Guataca pattern in toque de güiro

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Guataca pattern in toque de güiro

Postby Siete Leguas » Tue Jun 02, 2020 10:03 am

Hello!

I have watched this video a couple of times and I find it fascinating. It is a toque de güiro in Havanna, which is, I believe, one of the rites of the Cuban lucumí religion (Santería, Regla de Ocha/Ifá) that has its origins in the Yoruba people of West Africa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6Nly5f8NkU

I love the vocal melodies, the intertwining shekere patterns, and, of course, the amazing and (to me) mysterious improvisation on the caja/tumbadora by master drummer Maximino Duquesne.

I was trying to tap the guataca/bell part while singing along the coros (or rather mumbling along, since I don't understand the words). However, I find it very difficult and I usually get lost after a short while. I don't know if I am placing the "1" right.

I hear the guataca part like this:

X - X X - X - X - X - X

which is very close to the standard 6/8 bell pattern (X - X - X X - X - X - X), but I think that it might also be displaced on the video, so maybe the "1" is somewhere else. Can somebody help me?


Also, I have a more philosophical question. I have doubts about whether I should try to learn this kind of music in the first place, since I am not part of this religion (or ANY religion, for that matter), although I am interested in religions, and, of course, in music. But with time I have learned for me that it is better to be cautious and respectful when dealing with these subjects, and there are more than enough secular music traditions out there to learn and love. What do you think?

Salud!
Last edited by Siete Leguas on Wed Jun 03, 2020 1:50 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Guataca pattern in toque de güiro

Postby Thomas Altmann » Tue Jun 02, 2020 9:58 pm

Hi Siete Leguas,

sorry for jumping on this topic again. The video that you linked is one of my future projects. I do play some güíro on the tumbadora, but it sounds really backdated and a bit dull in comparison to the stuff that this gentleman plays. "Mysterious" is exactly what I feel about his style. I believe he fully explores the contratiempo concept in Cuban music, as transferred to 6/8 meter. I cannot explain exactly what he's doing, yet. But he covers a rhythmic area that I definitely want to comprehend and conquer for myself. David Font has published another sample of Maximino Duquesne "El Moro Quinto" playing güíro tumbadora:

https://vimeo.com/channels/95187/13737622

He's the real thing.

The bell pattern you were hearing was:

x ||: -xx-xx | -x-x-x :||

which is just a relatively recent but nevertheless common variation of the basic pattern that you notated. You can use it to vary your standard basic pattern, or play it alternating with the standard pattern, thus forming a 4-bar-cycle, or you replace your standard pattern altogether, playing the variation instead.

The more attention you pay to meter as opposed to the clave (and this bell pattern is the clave), and the more you seek metric orientation from the perspective of the tonal, i.e. melodic and harmonic, material, the more Euro-centric is your approach. Initially you can do so in order to be able to join in and play along; but after some time you will realize that the clave is primordial in its funcion as the "organizing principle" (citing Spiro here). The songs are built around it.

Regarding your "philosophical question" I applaud your manners and your respect. In my opinion, this attitude is actually the best reason and the real legitimation to get into it and start playing this music! I tell you my story:

I had already expanded my jazz drumset playing to percussion, focusing on Cuban music and Cuban instruments, namely congas, bongos and timbales, when I heard batá music for the first time. I felt I just had to get into this field, I was attracted by it. I also loved bembé and güíro and all the songs. But I felt I had to learn about the religious background of this music first, before putting my hands on it and fool around with it for fun. After years of reading and learning about the orisha and about Ifá, I discovered a completely different type of religiosity for myself that made it possible for me to embrace religion again as something meaningful. It didn't have anything in common with the attitude towards "the holy" that I had experienced in Christianity before, the faith in which I had been brought up. To make it short, I not only started playing batá and chékere and learned some songs, but ended up being sworn to Añá first, then became initiated in Ocha, and eventually in Ifá - although to this day, I do not practice Ifá officially as a babalawo. But I never regretted it. For myself, it was one of the best things I did in my life.

That's how far I went ...

Thomas
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Re: Guataca pattern in toque de güiro

Postby jorge » Wed Jun 03, 2020 12:24 pm

Yes, Tomas wrote the guataca pattern in 6/8 time signature. As you can see, the first beat, what non-Cubans call "the one", is silent. What you don't see in the written notation is that first and third hits the guataca plays are a little softer so all the others sound accented and fall right on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th hits of the 6/8 (Abakua or Bembe) clave. That gives the guataca part a clave swing that makes the rhythm.
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Re: Guataca pattern in toque de güiro

Postby Siete Leguas » Wed Jun 03, 2020 1:24 pm

Moin Thomas,
Thomas Altmann wrote: The bell pattern you were hearing was:

x ||: -xx-xx | -x-x-x : ||

which is just a relatively recent but nevertheless common variation of the basic pattern that you notated. You can use it to vary your standard basic pattern, or play it alternating with the standard pattern, thus forming a 4-bar-cycle, or you replace your standard pattern altogether, playing the variation instead.

Eureka!!! I can finally set foot on the ground. Thanks a million for that!!!

Thomas Altmann wrote: To make it short, I not only started playing batá and chékere and learned some songs, but ended up being sworn to Añá first, then became initiated in Ocha, and eventually in Ifá

Wow... Now THAT is taking things seriously. Respekt!

