How to listen to salsa music?

[stevensman]

Here is one thing I hear many times - to get better listen to music. And I think this works, at least works for me. It all makes things much easier when you can hear the beats and find what you need faster without counting and whatever.
At the same time my question: do most people mean just listen or try to count or try to follow music in your head or try to find series of 8 beats, or isolate 'one' or hear individual instruments or anything else?

Any advice would be appreciated. No doubt this topic probably was discussed before but my searches bring pretty much everything on this forum - not sure what to search for in this case.

 

[Blueblaze]

I think the idea is simply to listen to salsa music as much as possible in the background. You don't have to be intensely focusing on it, just play it at work, in the car, at home, that's what I do. Listening to it 24/7 and spontaneously busting out a basic here and there is honestly what helps me the most. Although it is very good to intently listen to the rhythm trying to pick it apart, you can't do that very long before you get mentally tired. You can count along, break apart the instrumentation in the rhythm, or dance along to the music, and all those things help at lot, but at it's core, just listen to salsa as much as you can. That's what helps me.

 

[smiling28]

- read 'the unlikely salsero' blog - Search for it online.

Enjoy

 

[salsamarty]

I will listen to music in the car. In the beginning I actively listened to find the one beat and to learn how to count. It worked great for me.

 

[Offbeat]

At the same time my question: do most people mean just listen or try to count or try to follow music in your head or try to find series of 8 beats, or isolate 'one' or hear individual instruments or anything else?

All of the above. Of course not at the same time. E.g. for a couple of weeks you can listen to the music to isolate first beat, i.e. 'one'. Another two weeks you might listen to it for isolating certain instruments. Another time for identifying the direction of clave. Yet other time to just listen passively. And so on.

 

[olamalam]

While walking, I listen to salsa songs and try to step forward with my left on 1s and 5s or on 2s and 6s. When I miss the rhythm because of a car or person, I try to arrange my steps again and probably I look funny at those moments
I'm still sometimes missing the rhythm while dancing but at least I can walk with the beat

 

[sweavo]

Yep, both passive and active listening will help, but using a bit of curiosity and engaging with the music in whatever way will be more productive. It's fun and rewarding to isolate a particular instrument and build up a vocabulary with it. So you start to learn, e.g. a particular piano figure tends to signal that a piano solo is coming, etc.

 

[AndrewS]

I will listen to music in the car. In the beginning I actively listened to find the one beat and to learn how to count. It worked great for me.

In the interests of road safety it's probably better to be concentrating on driving rather than on the music you are playing

 

[kbitten]

While walking, I listen to salsa songs and try to step forward with my left on 1s and 5s or on 2s and 6s.

try that on these songs, especially the beginning parts..then videotape yourself and put the video here

orquesta terrifica - comedia/acere trumboro
roberto roena y su apollo sound - me le fugue a la candela

to the op - ask any dj for songs not "easy" to find beat or who has a lot of changes..when I put my ipod to play songs like that, well, not many dancers like them hehe

 

[Smejmoon]

Passive listening will develop the feel, but it will be more shallow and take more time than active. Also with active listening you can focus on what you want to develop more. Moving and singing with music helps too, but if doing that confuses you, step back to something easier, since confusion can block/discourage you. Listening to what you like will help to form memories and provide extra motivation. Listening to what you don't like can give you unexpected benefits, because you probably have not explored that path.

I second advice to visit http://www.unlikelysalsero.com also there is a lot of information on these forums.

My advice for specifics would be to concentrate on structure of song (intro, verses, coruses, montunos, solos, breaks, outro); listen to core rhythm instruments (congas, bass, piano, bells, timbales); listen to melody/solo instruments (singers; horns; piano, vibrafone); listen for repeating rythmic patterns through the song; listen for repeating melodic patterns; see how that links with core structure. Listen for call-response parts. Observe changes in volume; intensity; density; perceived emotions. Listen how lyrics relate to everything else. Observe which parts of song move your body and which not.

 

[SalsaTALK]

Also, if you begin to memorize the songs because you are listening to them sooo much, you can then match your dance movements to the music better. You will anticipate the breaks the hits from the horns and other exciting elements that with up your "musicality" while dancing

 

[salsamarty]

In the interests of road safety it's probably better to be concentrating on driving rather than on the music you are playing

Actually, I would just prefer that people get off the road on Tuesday and Thursday nights in the San Francisco Bay Area so I can concentrate on my music on my way to the clubs.

