there is a downside to the convenience. By using this short and simple word we risk overlooking many of the dimensions and subtleties it’s used to represent.

So let’s take this opportunity to explore: what is musicality?

Is it different from musicianship?

Wikipedia has a slightly flimsy page, drawing on the Merriam-Webster definition: “Musicality is “sensitivity to, knowledge of, or talent for music” or “the quality or state of being musical”.”

The Oxford Dictionary gets a bit mystical, saying musicality is “Musical talent or sensitivity” giving examples: “her beautiful, rich tone and innate musicality” and “his compositions reveal an exceptional degree of innate musicality”.

If you’ve been following our blog then you know we at Musical U can’t stand the Talent Myth and think “talent” doesn’t compare to practice for becoming a great musician.

So we’re not keen on definitions of musicality which imply it’s a “gift” or something innate rather than learnable.

However, there is something valuable in those talent-based definitions: they capture the ineffable quality of musicality, the fact that it isn’t a simple yes/no quality, nor something you can fully define in a single sentence.

In fact Dr. Chad West who regularly presents on the subject of modern musicianship defines 5 “Big Skills” which contribute to musicality and go way beyond instrument technique or being born talented.

Here at Musical U we like this short and simple definition: Musicality is a set of “inner skills” which let you freely and confidently express yourself in music.

We’ve unpacked that into a large number of specific skills and explored each of these here on the blog in our “Musicality Means” series and we have a Musicality Status Check for our members to see which areas they want to focus on improving next.

Here (in no particular order) are some of the skills we believe are important parts of musicality:

Playing by ear
Singing in tune
Jamming
Having good rhythm
Writing music
Writing notation
Improvising a solo
Talking music
Understanding Music Theory
Clapping in time
Knowing your instrument inside and out
Tuning your instrument by ear
Reading notation
Sight-reading music
Playing from a lead sheet
Performing live
Playing multiple instruments

Let’s look at each of these in turn and see how they contribute to being musical.

What is Musicality?

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What is Musicality?

Kodály Learning, Pentatonic Practice, Big Picture Creation, and “The Show Must Go On”

What is the rhythm of a musical life?

We desire to create, and so we seek to learn. Once we have gathered our tools, we put them to work. Step by step, we achieve mastery – and our musical work reaches out to others.

This meta-rhythmic 4/4 time of “desire, learn, practice, create” marches on through our musical lives. And perhaps our creations will live on after we’ve gone.

You come with the desire.

Composer Zoltan Kodály devised an approach to learning music that grows the musical ear for young and old alike. Our Musical U Resident Pros introduce the practice of the magical pentatonic scale. Celestial Fire mastermind Dave Bainbridge shares the secrets of applying his musical creation process. And the show must go on when the late Freddie Mercury is covered by The Art of Time Ensemble.

Hands-On Music Learning

One day in the 1920s, Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodály overheard some schoolchildren singing and was so appalled at the sound that he set out to transform the music education system in his country. Eventually, he was given an official position, and together with his teachers and classes evolved what many call the Kodály Method, although it is really more of an approach than a method.

So what does all this mean to you? The Kodály approach is interactive, collaborative, and highly kinesthetic and emphasizes learning by ear, rooted in age-old folk traditions. Many of its techniques are useful to music learners of all ages. What is the Kodály Method? will show you more.

The Kodály approach to musical instruction was unlike anything that the world had seen before. Together with Orff, Suzuki, and Jaques-Dalcroze, music education was changed forever.

Piano Dao details this fascinating shift in the way we learn music.

While the history of the Kodály approach is very well documented, there are still many preconceived notions about it that must be corrected. This blogpost from Musika sets the record straight on what Kodály is – and what it is not.

Contemporary with Kodály, a similar, though more improvisational approach was developing in Germany. Music Council of Australia has more about the Orff approach.

Kodály also has a unique approach to teaching rhythm, which uses a variety of different syllables to sing the beat. The rhythm has it’s own vocabulary, which makes it much easier to learn and teach to others. Learn more about developing a rhythmic vocabulary Colourful Keys.

Pentatonic Practice

Musical U members have been thoroughly enjoying their interaction with our Resident Pros in piano, bass, guitar, and singing. This month, the Pros unveiled new resource packs for the amazing intuitive Major Pentatonic Scale.

