Bachata In The Caribbean Music

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A term that is widely used by many people in the world today, but is highly inaccurate, is the phrase “Caribbean/Latin Music”. The Caribbean is a large part of the world with many island nations within it, and within these island nations there are even more music genres. When someone says “Caribbean Music,” it is impossible to tell if they are talking about Merengue from the Dominican Republic, Ska from Jamaica, Salsa from Cuba, Reggaeton from Puerto Rico, or the many other types of music genres originating from the variety of countries that there are in the Caribbean. A specific type of Caribbean music that originates from the Dominican Republic is a genre called Bachata. This is a relatively new genre of music that has gained widespread fame and recognition throughout the world. Although Bachata is currently recognized as a popular genre, it was once rejected as a valid type of …show more content…
Many of the instruments that are used in Bachata are borrowed from the other types of genres as well. The biggest and most noticeable aspect of Bachata, is its use of guitars. Bachata is even sometimes referred to as the “Music of Guitars”. The original setup for a Bachata group was two acoustic guitars, bongos, and maracas. The bongos and maracas play distinct Dominican patterns during the verses and choruses and keep a steady tempo for the group. The segunda guitar accentuates the chord changes while the requinto guitar plays melodies and interlocking triads throughout the song. Around the 80’s and 90’s the maracas were replaced by the güira scraper which is borrowed from Merengue. There were also 3 more additions to the lineup in the 80’s and 90’s. The two acoustic guitars were replaced with two acoustic electric guitars with electric guitar pickups installed into the sound hole, an electric bass was also added to the lineup along with the güira player playing a bass

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