Skip to content

Concepts

of Musicality

Counting

Counting helps you know where you are in the music, recognize the accents and predict the transitions.

Find the 1
Recognize the switch and change from 5 back to 1
Count from 1 to 8
Full count including syncopations
Say it!
Play it!
Dance It!

Tiempo & Contratiempo

Tiempo is a way of dancing that emphasises the odd beats — 1, 3, 5 and 7 — giving the dance a steady, grounded feeling.

Contratiempo is a way of dancing that emphasises the even beats — 2, 4, 6 and 8 — and is typical of Son.

Core beats vs. Secondary beats
On 1 vs. On 2 (Son)
On 1 vs. On 2 (Mambo)
Mambo vs. Son

Instruments

Instruments are the building blocks of salsa music. By learning to recognize the instruments you can hear the rhythm more clearly, feel the accents and dance with more musicality.

Conga
Cowbell
Guiro
Maracas
Clave
Cascara
Bass

Patterns & Structure

Patterns are the repeated musical shapes that give salsa its flow.

Recognising them helps you anticipate accents, breaks and transitions, energy levels, and dance with more confidence. 

Structure is the way a salsa song is built. Recognising the accents, energy levels and the elements intro, verses, bridge, montuno, call and answer, mambo and solos helps you feel the energy changes and predict the transitions.