Music of Cuba and Puerto Rico: A Comparison and Contrast Essay

euphony is an important aspect of some(prenominal) the Cuban and Puerto Rican refinings because medicinal drug frame of references part of everyday life. To the people in these countries, medicament is a modal value of expressing unity and belongingness. The European explorers, particularly the Spanish, who came to Cuba and Puerto anti-racketeering law (Thompson, 1991) enriched euphony in both countries. The medical specialty in these countries also became rich because of the process of African slaves in the plantations (Sublette, 2004) who eventually become part of the community after slavery ended. The uniting of these influences made community life and music more(prenominal) interesting.Type of medicinal drug The emblem of music in both Cuba and Puerto anti-racketeering law evolved from the Spanish and African influences tho the extent of influence differed. African percussion trip the light fantastic music has a stronger influence on Cuban music while Spanish cla ssical and folk trip the light fantastic music had a stronger influence on Puerto Rican music. In addition, Puerto Rican music also borrowed much from Cuban music and music of the native Indians (Manuel, Bilb & Largey, 2006). The single strong influence on Cuban Music and the more diverse influence on Puerto Rican music explained the similarities and differences in the type of music.The similar types of bounce music in Cuba and Puerto anti-racketeering law ar son, salsa, mambo, and danzones (Manuel, Bilb & Largey, 2006). The differences in the type of music include the livelier Spanish stir bolero and zapateo in Cuba and the more laid back Spanish emboldend narrative plena and folk dance music decima and seis in Puerto Rico. Another difference is the African inspired dance music rumba of Cuba utilizing solitary(prenominal) narration and percussion and the African inspired dance music bomba of Puerto Rico that utilized narration, percussion and other instruments much(prenomina l) as the maracas.Sound The result of the combination of African, Spanish and indigenous culture guide to diverse and enduring rich music. However, Cuban music has bear its original strong African percussion influence by findings its feature path after the Spanish colonization ended while Puerto Rican music diversified further with the American influence. Cuba retained the traditional rhythms changing only with the use of modern instruments while Puerto Rican music further evolved into jazz, rock, rap and reggae (Manuel, Bilb & Largey, 2006) apply modern beats and instruments.Separation of historical growth and modernization led to the divergence of music in these countries. Lyrics The lyrics of music in Cuba and Puerto Rico usually foc utilise on love and passion, courage and nationalism, and family and parental devotion (Manuel, Bilb & Largey, 2006). Cuba and Puerto Rico experienced African and Spanish influences on music lyrics. The African influence is more on hollo-respo nse lyrics with a leader singing a call and the listeners responding to the call. The Spanish influence refers to the arrangement of words and phrases in artistic form such as in love songs and the national anthems of both countries.However, revolutionary lyrics are more pervasive in Cuba since its national anthem is a call to battle while the national anthem in Puerto Rico is a celebration of emancipation. Musical Instruments There are three raw material musical instruments common in Cuba and Puerto Rico, which are different types of percussion or drums, guitar or lute, and sticks tapped together (Thompson, 1991 Sublette, 2004). The difference is the widespread use of bass instruments and huntsmans horns in Cuba that accompanied marches and dances and the more common use of flute and other indigenous musical instruments in Puerto Rico.Religious Influences Religion is a strong influence in the development of music of both Cuba and Puerto Rico but the influences differed. African god reverence using percussion music strongly influenced Cuban music while Spanish catholic collection chants strongly influence Puerto Rican music. In Cuba, Santeria emerged as a religion combining the indigenous god worship and Nigerian god worship (Manuel, Bilb & Largey, 2006). With the Catholic influence, the saints had counterparts with the gods based on similar characteristics and worshipped similar to African gods.In Puerto Rico, the slaves in the plantations adopted the chants taken from the Spanish Catholic mass (Manuel, Bilb & Largey, 2006) and used the lyrics or patterns for the call-response chanting in music. Furthermore, the fusion of the Spanish and African spiritual music led to religious music that is less solemn that in Catholic worship and less loud than in African worship of gods in Cuba. Political Influences Ideological or political engagement are common themes in Cuban and Puerto Rican music. However, the divergence in the political development of these c ountries created differences.The revolutionary movement in Cuba created music describing social issues and armed struggle while at the same time discouraging superstitious beliefs, but with little mastery in discouraging folklore in music (Manuel, Bilb & Largey, 2006). The independence movement in Puerto Rico also used music to inspire action but the American influence comprised a differentiating factor. After the success of these movements, music became a source of identity and national pride. In Cuba, music also became a weapon of influence amidst the embargo by the get together States and its allies. ConclusionMusic is a cultural artifact and cultural index for both Cuba and Puerto Rico. Music was a core part of the history of these countries. This ordain also accompany future direction. References Manuel, P. , Bilb, K. , & Largey, M. (2006). Caribbean currents Caribbean music from rhumba to reggae. Philadelphia, PA temple University Press. Sublette, N. (2004). Cuba and its music From the first drums to the mambo. Chicago, IL Chicago Review Press. Thompson, A. F. (1991). Music and dance in Puerto Rico from the age of Columbus to modern times. Lanham, MD The straw man Press, Inc.