salsa timing and voiceovers

[rckymar10]

hi,

i have been dancing for about 1 year. i enjoy it very much however, i am embarassed that my timing is still very poor. i still have trouble identifying the 2-claves or the 1-8 beats of a salsa song. i find myself waiting for my partner to make the first step so i can find out which is beat 1! i can identify the 1-8 beats on some of the more obvious songs, however, others might have multiple layers of percussions and its very hard for me to identify the 1-8 beats.

so my question is, can anybody recommend any tips of how to resolve this? i mean it would be nice of anybody had any tracks with voice-overs with the 1-8 beats. any help would be greatly appreciated. more variety of voice overs the better. thanks in advance.

kendall

[peachexploration]

You can check the websites fo Salsarhythms, Edie the Salsa Freak and Eddie Torres. They all have timing cds with the counting voiceover that may be helpful for you. :)

[funseeker321]

I jsut started dancing in Feb and I"m trying to learn on 1 timing...I like "Salsa on the Beat" cd...they explain each instrument and then give you plenty of voice over practice on each instrument and then teh instruments combined and finally the whole band...at the end they have a timing test to see if you're on the beat......they also have a dvd but I wasn't aware of it when I ordered the cd...I am now ordering the dvd....

[MacMoto]

Timing CDs are a useful tool, but I also recommend listening lots of salsa music. Really focus your mind on the music, and tap on the beat. Get songs that has an audible clave, and try tapping along to it (even in the section where you can't hear the clabe). Next, move your focus on to the tumbao of the conga. Focus on how these rhythms interact with each other and also with other instruments (including the singer's voice). Immerse yourself in salsa music. It really helps you get a "feel" for the music, not just the beat.

[looyenyeo]

This is an interesting convention in learning to dance to time, and perhaps later to music.

In my experience of teaching, I've tried two approaches: supplying a count over the music; or pointing out key rhythmic markers and correlating actions to them without using a count.

The first approach is most commonly used - mainly because it's expected. That doesn't mean that it is the best for all sorts, actually I'm going to stick my neck out and say that it's not particularly efficient. The count provides an abstraction layer over the music, initally provided by the teacher, eventually by the student. On top of learning the movements, the student also has to learn how to put this abstraction layer in place. Good pedagogy suggests that challenging tasks be dealt with one at a time. Later, this abstraction layer needs to be removed to allow a direct coupling to the rhythm section.

The second approach is my preferred one, and invariably produces the best results. The disadvantages are that it is support-intensive on the part of the educator, and that it requires very active intellectual participation by both parties. It is not for people who like being spoonfed or equate leisure time with minimal brain activity.

You could check out the free level two salsa timing tutorials on my site which currently addresses the conga pattern only, although I must remind you that pedagogic support via the web in this manner has its limitations.

Loo

[funseeker321]

can u list your website please? thanks

[peachexploration]

can u list your website please? thanks

FS321, just click the www button at the bottom of Loo's post. :)

[funseeker321]

duh! thanks PE!

[Flujo]

Listening to lots of Salsa is the best thing and imho counting is good for deconstructing moves but not necessarily for feeling the music/timing (just from personal experience) but even so, starting with the 1 2 3, 5 6 7 does help initially.

You could try this:
Get yourself a teacup, a spoon, put on your favourite CD, relax in a comfortable chair and use your tools to tap out the clav. When your comfortable with tapping the clav in time to the music try tapping out the clav while doing your basic step. When your comfortable with doing both at the same time then maybe try some variations on the basic step. This will help you dance around the clav and help you become aware of where your feet should be with each clav hit.

Before you know it, timing won't be such a problem anymore :).