 

[EMOYENO]

You HAVE to listen to music to get better. I found that out when an instructor asked me if I could hear the clave. I was a begginner back then, and I couldnt hear the clave. I got a quick salsa musicallity lesson (crash course). Then I started to get into it. Listening to it on the car on my way to work, everyday, anytime. It helped a lot. However it was really my son (back then he was 8) who taught me the clave. He was in the school band and he plays the timbales. That's who really taught me.

I've read similar threads like this one here in SF. So basically the general idea is, that as a dancer you have to be able to listen, enjoy, and appreciate the elements of the music. I believe this works for every other dance (samba, rumba, merengue, bachata, etc). That's how you distinguish the styles from "reahearsed"
(where you can tell if the dancer is counting) from the ones who have that certain "flava' "(where you can tell right off that the dancers "feel" the music)!!!.

 

[Francisco]

Also, if you begin to memorize the songs because you are listening to them sooo much, you can then match your dance movements to the music better. You will anticipate the breaks the hits from the horns and other exciting elements that with up your "musicality" while dancing

that is true... but my opinion is that hitting the breaks because you know the song is les satifying than hitting the breaks on a song you never heard before...

 

[stevensman]

Thank you guys, all great information an http://www.unlikelysalsero.com is awesome.
I initially asked because I only can concentrate on what I'm listening for some time, maybe 30 minutes or so and after some time music just plays on the background - I think this is fine.
I also tried walking with music bits - it is feels strange and looks funny Other thing worked for me - once tried elliptical at the sport club listening to music. Stepping on every bit is kind of tricky especially with faster songs but after some practice could be done. Lot of fun trying to transition from stepping on every other bit to every bit and back without loosing it. It all makes things more interesting, much easier to start with slow songs.

 

[sweavo]

Lot of fun trying to transition from stepping on every other bit to every bit and back without loosing it. It all makes things more interesting, much easier to start with slow songs.

IMO that's a great exercise to do, doubling and halving the rate that you perceive the beat. It wlil hepl you when learning syncopated footwork.

 

[kerry.alder]

While walking, I listen to salsa songs and try to step forward with my left on 1s and 5s or on 2s and 6s. When I miss the rhythm because of a car or person, I try to arrange my steps again and probably I look funny at those moments
I'm still sometimes missing the rhythm while dancing but at least I can walk with the beat

I do something very similar! I have an Apple iPod Nano which is small enough for me to carry around with me when I travel for work. I oftentimes find myself waiting at the airport with nothing to do as airplanes get delayed for any number of reasons. At the airport, I have played songs and tried to count the beat and try to step to the beat, at least until airport security in America once stopped me, questioned me and checked out the music on my iPod Nano. I told them I love dancing, showed them my list of salsa venues on all the locations I travelled to and even asked them to look up my salsa posts on this message board for dancers. They eventually believed that I was just dancing instead of doing something malicious with my iPod and dancing at the airport after I gave them a brief salsa demonstration. So from here on in, I will listen to the music but not move if I am at an airport

 

[sweavo]

... airport security in America once stopped me, questioned me and checked out the music on my iPod Nano. I told them I love dancing, showed them my list of salsa venues on all the locations I travelled to and even asked them to look up my salsa posts on this message board for dancers. They eventually believed that I was just dancing instead of doing something malicious with my iPod and dancing at the airport after I gave them a brief salsa demonstration. So from here on in, I will listen to the music but not move if I am at an airport

Lol. Maybe they thought you were measuring. I can't think of any other reason why pacing about with a look of concentration on your face should be suspicious.

 

[kbitten]

they were just checking your health before boarding especially cause you were alone..

If you saw someone bumping their head against the wall every other second or closing and opening anything repeatedly, you will call security or a doctor right?
its a common thing for people with OCD to count specific things ( in your case footsteps) in regular intervals ( in your case 1, 2, 3 , 5 ,6 7) doing it again and again..


so be glad the security came to check if you were ok hehe

 

[Smejmoon]

its a common thing for people with OCD to count specific things ( in your case footsteps) in regular intervals ( in your case 1, 2, 3 , 5 ,6 7) doing it again and again..

Leaving out "4" seems very suspicious to me.