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Understanding The Genres of Royalty Free Latin Music

Latin music is comprised of more than one single style. And CSS Music has a wide variety of Latin music when you’re ready to head south of the border or visit Spain! To help you better understand the different Latin music styles, here’s a quick synopsis of the different grooves and dance steps.

 The most popular styles, perhaps today considered “old school” because of the abundance of new hip hop flavored Latin tracks, are from the dance school. (Pun intended.) These include the Bossa Nova, a mid-tempo dance step marked by its syncopated groove. Then there’s the Cha-Cha Cha that’s famous for its 2 bar pattern with a “cha cha cha” on 3 & 4 of the second bar. Merengue is a very simple Dominican dance with music that’s much more “four on the floor” with tempos that are generally medium up-tempo. The Tango, a more sensuous dance, is know for its heavy downbeat—you’ve probably seen this dance performed with the woman clenching a long stem rose in her teeth as the couple flow across the dance floor cheek-to-cheek. The Beguine, from the West Indian French, bears a close resemblance to the Bossa Nova and was made famous with Cole Porter’s Begin The Beguine. The Samba, with its super high-energy groove, is often marked by syncopated horn stabs and driving rhythms. Finally, from the island of Cuba comes the Mambo. This music is also very peppy and is usually punctuated with horn figures. There’s also Afro-Cuban music; Latin flavored but with much more mild tempos.

Whew! Today, a new generation of Latin music, from World Music influenced Latin to hip hop/rap to Tex-Mex still retain a lot of the rhythmic structure and basic percussion instruments. If you use the CSS Music Keyword Alpha List or type in “Latin” in our Build-A-Search window, you’ll find many of the above-mentioned styles ready for you to audition. Happy searching amigos y amigas!

Understanding The Genres of Latin Music

Latin music is comprised of more than one single style. And CSS Music has a wide variety of Latin music when you’re ready to head south of the border or visit Spain! To help you better understand the different Latin music styles, here’s a quick synopsis of the different grooves and dance steps.

 The most popular styles, perhaps today considered “old school” because of the abundance of new hip hop flavored Latin tracks, are from the dance school. (Pun intended.) These include the Bossa Nova, a mid-tempo dance step marked by its syncopated groove. Then there’s the Cha-Cha Cha that’s famous for its 2 bar pattern with a “cha cha cha” on 3 & 4 of the second bar. Merengue is a very simple Dominican dance with music that’s much more “four on the floor” with tempos that are generally medium up-tempo. The Tango, a more sensuous dance, is know for its heavy downbeat—you’ve probably seen this dance performed with the woman clenching a long stem rose in her teeth as the couple flow across the dance floor cheek-to-cheek. The Beguine, from the West Indian French, bears a close resemblance to the Bossa Nova and was made famous with Cole Porter’s Begin The Beguine. The Samba, with its super high-energy groove, is often marked by syncopated horn stabs and driving rhythms. Finally, from the island of Cuba comes the Mambo. This music is also very peppy and is usually punctuated with horn figures. There’s also Afro-Cuban music; Latin flavored but with much more mild tempos.

Whew! Today, a new generation of Latin music, from World Music influenced Latin to hip hop/rap to Tex-Mex still retain a lot of the rhythmic structure and basic percussion instruments. If you use the CSS Music Keyword Alpha List or type in “Latin” in our Build-A-Search window, you’ll find many of the above-mentioned styles ready for you to audition. Happy searching amigos y amigas!