Musical tastes and personality are closely linked, according to a recent study by the Heriot-Watt University in Scotland.
We have always known the fact that what you wear, eat and listen is linked to your personality (whether for good or bad). Finally, there has been some research done by the Scotland’s Heriot-Watt University. In a study of more than 36,000 people from six countries, they provide some type of detail on what types of personalities are tied to people’s taste in music. Here is a snippet from the article:
You are what you listen to
Jazz fans tend to be creative and outgoing, with high self-esteem, in keeping with the innovative and sociable nature of the music.
Country western fans were found to be hard-working, but introverted, fitting with the blue-collar image of country music.
The research concluded soul music lovers are a well-rounded bunch — creative, outgoing, gentle, at ease with themselves and with high self-esteem.
Rap fans are outgoing and far from gentle, while indie music lovers lack both self-esteem and the work ethic.
While Latin music (or specifically Salsa/Cha-Cha/Bachata) weren’t included in the article, I’m trying to see if it was included in the published research (trying to find the publication). I’m sure salseros(as) would at a minimum fall under ’sociable’ and ‘outgoing’. But I’d like to hear your opinion. What do you think Latin music expresses about our personality? (your comments below).
You can read and see the entire music genres studied using the links below.
Have you ever woken up with that obnoxious ringing in your ears after a long night of dancing at the club? Is that EVERY weekend for you? If so, you may want to look into options to protect yourself from Noise induced hearing loss. The way it develops is this: you go to a noisy club- noisy to the point that the next morning your ears are still ringing. This is a temporary threshold shift, a (mostly unnoticeable) hearing loss. In about 24 hours, your hearing is completely back to normal. However, after doing this week after week for several years, the “temporary” threshold shift becomes more permanent as the damaged inner ear structures can no longer repair themselves.
Salsa clubs vary in how loud the music is, so some people may be more at risk than others. The more frequently you go out, the more damage you are potentially causing. If you think this is a problem for you, you may want to try using earplugs. I made a recent earplug discovery when I noticed a salsero friend wearing these- musician’s earplugs: they soften the loudness without muffling the sound.
Hello Salsa friends! This is Dany Joshua from ScarletMambo.com. Anthony wrote an excellent post about playing the “son montuno” on the piano. The ability to hear (and play) the “son montuno” is helpful for hearing the 1st beat of the 8-beat Salsa measure, which many beginners find very difficult to hear or differentiate from the 5th beat.
Another useful skill is hearing and playing the “tumbao” on the congas, especially for On2 dancers. After you hear this rhythmic pattern, you will see why it is called the tumbao. Actually, it should be called the “tumtumbao”.
Nate Torres, a young musician from Bronx, NY, filmed a 7-part series of instructional videos that teaches basic conga techniques. Notice his New York accent.
Video 4 explains how to play the basic tumbao rhythm.
If you have taken taking Eddie Torres’ class, he sometimes quotes Tito Puente saying that the On2 Salsa step is very natural because it compliments the tumbao slap on the 2nd and 6th beats.
Videos 1-3 explain how to play basic sounds on the congas. Videos 5-7 explains more intricate percussion patterns.
We had posted this video on youtube a long time ago - however, it was recently that I discovered that someone took the time to post all the songs associated with the video. Incase you have been looking for a specific song in the video os Salsa Congress Masters of SF 2006, here it is:
Last, but not least - the third version of the ’salsa track’ that I made with Garageband is with a Flute Solo. Using a flute as the main part of the melody is common, but it is usually not heard of enough.
If you missed the first two salsa track solos, you can find the trumpet one here and the violin one here.
I’m sure there are many of you musicians out there that can do a much better job than I can - and we’d like to hear from you. If you can create an instrumental latin tracks, whether it be salsa, cha-cha or bachata, and would like to share that with the community - send it our way and we’ll post it up with a link to your site/profile. Who knows, it could start your record career.
