BachataCrazy Blog

The Love of Bachata Music is Spreading

Bachata music is beginning to be recognized worldwide. It has all the rhythm and feel of the rich Latin culture found in the Dominican Republic and if you love the soulfulness of the blues with the beat of the merengue then you will love bachata music.

As the Bachata music genre is gain popularity one of the most notable rising stars is the rock band Aventura. They are the most highly recognized bachata music group in the United States and have fans as far away as Sweden. Aventura is taking the Bachata music to the international community but back in the Dominican there are two artists that are even more popular. They are Antony Santos and Luis Vargas. Others that are now beginning to make a name for themselves on the Bachata music scene include, Xtreme, Joe Veras, Elvis Martinez, and Frank Reyes. Bachata music is an evolving genre of music as many musicians are finding that you can incorporate many different styles of music with it like vallenato and R&B very successfully.
Bachata Music even has its own Dance

Though it is a little difficult to describe the dance it is very easy to learn and execute. It really entails a few easy steps that ends up producing a back and forth motion with a lot of hip action. The dance works beautifully with the rhythm and timing of the music. It is a very sensual dance and tends to become quite risqué with couples that are very comfortable with each other.

Bachata music has spread throughout the Latin world and is now gaining popularity in America. Some give credit to the rising popularity to the Grammy winning release in 1992 by Juan Luis Guerra called Bachata Rosa.

The Evolution of Bachata Music

Bachata music has many different types of rhythms that derive from different types of music such as the blues and meringue. The roots of Bachata music however is they style of music referred to as bolero. This is a very traditional type of music in the Latin culture and is romantic in nature. The inspiration for the music are generally topics that have to do with the emotions of love ranging from lost love and being deceived by love. It correlates very well to the blues as most of the songs deal with heavy emotions.

There is a long evolution period for Bachata music. It first began to take root in Santo Domingo and was performed in bars and areas not know for the moral high ground. Music in the Dominican Republic was repressed and controlled by the ruling dictator Rafael Trujillo and his family. With his death in 1961 many of the musicians that were not allowed to express themselves before headed for the capital to record their music.

At this point and time bachata music was called “bolero campesino”. Bachata is actually a word that refers to an impromptu party where music, most notably guitar music, is played. It took many years for the word to actually mean a specific genre of music. The musician who first took advantage of the musical freedom created by the death of the dictator was José Manuel Calderón. His claim to fame is that he recorded the first Bachata music single. The songs on the record were “Borracho de amor” and “Que Será de mi (Condena).”

When Calderón recorded his first record the Bachata style was still evolving. It was still sounding like bolero and had very few distinctions between the music found in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Ecuador. Through the advancement of technology Bachata music began to have a unique sound all its own. Musicians began to use either electric or acoustic guitars. They would then alter the sound by using any combination of echo, reverb, or flanger techniques.

The sound of Bachata music now incorporates the electric guitar and an additional guitar called a segunda or rhythmic guitar. The rest of the instruments used include a bass guitar and a güira to help give the rhythm of the music a good base. Then to give the music an even more clear percussion base a bongo drum is thrown in the mix.

The Dominican Republic is known for many rich cultural things and now you can add to them Bachata music. Until 10 years ago bachata music was a relatively unknown genre of music only heard on the streets of the Dominican Republic. The truth is that those who love and created the style of Bachata music have been playing it for over 40 years.

Bachata dancing is not for the shy or nervous! Bachata dancing involves being quite close to your partner and moving together, with as much harmony as possible. Bachata is a partnered dance, and while you can learn most of the basics on your own, your partner should be someone that you know fairly well and don’t mind getting close to!

In terms of lively modern dance, it would be hard to find one that would be more dynamic than the bachata. From its humble roots in the Domincan Republic, bachata dancing has grown into an international sensation, and it is easy to see why!

Bachata music itself comes from an older style of love music known as the bolero, though it quickly evolved and changed. Bolero songs celebrated innocent, pure love and lovers who were unendingly faithful. Bachata music, on the other hand, took root in the poor and urban places where it was most often heard, and because of that, the songs became a good deal more sensual and significantly raunchier. The music itself is played in 4/4 time and it is the instrumentation that distinguishes it from so many other types of Latin music. Bachata music uses an amplified guitar, whether acoustic or electric, and in many of the more modern songs, you can hear a distinct reverb or echo. Bongo drums offer a solid percussive beat, while maracas are often used to keep the time.

If you have any interest in Latin music at all, you have an interest in bachata dancing! Bachata dancing is the form of dance that accompanies bachata music, and it, like the music itself are finding a vast international audience that can’t get enough of the strong beats.

In terms of dance, there were several influences on what is now known as bachata dancing. Bachata dancing, both in form and attitude, takes a lot from the meringue, but can easily be identified by the more sensual accents as well as the faster pace. The basic figure for bachata dancing is a sideways series of steps that is accented by a movement of some sort. This is a very dry and factual recounting of what is an incredibly fluid and dynamic process.

When you are thinking of learning bachata dancing, one of the best ways to start is to get a few of the musical CDs. Identify the beat and get very familiar with some of the songs. Before you even try to incorporate the actual steps into it, try moving your body to the music. What gestures seem natural and where do they go? Bachata dancing is highly dependent on using the music to affect the motion of the dance, so let the music guide you.
In bachata dancing, the best way to get started is to count the beats in your head. Once you can identiy the beat, divide them up motion. The first three beats are steps and the fourth beat is punctuated with a hip motion. One way to count this out while you are practicing is to think of it as step-together-step, touch, with the touch being the motion that you’ve incorporated. Like so many other dances, the key to looking good during bachata dancing is through getting the timing right. Once you have the timing down, you can learn the steps, and if you happen to falter during one of the steps, recovery will be a great deal easier once you’ve learned when they happen.

There are lots of ways to learn bachata dancing; all you need to do is find the one that suits you best. Most people agree that one on one private lessons are the best, but that may not be possible for a variety of reasons. One way to learn bachata dancing, after all, is to make sure that you watch plenty of it. Whether this means that you go to clubs or competitions or just that you spend a lot of time downloading videos off of the internet, you need to see how its done. While the basic steps and timing of the bachata dancing are relatively simple, keep in mind that this is a dance form that is all about style and flourishes.