Guaguancó

Guaguancó (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡwaɣwaŋˈko]) is a subgenre of Cuban rumba, combining percussion, voices, and dance. There are two main styles: Havana and Matanzas.

Rumba clave is the key pattern (guide pattern) used in guaguancó. There is some debate as to how the 4/4 rumba clave should be notated for guaguancó. In actual practice, the third and fourth stroke often fall in rhythmic positions that do not fit neatly into music notation. Triple-pulse strokes can be substituted for duple-pulse strokes. Also, the clave strokes are sometimes displaced in such a way that they don't fall within either a triple-pulse or duple-pulse "grid". Therefore, many variations are possible.

The following nine-measure excerpt is from the guaguancó "La polémica" by Los Muñequitos de Matanzas (1988). This passage moves between the main modes of playing (A, B, C). The A section is the basic lock or ride, as it is known in North America. It spans one clave (measure). An alternate phrase (B) is also one measure in length. Cross-beats, the basis of the third section (C), contradict the meter. By alternating between the lock and the cross, the quinto creates larger rhythmic phrases that expand and contract over several clave cycles. The great Los Muñequintos quintero Jesús Alfonso (1949–2009) described this phenomenon as a man getting "drunk at a party, going outside for a while, and then coming back inside."

The term guaguancó originally referred to a narrative song style (coros de guaguancó) which emerged from the coros de claves of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Rogelio Martínez Furé states: "[The] old folks contend that strictly speaking, the guaguancó is the narrative." The guaguancó song often begins with the soloist singing meaningless syllables, which is called the diana. According to Larry Crook, the diana is important because it "... also contains the first choral refrain. The lead singer provides a phrase or motive for the choral sections, or they may present new, but related material. Parallel harmonies are usually built above or below a melodic line, with thirds, sixths, and octaves most common." Therefore, the singer who is presented with singing the diana initiates the beginning of the guaguancó. He then may proceed to improvise lyrics stating the reason for holding the present rumba ('decimar'; span.: to make ten-line stanzas), During the verses of the song the quinto is capable of sublime creativity, while musically subordinate to the lead vocalist.