Beguine2 - Latin med. ev.16ths [BEGUINE2.STY]

A Beguine is a ballroom dance similar to the Rumba. It's based on a dance originating in the island of Martinique. It was made famous by Cole Porter in the 1930s in the tune "Begin the Beguine". The basic Beguine rhythm is played by the bass. The rhythm is: Dotted quarter, 8th, and two quarters. At 'a': electric piano (sustained comping and some syncopation). Nylon guitar (off-beat comps), acoustic bass (rhythm as described above), percussion and low string pad.

Bolero2 - Latin Bolero [BOLERO2.STY]

A Bolero is essentially a slower version of the Rumba. The 2-bar rhythm can be found in the bass part: Bar 1 - dotted quarter, 8th, dotted quarter, 8th. Bar 2 - dotted quarter, 8th, two quarter notes. The modern Bolero, developed in Cuba, is now played in 4/4 duple time (it was originally in triplet time). It combines Rumba patterns and is one of the slowest rhythms of the Latin ballroom dances. The basic dance step is Slow-Quick-Quick. Incidentally, the Latin dance tempo range from slow to fast is; Bolero, Rumba, Cha Cha and Mambo.

Bossa33 - Latin Brazilian Bossa [BOSSA33.STY]

In this simple Bossa style, the Guitar plays off-beat 8ths throughout, the drums feature shaker in various rhythms, as well as closed hi-hat even 8th rhythmic variations and light snare fills. The bass plays the typical Bossa bass rhythm (dotted quarter and 8th). T=140

Cumbia2 - Latin Colombian Cumbia [CUMBIA2.STY]

The Cumbia is a Colombian folk dance. The instrumentation typically includes guitars, accordions, brass, and deep-toned drums and other percussion. The dance is characterized by short sliding steps. The Bass plays quarter notes throughout. The piano plays the syncopated Salsa-like repeated rhythmic phrase. The guitar plays 8th-note bass notes with strumming. At 'b' the guitar switches to clean elecrtic for a mor strident approach. The brass fills are sparse but punchy.

Cumbia EZ - Latin Easy Cumbia fe [CUMBIAEZ.STY]

In this Cumbia (Colombian folk dance style) the bass plays repeated arpeggios (1, 3, 5) and rhythm (quarter, eighth, eighth). The piano plays broken rhythms. The guitar plays 16th note strumming with pushes. The Tango accordion provides a more folksy accordion sound. This style uses instrumental variations in the 'b' section. At 'a': acoustic p, acoustic bass, drums, percussion, tango accordion, nylon guitar.

DomRep1 - Latin Merengue [DOMREP1.STY]

In this Merengue style (a lively and joyful music and dance style from the Dominican Republic), the bass plays (essentially) quarter notes. Most of the rhythmic action comes from the percussion, piano and guitar with the trumpets providing exciting fills.

Jazz Salsa - Latin ev.16 Salsa [JAZSALSA.STY]

This style features the percussion against which the bass is playing lots of syncopation and pushes. The piano plays in Salsa piano style and the brass fills provide some punch at the end of phrases. The word 'Salsa' means 'sauce'. Salsa music incorporates many different Caribbean styles and variations.

L_Bolero - Latin Bolero [L_BOLERO.STY]

The Bolero as played today, is a slow 4/4, duple time dance style that combines different variations of the Rumba. The 2-bar rhythm can be found in the bass part: Bar 1 - dotted quarter, 8th, dotted quarter, 8th. Bar 2 - dotted quarter, 8th, two quarter notes. The Bolero, although similar to the Rumba, is usually played at a slower tempo than the Rumba.

Latin Cubano - Latin Cuban Salsa [L_CUBANO.STY]

In this style, the bass plays quarter notes, piano plays syncopated 16ths and Salsa style, percussion plays a Mambo type rhythm and the brass section plays horn fills. One of the features of this style is that every 8th bar, there are 2 quarter note shots followed by 2 beats of silence (except percussion).

