Timing ear is great EXCEPT for that one song...

Brownskin818

Brownskin818

Changui
Everyone's ear is different. I'm looking to get a sample of trick songs that have confused otherwise good ears into missing the beat. A friend of mine was that way with Africando's Yay Boy. Never had a problem finding the 1 in any other salsa, but that one track had her feeling deaf. I used to have the same problem with Elio Reve Jr's 1999. I'm wondering if anyone else clearly remembers the songs that used to (or maybe still do) trip them up. Hopefully we can share without any ear judgments. :) TIA.
 
Brownskin818 said:
Everyone's ear is different. I'm looking to get a sample of trick songs that have confused otherwise good ears into missing the beat. A friend of mine was that way with Africando's Yay Boy. Never had a problem finding the 1 in any other salsa, but that one track had her feeling deaf. I used to have the same problem with Elio Reve Jr's 1999. I'm wondering if anyone else clearly remembers the songs that used to (or maybe still do) trip them up. Hopefully we can share without any ear judgments. :) TIA.
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Salsa? Or other styles too?
 
I know some quite musical dancers that have a problem finding the beat in the following timba song - "jaque mate" by Manolin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjQmLsnairM
 
I have trouble with this song : Toby Love - Casi Casi. No it's not a salsa, it's a bachata. For some reason I can't dance to this song, it messes with my brain and confuses the hell out of me.
There also was a song I couldn't dance to on1, but no problem on2, the conga was clear but not the 1. Don't know the title, it was a while ago.

I personally have no problem with these songs, but it seems that lots of people have a problem with them:
- Valio la pena (it's a fast song, they don't seem to hear the beat??)
- Yo no se manana (lyrics on 5, most people don't stay with the base melody and shift)
- Chamaco Ramirez - Asi son Bongo. Sure the song has a lot of breaks but it seems pretty straight forward to me... Maybe I've just never been lucky, it's not very often played. It's one of my all time favourites...
- People not used to timba seem to struggle with Calle Real - Somos Calle Real. I've seen it several times in Sydney and have been very surprised. Never had the problem in Paris...
 
A forum member posted me "Composidor Confundido" which has both types of clave switch and switches a LOT.

Yaye boy still gets me every time. I've even worked out the science of it, but can't actually get my brain the right way around until the congas kick in.
 
f
matty said:
"los van van - me mantengo" has a few tricky bits for me
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Yeah! the Son push (everything oriented around the 4) is very strong plus the piano is emphasizing all the 'ands' not the beats.

Which reminds me of the Pedrito Martinez group video I posted. That beast of a pianist pretty much obliterates the 1 at 3:43 youtube.com/watch?v=qEWLdim-Xv8#t=3m45s and for the rest of the song there are lots of challenges to keeping time.
 
Brownskin, I'm glad you opened this thread. It'll be a very informative thread.

Sometimes this happenes to me. I insist 1 is 1 but my partner thinks it's 5. I never go and ask the name of the tune though.

But in order to contribute, I'll check my ipod tonight and hope to find some tricky songs.
 
AWESOME. Keep em coming guys. Can't wait to download some of these, especially this one...
sweavo said:
A forum member posted me "Composidor Confundido" which has both types of clave switch and switches a LOT.
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UnlikelySalsero said:
Salsa? Or other styles too?
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Prefer salsa for the angle I intend to work, but I may find other styles enlightening too.

olamalam said:
Sometimes this happenes to me. I insist 1 is 1 but my partner thinks it's 5. I never go and ask the name of the tune though.
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OMG I remember I was dancing with one of my favorites who has a very solid ear. The music changed and he was dancing me on5. I'm usually not too bothered by that but I expected HIM to know better. We literally got in a full out argument on the dance floor over the timing. Not characteristic of either of us. :oops: And of course I didn't think to get the song name. There was a similar time when I was dancing with an LA band leader, and something in the music dropped out. I don't know what, but it drowned me. I looked like a fish out of water on the dance floor, meanwhile nothing changed to my musician partner's ear. If this were to happen today, I'd make a beeline to the DJ booth so fast. Lesson learned... if it happens infrequently enough to startle you, get the song info ASAP!
 
