Salsa City Forum » Salsa Music and Dance » Moving up to intermediate & salsa rythym

Hi. I’ve been learning salsa for a year now, done lots of classes and finally can remember and dance all the stuff I learnt at improver 2, plus a few intermediate moves I picked up along the way. But now where do I go? The beginner/beginner+/improver1/2 classes were all structured, with lots of repetition, taking 6 or 12 weeks of lessons to complete a short routine. Now I’ve jumped into intermediate classes I find they are “drop in”, with a different routine every week, not only different, but loooong! And gone through very quickly...

These routines would take about 24 weeks in imp 2 & now I’m expected to pick them up in less than an hour? I’m out of my depth! I can’t remember all the moves during the lesson, let alone afterwards. Where can I find a structured imp3 class in the home counties??

And how long does it take before I can find the beat in any more than about 35% of the salsa tunes they play? What’s the secret?

The secret is, find a teacher that progresses at your (perhaps more importantly the class as a whole) pace

The answer is that simple! Though to find such a teacher is not so easy I know... But you must try to find a good teacher...

A good teacher will have adopted this method already i.e. Correct length of class with correct amount of content so as to stretch but not overwhelm students! Which should also be at a similar level of competence to each other!

Some of us struggle with identifying rhythm and down beats some of us do not... This is just a question of listening to as much music as possible, relaxing and waiting for it to click! You might also want to seek out and take a musicality workshop when one is available... They are invaluable when the instructor knows their stuff!

Hope that helps

Hi, I find the same problem with finding the salsa beat, I don’t know if any of the salsa teachers would be able to help me. I’ve never learnt any musical instrument, maybe that would help. Are any of the salsa teachers musicians?

The trick is listen to Salsa and then listen to Salsa some more and then... You get the point, listen 24/7 and you will soon find your ear (and brain) making those connections so you can hear the beat, rhythm etc. A lot easier.

Hi Pc,

Like Stellan said the key is definately listening to salsa music as often as you can to get used to it. There are many different styles of salsa music which I htink often confuses people.

Granted it does help if you have a musical background and puts you at a greater advantage. Great advice from Eldj is to go to a musicality class if you can too. Highly recommended are Mauricio Reyes and Angus Peters.

It helps if you understand the structure of salsa music and the instruments involved and the rhythms they create individually and as a whole. You can then start listening for them and recognising them. For example the clave.

It’s difficult to explain in the written word so just listen to various music often and one day it should just click :)

Hi, thanks Lisa, what is a musicality class? Do Mauricio Reyes and Angus Peters teach musicality classes in/near Cardiff?

Hi pc,

Come along to La Tasca on Saturday nights. We have a live percussion section there playing the various instruments that make up the rhythm section of Salsa. Hearing the actual instruments can help you distinguish them in a song and then help you identify the rhythm.
But the best way is to try and count the rhythm of music that you are familiar with, and slowly progress to music that you find more challenging. Ask your teacher to help, a couple of minutes and they should be able to set you on the right road.

Hi Pc, unfortunately no, neither Mauricio or Angus are near cardiff. Mauricio is based in Birmingham and Angus in Devon but they both travel all over the country teaching and giving various workshops.

Andy’s right... it would be a good idea to go to La Tasca where they have live percussion to help you gain more of an understanding.

Hope you find the rhythm soon :)

PC - you don’t need to know about music in depth but you do need to be able to find the “1” beat in the music and then count the rhythm in a regular 1 - 8. This can be tricky when you’re not used to the music, particularly in the percussion breakdown as the beats get easy to lose. However as you seem to already have realised all the moves fit in and on the counts 1 - 8, and without getting this you’ll never pull off any move with real grace. Dance partner’s may quietly or openly diss your style!

First try clapping or hitting something with your hand in regular beat to the music - I mean at the same speed (musicians call it the tempo but speed ok?)

OK to find the 1 beat takes a bit more effort and really comes from developing a feel for the music, but essentially it will have a sense of “beginningness.” Try to find it yourself and then check with someone experienced in a dance or your class by counting out loud to see if they agree with you. Tial and error will teach you how to recognise the 1.

Good luck.