Coro-pregón
Encyclopedia
Coro-pregón in Afro-Cuban
music and Cuban-based latin music (mainly from the USA and Puerto Rico
), most of all salsa
, but also in some non-Cuban genres like merengue
, refers to a call and response
section between the lead singer and the coro (chorus). It is found in most Cuban genres, for example son
and son montuno
, rumba
, cha-cha-chá
, timba
, and many more.
by slaves. It can still be found in its ancient form in Cuban religious music.
Vocal improvisations are also based on market vendors' chants, called pregón.
The main language for guías is Spanish
, but other languages like Bantú
, Dahome, Lukumí and Congolese
are sometimes featured as well, either for complete guías or as single words within a Spanish guía. In timba music, English
and Spanglish
are sometimes used as a special effect.
Many singers have a special word or phrase that they insert into their improvisation as a trademark. The most famous example is Celia Cruz
's "¡Azúcar!" ("Sugar!").
In timba and other more recent styles, the pregón is sometimes replaced by a rap
section.
. Most coros feature two or three parts, rarely more, moving in parallel lines. The parts may or may not be doubled, according to the artist's preference and possibilities. Some genres like rumba prefer a more massive coro sound and double parts whenever possible, while other genres like salsa dura
prefer the clean sound of a small coro.
The lyrics are generally based on the theme of the song (called the son); frequently the coro resolves the tension built up in the theme, or gives a new twist to it. The coro can also be based on the main idea of the theme, or a part of the theme's lyrics.
Singing coro requires great accuracy, both rhythmically and harmonically. The coro singer's function in a band is more like an instrumentalist's than a singer's.
section in most of the genres using it. It alternates with mambo (also known as moña
) sections, instrumental solos, percussion breaks and, depending on genre, other sections. In traditional genres, changing the coro requires changing the mambo, and vv. A coro-pregón section traditionally starts and ends with a coro, although certain situations may require an exception. There are several ways of introducing the first coro-pregón section:
Some songs do not have a (vocal) theme but rather contain only coro-pregón. This form is often found in genres like montuno
and descarga. Similarly, the danzón-chá (derived from danzón
often features an instrumental theme (the danzón), followed by a montuno section (the chá or cha-cha-chá
) with coro-pregón.
Timba
music and other related genres also employ a breakdown of the rhythm section
while the coro-pregón and the piano
continue. This effect is also called timba
, sometimes "presión".
Afro-Cuban
The term Afro-Cuban refers to Cubans of Sub Saharan African ancestry, and to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community...
music and Cuban-based latin music (mainly from the USA and Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
), most of all salsa
Salsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
, but also in some non-Cuban genres like merengue
Merengue music
Merengue is a type of music and dance from the Dominican Republic. It is popular in the Dominican Republic and all over Latin America. Its name is Spanish, taken from the name of the meringue, a dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar...
, refers to a call and response
Call and response (music)
In music, a call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases usually played by different musicians, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or response to the first...
section between the lead singer and the coro (chorus). It is found in most Cuban genres, for example son
Son (music)
The Son cubano is a style of music that originated in Cuba and gained worldwide popularity in the 1930s. Son combines the structure and elements of Spanish canción and the Spanish guitar with African rhythms and percussion instruments of Bantu and Arará origin...
and son montuno
Son montuno
The son montuno is a style of the Cuban son, but exactly what it means is not an easy question to answer. The son itself is the most important genre of Cuban popular music. In addition, it is perhaps the most flexible of all forms of Latin-American music...
, rumba
Cuban Rumba
In Cuban music, Rumba is a generic term covering a variety of musical rhythms and associated dances. The rumba has its influences in the music brought to Cuba by Africans brought to Cuba as slaves as well as Spanish colonizers...
, cha-cha-chá
Cha-cha-cha (music)
The Cha-cha-chá is a style of Cuban music. It is popular dance music which developed from the danzón in the early 1950s.- Origin :As a dance music genre, cha-cha-chá is unusual in that its creation can be attributed to a single composer, Enrique Jorrín, then violinist and songwriter with the...
, timba
Timba
Timba is a Cuban genre of music sometimes referred as salsa cubana . However, the historical development of timba has been quite independent of the development of salsa in the United States and Puerto Rico and the music has its own trademark aspects due to the Cuban embargo and strong Afro-Cuban...
, and many more.
Origins
The practice of call and response singing probably stems from traditional African music and was brought to CubaCuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
by slaves. It can still be found in its ancient form in Cuban religious music.
Vocal improvisations are also based on market vendors' chants, called pregón.
Pregón
The lead singer usually improvises both melody and lyrics (although most singers have some standard lines which they use quite frequently). This is called guía or pregón. The term pregón also refers to a vocal improvisation without coro, and a genre in which such vocal improvisation is very important.The main language for guías is Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, but other languages like Bantú
Bantu
Bantu is used as a general label for 300-600 ethnic groups in Africa of speakers of Bantu languages, distributed from Cameroon east across Central Africa and Eastern Africa to Southern Africa...
