When you are just starting out to dance salsa, it can be a bit confusing to figure out where count 1 is in the music. Salsa is polyrhythmic in that there are many instruments playing different rhythms in the song. Also many of the rhythms are syncopated, so you are hearing sounds between the beats, known as the “off-beats’’ or the “ands”. Getting your ear trained to understand the salsa rhythm takes practice. In this blog, we will discuss some of the steps required to help you find the 1 in salsa.
Finding the Beat
The first thing that you will need to determine is the beat of the music, also known as its pulse or tempo. The tempo of a song is constant and its bpm (beats per minute) lets you know how fast you should be stepping on the main counts or beats (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8). In the salsa basic, you step on 1-2-3 and then on 5-6-7. Your body is still moving in the direction that you are stepping on 4 and 8, but you are not moving your feet to step on these counts.
Song Phrasing
The vocals and instruments in a song will have patterns that repeat. The phrase is comprised of the number of beats before the pattern repeats again. As a dancer, we think of songs in counts of 8. Phrases are usually in two counts of 8 (16 beats) or four counts of 8 (32 beats). When the pattern repeats, it would do so on count 1. The next time you are listening to a salsa song, focus on just the notes/rhythm of the vocals or of one instrument to see if you can determine the pattern and the phrasing.
Instruments
There are typical patterns played by certain instruments. Two key instruments we will discuss here are the congas (a set of two tall drums) and the clave (basically two sticks that are struck against each other). The congas are played in a tumbao pattern in salsa which includes a double tap on the rim of one of the drums on count 4 and on count 8. The clave is played in either a 3-2 or 2-3 pattern. These patterns are two types of “son clave”, the backbone of a salsa song. When the son clave pattern is 3-2, you will hear the clave strike on counts “1,2&,4” and then on “6,7”. When the pattern is 2-3, you will hear the clave strike on counts “2,3” and then on “5,6&,8”. The “2&” and “6&” represent the clave being struck on the off-beat after 2 and after 6, respectively.
Just knowing on what count these instruments play will help you to determine where the “1” is. For count 1 in a salsa song with a 3-2 son clave, you know that the clave will hit on count 1 and that there will be a double tap on the conga on count 8, just before count 1. In a salsa song with a 2-3 son clave, you will hear the clave on count 8 and the double tap of the conga on count 8 just before you need to step on count 1.
Tools to Help
Here are some tools that you can use to help train your ear to salsa beats and rhythms:
- https://www.beatsperminuteonline.com – You can use this free website to see if you are properly detecting the beat of a salsa song. While the song is playing, open up the site and start to tap on a key or the touchscreen according to what you hear as the beat. The numbers will fluctuate initially and then stabilize onto one number. Then go and look up the bpm for that song. If the numbers match, then you were able to determine the proper beat or tempo for that song.
- https://salsabeatmachine.org – This free interactive website allows you to change the tempo and key of a generic salsa song plus add and take away instruments and vocals. This is very helpful in giving you a better understanding of the rhythm that each instrument plays and how they relate to count 1. The associated mobile app (Salsa Rhythm) is available for $2.99 CAD on the App Store or Google Play.⠀
- Listen to salsa timing songs – Both Apple Music and Spotify (and probably other streaming music services) have songs with someone saying various salsa counts (only 1, 1 & 5, 1-2-3-5-6-7, or all beats 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8). There are also songs where the focus is on a particular instrument used in salsa music. Search “salsa timing” to find them.
- Listen to different salsa songs – An important part of training your ear is to listen to a variety of salsa songs. Try to pick out the different instruments in a song, especially the percussion instruments (e.g. clave, congas, drums, cowbell), and follow their rhythm throughout the song. Try to figure out the phrasing for the vocals and instruments in the song.
- Dance with an experienced salsa dancer – Practicing dancing to various salsa songs with varying tempos in either a dance class or at a social is a must in order for it to become natural and automatic. In a small dance class, you will be able to dance with the instructor who can help fix any errors that you are making. In a social, there are plenty of experienced dancers who are happy to help the beginner dancer progress in their dance journey. You will learn to both hear and feel the salsa music with practice!
For more information on dance classes in salsa or other dance genres that we offer, click here.
