A Musical Analysis of the Cuban Rumba

Abstract

The diversity of African traditions transplanted to Cuba during its colonial period effected a complex process of cultural synthesis. The rumba is one dynamic cultural activity that unfolded within this process. The rumba phenomenon exhibits both continuity with older traditions and development of new ones. The rumba itself is a combination of music, dance, and poetry. Improvisation techniques, within set structures, are highly developed in each of these domains and are natural extensions of the rumba's informal, spontaneous setting. In this article I focus on musical aspects of the rumba to show its salient organizational principles and to exemplify how the relationship between structure and freedom integrates the music into the total cultural ambience of the rumba context.

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