, Dahome, Lukumí and Congolese
Kongo people
The Bakongo or the Kongo people , also sometimes referred to as Kongolese or Congolese, is a Bantu ethnic group which lives along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Pointe-Noire to Luanda, Angola...
are sometimes featured as well, either for complete guías or as single words within a Spanish guía. In timba music, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Spanglish
Spanglish
.Spanglish refers to the blend of Spanish and English, in the speech of people who speak parts of two languages, or whose normal language is different from that of the country where they live. The Hispanic population of the United States and the British population in Argentina use varieties of...
are sometimes used as a special effect.
Many singers have a special word or phrase that they insert into their improvisation as a trademark. The most famous example is Celia Cruz
Celia Cruz
Celia Cruz was a Cuban-American salsa singer, and was one of the most successful Salsa performers of the 20th century, having earned twenty-three gold albums...
's "¡Azúcar!" ("Sugar!").
In timba and other more recent styles, the pregón is sometimes replaced by a rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
section.
Coro
The coro has fixed melody and lyrics. These can change during a piece, though, and are often made up on-the-fly, but within one section, they are repeated unchanged. Coros are usually homophonic, but not necessarily in unisonUnison
In music, the word unison can be applied in more than one way. In general terms, it may refer to two notes sounding the same pitch, often but not always at the same time; or to the same musical voice being sounded by several voices or instruments together, either at the same pitch or at a distance...
. Most coros feature two or three parts, rarely more, moving in parallel lines. The parts may or may not be doubled, according to the artist's preference and possibilities. Some genres like rumba prefer a more massive coro sound and double parts whenever possible, while other genres like salsa dura
Salsa dura
Salsa dura, also known as salsa gorda, describes salsa music from the 1970s, which emphasizes strong percussion and horns over vocals. This is in contrast to salsa romantica, from the 1990s to the present.- External links :...
prefer the clean sound of a small coro.
The lyrics are generally based on the theme of the song (called the son); frequently the coro resolves the tension built up in the theme, or gives a new twist to it. The coro can also be based on the main idea of the theme, or a part of the theme's lyrics.
Singing coro requires great accuracy, both rhythmically and harmonically. The coro singer's function in a band is more like an instrumentalist's than a singer's.
Function
Coro-pregón forms the framework of the montunoMontuno
Montuno has several meanings pertaining to Cuban music and its derivatives. Literally, montuno means 'comes from the mountain', and so Son montuno may refer to the older type of son played in the mountainous rural areas of Oriente...
section in most of the genres using it. It alternates with mambo (also known as moña
Mona
Mona may refer to:*Mona in Saxon mythology*Cercopithecus mona, a long tailed African Monkey*Mona at Birmingham Zoo in the United States*Mona , a female given name and surname...
) sections, instrumental solos, percussion breaks and, depending on genre, other sections. In traditional genres, changing the coro requires changing the mambo, and vv. A coro-pregón section traditionally starts and ends with a coro, although certain situations may require an exception. There are several ways of introducing the first coro-pregón section:
- Start directly from the theme. Often, the coro is the last line of the theme, and will introduce itself.
- Instrumental estribillo or breakBreakBreak may refer to:* Break * Recess , a general term for a period of time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties* Break , time off during a shift...
. The theme ends with a short instrumental break or estribillo, which introduces the coro. - Solo-coro. Instead of the lead singer, an instrumentalist (typically a trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
ist) takes a few solos to get the montuno going. After that, the guías are enforced by adding the campana bell.
Some songs do not have a (vocal) theme but rather contain only coro-pregón. This form is often found in genres like montuno
Montuno
Montuno has several meanings pertaining to Cuban music and its derivatives. Literally, montuno means 'comes from the mountain', and so Son montuno may refer to the older type of son played in the mountainous rural areas of Oriente...
and descarga. Similarly, the danzón-chá (derived from danzón
Danzón
Danzón is the official dance of Cuba. It is also an active musical form in Mexico and is still beloved in Puerto Rico where Verdeluz, a modern danzón by Puerto Rican composer Antonio Cabán Vale is considered the unofficial national anthem...
often features an instrumental theme (the danzón), followed by a montuno section (the chá or cha-cha-chá
Cha-cha-cha
Cha cha cha or Cha Cha Cha may refer to:* Cha-cha-chá , a style of Cuban dance music* Cha-cha-cha , a Latin American dance* Cha-cha-chá , a style of Cuban dance...
) with coro-pregón.
Timba
Timba
Timba is a Cuban genre of music sometimes referred as salsa cubana . However, the historical development of timba has been quite independent of the development of salsa in the United States and Puerto Rico and the music has its own trademark aspects due to the Cuban embargo and strong Afro-Cuban...
music and other related genres also employ a breakdown of the rhythm section
Rhythm section
A rhythm section is a collection of musicians who make up a section of instruments which provides the accompaniment section of the music, giving the music its rhythmic texture and pulse, also serving as a rhythmic reference for the rest of the band...
while the coro-pregón and the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
continue. This effect is also called timba
Timba
Timba is a Cuban genre of music sometimes referred as salsa cubana . However, the historical development of timba has been quite independent of the development of salsa in the United States and Puerto Rico and the music has its own trademark aspects due to the Cuban embargo and strong Afro-Cuban...
, sometimes "presión".