Yenyere Guma

Description

Soprano 1, Soprano 2, Alto, Claves, Congas, Shekere, Cowbell — Latin music is a vast and rich genre of music consisting of many sub genres and Afro-Cuban music may be the richest of those, itself with many sub-genres and divergences of its own. Afro-Cuban rhythms can be complex, and it is my hope that this serves as an introduction to the genre and its rhythms for your students as well as providing an element to enhance your performance of this piece.The star of these parts is the clave rhythm. Clave rhythms are central to Afro-Cuban music and the most important are the son clave and the rumba clave, which we are using here. Both variations of clave are played in a “2-3” or “3-2” pattern which is determined by whether you play the “3” grouping or the “2” grouping first. Meaning: our variation here is “3-2” because our first measure of the clave rhythm uses three notes followed by a measure with two notes. If we had the opposite happening, this would be a “2-3” clave pattern.All of these parts are flexible and alterable. The only notes to make are that the mambo bell part should have the accents played on the edge of the bell opening, the shekere can be replaced with a cabasa or a shaker or other kinds of beaded percussion instruments, and if there is not anyone available that knows how to play the conga tumbao as written, the alternate conga part is a great option that captures the gist of the rhythm.Don't let the language stump you, please go to www.brileemusic.com/BL1318 for a live pronunciation recording. This fabulous arrangement of a popular Afro-Cuban folk song is loads of fun to sing and very accessible. With authentic percussion parts and a pronunciation recording, your treble singers are sure to "steal the show" with their performance of this work.

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