Timba

Timba is a genre of music from Cuba. It combines the best of cuban virtuosism with funky, danceable, often cheeky songs with popular themes.

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Typical timba structure

Songs tend to start with a preview of the montuno section Timba is organized in “gears”. Some of them are:

• Presión, or pedal: all instruments drop except the piano, or the piano + voice.
• Marcha arriba, a call and response montuno section between the coro, lead singer. Typically includes cowbell with clave.
• Mambo: percussion stays on marcha, horns (and/or keyboard).
• Mazacote: Improvisational percussion section.
• Bomba: bass+percussion drop, and the bass comes back with those funny slide patterns while tension rises

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