Ray Perez - Moliendo Cafe has a unique syncopated swing to it. IMO it's one of those rare songs where "feeling it" works better then counting it.
 
well, i didnt find those songs that hard..compositor confundido is very normal to my ears...the tricky one is chamaco tresto post but these songs usually do that in the beginning so go for la terrifica songs, they are all like that..people have problems with their songs, I think maybe cause the horns are very "loud", the singer starts 'between the phrases' and they 'cut' the phrases too, so people get confused..

la terrifica - comedia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVq7wTx5IYA
guaguanco n 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHiQk0bHq7c
pura - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urk3HhGZ0Zc
acere trumboro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTX2V4G0wQU

and they do that in the chacha too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeJvOFTO80k so get your better "ear' dancer , ask to dance that song and wait for the angry looks kkk
 
"Yo No Se Manana" makes me feel tone deaf. When the cowbell is playing, I'm good. But that doesn't happen until 2:30 into the song or so, and it gets a decent amount of play here. Sigh. Even with things like the SalsaBeatMachine's timing video of it, I only catch the beat while watching it. Look away from the screen, and I lose it again.
 
Crow said:
"Yo No Se Manana" makes me feel tone deaf. When the cowbell is playing, I'm good. But that doesn't happen until 2:30 into the song or so, and it gets a decent amount of play here. Sigh. Even with things like the SalsaBeatMachine's timing video of it, I only catch the beat while watching it. Look away from the screen, and I lose it again.
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When I dance on1 to that song I feel like I'm slipping into on2. And when I dance on2 to it I feel like I am slipping into on1!

El Manicero gives me problems until the cowbell kicks in. I dance it on3 at the start then on2 when the cowbell starts.
 
Brownskin818 said:
Continued examples appreciated. Please avoid judging or dismissing others' selections though. Everyone's ear is not the same.
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I am not dismissing others selection so avoid thinking the worst of a perspn you clearly dont know, just because i say baking a cake is easy doesnt mean i am calling ' stupid' the people who cant bake one. DIFFERENT things for sure.
 
kbitten said:
well, i didnt find those songs that hard..compositor confundido is very normal to my ears...the tricky one is chamaco tresto post but these songs usually do that in the beginning so go for la terrifica songs, they are all like that..people have problems with their songs, I think maybe cause the horns are very "loud", the singer starts 'between the phrases' and they 'cut' the phrases too, so people get confused..

la terrifica - comedia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVq7wTx5IYA
guaguanco n 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHiQk0bHq7c
pura - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urk3HhGZ0Zc
acere trumboro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTX2V4G0wQU

and they do that in the chacha too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeJvOFTO80k so get your better "ear' dancer , ask to dance that song and wait for the angry looks kkk
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This is a great thread! I've been wanting to find 'difficult' songs like these that I can listen to at home and try to figure out, so I don't get that 'deer in the headlights' feeling on the dancefloor!;)
 
Brownskin818 said:
Continued examples appreciated. Please avoid judging or dismissing others' selections though. Everyone's ear is not the same.
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But do comment if you find the same, or if it's not a problem. I don't have time to listen to many tracks, but if lots of people have trouble with the same track then I will.
 
kbitten said:
I am not dismissing others selection so avoid thinking the worst of a perspn you clearly dont know, just because i say baking a cake is easy doesnt mean i am calling ' stupid' the people who cant bake one. DIFFERENT things for sure.
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Not thinking the worst of you. But a "that's not hard" type response in a share-your-weakness type thread might be off putting to some. Just wanted to make sure any intended contributors still felt welcome to share. Thx for your song links by the way. Still haven't been able to download yet, but I'm aiming to tonight.
 
I have trouble with 'Todo tiene su final': lots of breaks, and the vocals distract me from the rhythm. Also hard to hear tumbao, especially in the beginning (or maybe it's just not there).
 
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