Lambada2 - Latin Brazilian Lamba [LAMBADA2.STY]

The Lambada dance became internationally popular in the 1980s. Lambada, which means 'wavelike motion of a whip' in Portuguese, originated in Brazil and Bolivia. The basic rhythm of this style can be heard in the bass rhythmic figure: Quarter-note followed by two 8th notes. This style uses instrument variations at the 'b' section. At 'a': acoustic piano, acoustic bass, accordion, drums-perc, acoustic guitar.

Mambo Salsa - Latin Cuban Mambo [MAMBOSAL.STY]

The Mambo is an extremely popular Cuban musical form and dance style. The basic beat is dotted quarter, dotted quarter, quarter. In this version, the Bass plays frequent quarter-note pushes. The Piano plays sustained chords at 'a'. Salsa style piano at 'b'.

Modern Cumbia - Columbian Latin [MODCMBIA.STY]

This features a syncopated 16th rhythm in the bass and drums. This rhythm is : 8th note, 8th note, 16th rest, 16th note, 16th rest, 16th note, 16th rest, 16th note, 16th rest, 16th note, 8th note, 8th note. The piano plays a mixture of Salsa style, fills and comping.

New Salsa - Latin Caribbean Sals [NEWSALSA.STY]

Salsa, which means 'sauce', incorporates many different Caribbean styles and variations. This version is a slower and quieter Salsa with soft salsa style piano. At 'b' the intensity is bumped up with lots of timbale fills. This style has instrumental variations at 'b'. At 'a': acoustic p (salsa), drums & percussion, acoustic bass, low strings, nylon guitar.

Ranchera - Mexican ev.8 Latin [RANCHERA.STY]

This Tex-Mex style features 2 acoustic guitars strumming with 8th note syncoppation. The brass play frequent but quiet background fills. Ranchera is a very popular, happy and passionate Mexican music style.

Salsa For Two - Salsa ballad [SALSA42.STY]

This quiet Rumba-like style features quiet percussion with brushes and spacey acoustic bass. At 'b', the guitar and poly synth are replaced by atmosphere and slow strings. At 'a': acoustic piano, drums (brushes), acoustic bass, nylon guitar and poly synth. At 'b', acoustic piano, drums (brushes), acoustic bass, atmosphere.

SalsaRos - Latin Cuban Salsa [SALSAROS.STY]

In this Salsa style, the bass plays quarter notes, the piano plays salsa Latin style with lots of 16th note syncopation and fills. As in all Latin music, the busy rhythm of the drums and percussion is all pervasive. At 'a': acoustic piano, fretless bass, drums & percussion, acoustic guitar. At 'b': bright, acoustic piano, picked electric bass, muted guitar.

SalsaSlo - Latin Slow Salsa [SALSASLO.STY]

In this style, the Guiro grabs the attention with its constant quarter, and two 8ths rhythm. The drums and percussion feature a solid backbeat throughout. The bass plays a more free Latin rhythm with many pushes although each 2-bar phrase begins with short quarter and push into 3.

SalTito - Latin cut-time Salsa [SALTITO.STY]

Although this style has a fast tempo, because it has a cut-time feel, it feels half as fast. The piano plays a sparse rhythmic repeated phrase. The bass rhythm is quarter and two 8th notes. It has a light feel. At 'b' the sound is brightened up a bit with a subtle change of instruments.

TangoShak -Trad & Pop Tango mix [TNGOSHAK.STY]

In this style there are two different Tango styles: The 'a' section is a traditional even 8 Tango style. The 'b' section is a contemporary fast even 8 Pop-Tango. Note the 'b' section style is meant to be played at a tempo of around 170. Therefore, in our demo, at bar 7, we inserted a tempo change and a melody patch change(right-click -- bar settings).

Zouk Slow - Slow ev.16 Latin Zou [ZOUKSLOW.STY]

Zouk is a popular dance music of the French West Indies - combining the popular music of Africa, America and the Caribbean. At 'a': acoustic piano, nylon guitar, fretless bass, percussion, atmosphere. At 'b': bright acoustic piano, electric guitar 28/1, syn bass 2, percussion, slow strings. T=90