Puerto Rican Music : Seis
The seis originated in the latter half of the 17th century in the southern part of Spain. The word means six, which may have come from the custom of having six couples perform the dance, though many more couples eventually became quite common. Men and women form separate lines down the hall or in an open place of beaten earth, one group facing the other. The lines would approach and cross each other and at prescribed intervals the dancers would tap out the rhythm with their feet.
The melodies and harmonies are simple, usually performed on the cuatro, guitar, and güiro, although other indigenous instruments are used depending on the available musicians. The 2/4 rhythm is maintained by the güiro and guitar.
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Puerto Rican Music : Aguinaldo
The Aguinaldo is similar to Christmas carols, except that they are usually sung in a parranda, which is rather like a lively parade that moves from house to house in the neighborhood, looking for holiday food and drink. The melodies were subsequently used for the improvisational décima and seis. There are aguinaldos that are ususally song in churches or religious services, while there are aguinaldos that are more popular and are song in the parrandas.
Puerto Rican Music : Son and mambo
Son (music) and mambo are types of Cuban music that became very popular in Puerto Rico in the 1930s. Puerto Rican and Cuban immigrants soon brought the music to New York City, where it evolved into salsa music in the early 1950s.
Puerto Rican Music : Improvisation and Controversia
The heart of much Puerto Rican music is the idea of improvisation in both the music and the lyrics. A performance takes on an added dimension when the audience can anticipate the response of one performer to a difficult passage of music or clever lyrics created by another. This technique in Puerto Rico is called a controversia. A similar dialog creates a heightened appreciation in the classical music of India, or in a lively jam session in jazz.
Puerto Rican Music : Nueva canción, hip hop and merengue
Chilean nueva canción was popularized in the end of the decade, producing stars like El Jibaro and Antonio "El Topo" Caban Vale, both of whom were connected to the Puerto Rican independence movement. Hip hop stars like Vico C made Puerto Rico a center of Latin rap in the 80s, and saw Dominican merengue spread across the island. Many of the biggest stars of the genre in the 90s were Puerto Rican, including Elvis Crespo, Grupo Manía and Olga Tañon. Bomba influences among Puerto Rican merengue stars led to the invention
Puerto Rican Music : Décima
The décima has its roots in 16th century Spain and represents the earliest examples of the combination of native rhythms and the lyrics and melodies from the mother country. Décima is derived from Andalusian ballads that came to Puerto Rico in the late 17th century. Décima (meaning tenth) usually consists of ten improvised couplets of eight syllables each; the form quickly became popular among jibaros, or peasants. Note that a décima is also the name of a very specific type of verses in Spanish poetry.
The rules for the lyrics are complex and particularly difficult to execute