Guitar Pro Dylan Welsh teaches guitarists to break out of the box to unleash their pentatonic creativity, Bass Pro Steve Lawson shows where you’ve already heard the pentatonic scale, and how to link it in to what you’re playing now. Piano Pro Sara Campbell does the pentatonic boogie, and Singing Pro Clare Wheeler takes these five pentatonic scale steps to new musical freedom.

Want to know what the Major Pentatonic Scale can do for you? Enjoy videos from our Pros with The Major Pentatonic: Resource Pack Preview.

How to Create from the Big Picture

Last time we spoke with Dave Bainbridge (well known for his ambient Celtic progrock epics with Iona and now Celestial Fire) Dave Bainbridge revealed his years as a blues sideman – another of his many facets.

While many of us work hard to squeeze out a three minute song, Dave writes entire albums (lots of them) by starting with the concept. He generously shares his music creation process with us, and you too can learn how to start from The Big Picture.

Dave talked about how technology has influenced the process of music composition since he started back in the 1970s. To get started in creating music on your own device, Music House introduces a couple of the more popular music composition programs.

While technology has certainly made recording and producing high-quality music easier, has that made music better? Dave observed that with almost unlimited tracks it is easy to put off making musical decisions, and tempting to over-produce your next masterpiece. Pasha Music talks about the pros and cons of music technology.

When Dave writes music, he talks about starting from the “big picture” perspective, treating each piece of music as a journey from point A to B. While each songwriter has their own method, this lends itself to a greater degree of storytelling. How can you incorporate more storytelling into your music and what impact can this have on your writing? Andrew Huang has some great inspiration:

Technology hasn’t only changed the way we make music. The internet has revolutionized the way that artists are able to directly reach their audience. It is a very exciting time to be in the business as there are so many more opportunities for musicians to sell their music without the prerequisite music labels that dominated the industry for years.

With so many options available, where is one to begin? Check out this guide to selling your music online, from Bandzoogle.

“The Show Must Go On”

As we reach the point of musical mastery, will our creations endure beyond the measure of our musical lifetime?

Freddie Mercury and Queen wrote the song “The Show Must Go On” as flamboyant singer neared the end of his life. Originally a defiant anthem in the face of death, Sarah Slean and The Art of Time Ensemble transform “The Show” into a passionate expression of grief. In comparing the cover to the original, we get a fascinating lesson in musical time in Before and After: Covering Queen.

The original version of “The Show Must Go On” was recorded in common time (4/4) with the strong beats on 2 and 4. The entire character of the song was transformed through a simple change to 12/8, which is a compound time signature.

What is compound time? Watch eNovative Piano break it down into this easy-to-digest lesson:

Once you see how much more variety a compound time signature can bring to a piece of music, a whole new world of musical possibilities are open to you! But, what if we get even more creative, and create complex, compound time signatures? What would that look like? PianoTV.net explores unusual time signatures.

When remaking this legendary song, composer Robert Carli had a number of instruments to play with, which allowed to incorporate more non-chord tones than the original version had. Non-chord tones can add a great deal of color and interest to a song or melody. And, you have heard them in many popular songs! 12majortones analysizes how neighboring tones were used in Adele’s “Hello”.

I’m sure that this article has left many inspired to do their own remakes of classic songs such as this. But, what do you do after creating your masterpiece? RouteNote has this helpful resource to get you started in licensing your cover song before uploading it to iTunes or other digital marketplaces.

As musicians, we are in love with rhythm, and with the rhythm of our own creation. We are so much more successful with that creation when we embrace the process of desire, learning, practice, and applying what we’ve learned to create a finished work – without getting stuck in any part of the cycle. Where are you in the rhythm of your musical life? Wherever that is, embrace it and be open to what comes next.

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The Major Pentatonic: Resource Pack Preview

The major pentatonic scale is one of the most useful and universal, and has the advantage of being easier to learn and use than the full major scale most musicians start with. When it comes to playing by ear and improvising, the major pentatonic is a perfect place to start.

In this month’s Instrument Packs at Musical U our four Resident Pros taught easy, practical ways to put the major pentatonic to use on guitar, bass, piano and when singing. Building on our training modules which teach members to recognise the major pentatonic scale and each of its notes by ear, as well as last month’s Resource Packs on Beginning Improvisation, these new tutorials help make the connection to instrument skills and practical use of the pentatonic when playing and creating music.