Interestingly, I had a similar feeling as what you describe with batá music when I first heard religious music of Palo Monte, which is, as you surely know, the Congo/Bantu branch of Afro-Cuban religions. I have sometimes wondered if I should actively do more to try and get deeper into that. However, I think I am not ready for such a (potentially life-changing) spiritual journey, maybe just not yet. Also, I don't know of any renowned paleros here in Mittelfranken. :) I have read a bit about it; probably some more reading would be the next logical step. From what I hear, including what you wrote about your experience, I think that the concept "religion" is quite different when applied to these African belief-systems than to Christianity (in which I was also brought up) or, as far as I know, Islam or Judaism. I sense that the former has a closer relationship to everyday life, which I like. However, I also hear that there seems to be a fair amount of BS and charlatanry regarding these subjects, especially outside Cuba, which I really don't like.

Anyway, if you have some reading recommendations on these topics (entry-level preferably), they will be very welcome. I don't seem to find that much time/thirst to read these days, though, but it's always good to have the references, für alle Fälle.

Thomas Altmann wrote: In my opinion, this attitude is actually the best reason and the real legitimation to get into it and start playing this music!

I appreciate it. That's reassuring, coming from someone who has gone so far. For the moment I will keep on practicing the güiro bell pattern, I'm going to need a while to get it down for sure.

I wish you good luck with conquering Maximino's approach to güiro. That David Font video seems like a good starting point, there's much information there.

Salud!
Last edited by Siete Leguas on Wed Jun 03, 2020 1:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Guataca pattern in toque de güiro

Postby Siete Leguas » Wed Jun 03, 2020 1:27 pm

jorge wrote:Yes, Tomas wrote the guataca pattern in 6/8 time signature. As you can see, the first beat, what non-Cubans call "the one", is silent. What you don't see in the written notation is that first and third hits the guataca plays are a little softer so all the others sound accented and fall right on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th hits of the 6/8 (Abakua or Bembe) clave. That gives the guataca part a clave swing that makes the rhythm.


Thanks for that, Jorge! Yes, I had been struggling with "the one", which is just slightly shifted from where I thought it was, so it felt always "almost right". Good to know about the accents, too!
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Re: Guataca pattern in toque de güiro

Postby Siete Leguas » Wed Jun 03, 2020 4:30 pm

jorge wrote: (...) so all the others sound accented and fall right on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th hits of the 6/8 (Abakua or Bembe) clave. That gives the guataca part a clave swing that makes the rhythm.


Actually, that is VERY interesting! The more I learn about clave, the more I get the impression that it is only one concept that everything revolves around.

Is the last stroke on the güiro bell accented or unaccented? It sounds natural accented, although it's not in the Abakua "clave" (but it is in the standard 6/8 bell).
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Re: Guataca pattern in toque de güiro

Postby Thomas Altmann » Thu Jun 04, 2020 5:41 pm

Hi Siete Leguas,

all I can say is, whenever you are ready for Palo- and Bembé- or Güíro rhythms - go for it! The musical material of these rituals has long been integrated in the standard percussion repertoire of "profane" music. These toques are invocational only in ritual; when utilized in Latin Jazz or Salsa, they are just rhythms. Everybody learns them, everybody plays them; there is no reason why exactly someone like you should not dispose of them.

In African-derived cultures, the borders between the sacred and the profane are not where we suppose them to be, and the lines are blurred.

With the songs, it's a different story. The songs contain praise, religious narratives, they are potentially invocative; which means, if you have an initiate in the audience, he or she may easily become possessed, and then you have a problem. I have experienced that. But in most performance situations like, let's say, in Mittelfranken, you can bet this is not going to happen. By the way, I don't think it's a bad thing to sing praise songs to the orisha outside the ritual. It is only a matter of taste to sense when and where this is appropriate and when or where not. Then there are the so-called puyas that are provocative or even insulting towards the respective orisha. These are strictly ritual stuff, and you should stay away from it. But that's a special case.

You might know or will find out that even batá drums and rhythms have found their way to profane "art" music. This has been in practice since the 1950s or even 40s. There are many instances where you can hear them, in bands like Irakere, Batacumbele, and many others. Even Abakuá rhythm is open now. Most drummers who use this repertory are from the corresponding religious or ritual field, they may be initiated, and they know what they are doing. As a result, they also know what they are not going to do.

The secrecy and the religious taboo concerning the so-called Santería, Palo and Abakuá have been a constant subject of (often heated) dispute, and like in any other religion, the BS factor is considerable. It can easily be observed that the liturgical repertory has been opened up over the last 100 years to the point where the special sacred status of this ritual material appears to be flattened out. But don't go wrong: In ritual, the same material is still in function, and it works like 100 years ago. I believe that everybody has his/her own ideas where to draw the line, what to reveal and what not. I have my own ideas, which some people might find relatively conservative, and we have to understand the alienation of some elders who have perhaps lived in times when these religious cults were still persecuted in Cuba. But whatever must happen, we cannot prevent. Find your own standpoint!

Regards,
Thomas
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Re: Guataca pattern in toque de güiro

Postby Siete Leguas » Thu Jun 04, 2020 10:27 pm

Thanks, Thomas. I'll keep your considerations in mind.
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Re: Guataca pattern in toque de güiro

Postby CampoSantaRosa » Tue Mar 09, 2021 4:04 am

Siete Leguas, in case you haven’t come across them, there are two exceptional books on Palo in English. “Society of the Dead Quita Manaquita and Palo Praise in Cuba“ by Todd Ramon Ochoa and “Palo Mayombe the Garden of Blood and Bone” by Nicholaj De Mattos Frisvold.
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Re: Guataca pattern in toque de güiro

Postby Siete Leguas » Tue Mar 09, 2021 10:37 pm

CampoSantaRosa, thank you for the recommendations! I didn't know any of the books.
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