Guitar

Pentatonic scales are popular among guitarists due to their versatility for improvising solos over a wide range of chord progressions. The trouble is that most guitarists end up feeling stuck and limited, playing solos which sound and feel robotic, time after time. Dylan Welsh reveals a fresh approach that can help you break free of those constraints and get to know the pentatonic scale in a deep and meaningful way on guitar:

 

Including:

  • What is the Major Pentatonic? What makes it different from the regular Major scale?
  • Three ways to practice the scale to really internalise it all across the fretboard.
  • How the major and minor pentatonic scales are related.
  • Why and how to sing along as you practice the scale.
  • Practice MP3s for the scales in two keys, plus some call-and-response exercises to practice playing pentatonic riffs by ear.

Getting “fretboard freedom” is a goal for many guitarists and in this tutorial Dylan teaches a versatile and effective approach which not only teaches you where to find the notes across the whole neck but also forges a strong connection between your fingers and your ears, allowing you to find the notes you imagine in your mind or hear in the music you that want to play by ear. Although the focus is the major pentatonic (and that’s a great starting point), in fact, Dylan’s method can be extended across any type of scale.

Bass

The major pentatonic pops up in basslines across a variety of genres and that makes it a powerful tool for the bassist who wants to improvise, write their own lines, or play basslines by ear. Steve Lawson dives deep into the several different ways you’ll encounter this scale being used – and shows you how to get familiar with them all – through fun and creative playing exercises.

 

Including:

  • Where you’ve heard the major pentatonic before on bass.
  • The useful connection between the pentatonic and the chords of a key.
  • Different ways to play through the notes of the scale to internalise its potential uses.
  • Finding the root note in different positions of the scale.
  • Using certain notes as “pivot” notes in your riffs and lines.
  • MP3 practice tracks to experiment with the major and minor pentatonic in different keys and styles.

As always Steve brings an extensive knowledge of bass history and a creative mindset to learning the practical skills, making this a far more interesting and valuable tutorial on the major pentatonic than the traditional purely-theory-based way of teaching it. Get your Motown groove on!

Piano

Building on the easy and accessible approach to piano improvisation taught in last month’s Resource Pack Sara Campbell shows how the major pentatonic can be a great way to explore easy piano improv. Through a mix of clear finger-pattern exercises and great-sounding improvisation exercises, Sara shows how you can quickly and easily master this valuable tool.

 

Including:

  • Major Pentatonic Scale basics: how to figure it out in any key.
  • Two Pentatonic Scale warmup exercises to help you get familiar with all 12 pentatonic scales.
  • A fun boogie-bass improvisation exercise.
  • Various patterns you can use to explore the sound of the pentatonic.
  • A handy tip for knowing when to use the pentatonic to improvise.
  • MP3 practice tracks for the warmups and improvisation exercises.
  • Quick reference sheets for the two warmup exercises showing the scales in all 12 keys.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed when considering improvisation on piano or how to master scales across all 12 major and minor keys. Fortunately, Sara knows exactly how to crush that barrier and make learning pentatonic improv fun, easy and effective from the very beginning.

Singing

With our singing Resource Packs we’re always keen to help our singers develop their vocal creativity and feel more free and confident in what they sing. This month Clare Wheeler introduced the major pentatonic in a way that makes it feel immediately familiar and manageable, leading smoothly and easily into some great ad-libbing improv exercises, building on last month’s creative warmups.

 

Including:

  • How to work out the major pentatonic scale from any starting note.
  • Three examples of songs with pentatonic melodies.
  • How to start by singing pentatonic melodies by ear and using that as the basis for improvising.
  • Why learning the major pentatonic gives you the minor pentatonic too.
  • MP3 practice tracks for the major and minor pentatonic and two backing tracks to practice singing melodies and improvising over.

It’s easy for singers to make the mistake of thinking scales are just an exercise to be used when warming up before singing real music. Clare shows why scales can actually be the key to freedom and confidence in creative singing and how to use the major pentatonic as a great way to get started with them.

Coming up next month…

Next month our Resident Pros will be tackling the powerful (but oft-neglected) skill of audiation: how to imagine notes before you sing or play them, to better bring your own musical ideas out into the real world – as well as sneaking in some bonus practice time even when you can’t play your instrument!

If you’re inspired to dive into the major pentatonic then remember you can get this month’s Resource Packs, access to all past and future packs and the chance to ask our Pros any questions you have – as well as 40+ core training modules when you become a member of Musical U. We’d love to see you inside!

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