A Guide to Traditional Puerto Rican Music

Salsa

This is a style of dance music popularized in New York City during the 1960s by Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians. While the base of modern salsa is Cuban son— a style of music that combines popular Spanish songs with Afro-Cuban percussion, Puerto Rican salsa, in particular, is known for its strong influence from jazz and big band music. It has sub-genres like salsa romántica (romantic salsa), which has a slower, softer sound, and salsa gorda or dura, a style that features a fast, driving beat and long instrumental segments. Some of the best-known classic salsa performers and composers from Puerto Rico or of Puerto Rican descent include Tite Curet Alonso, Ray Barretto, Héctor Lavoe, Cheo Feliciano, Willie Colón, Ismael Rivera, Andy Montañez, Roberto Roena, Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, and La Sonora Ponceña.

More modern salsa singers to reach even higher levels of commercial success include Marc Anthony, Victor Manuella, La India, Gilberto Santa Rosa, and the Rivera brothers Jerry and Edwin.

Merengue

Merengue is a style of danceable music that originated in the Dominican Republic and spread throughout Latin America and the United States. While not native to Puerto Rico, merengue became a significant part of the Puerto Rican music scene in the late 1980s. Merengue típico or perico ripiao is the traditional style that uses string instruments like guitars and bass, accordion, conga, and other drums, and can be either fast-paced with a marching dance step (known as merengue derecho) or slower-paced with syncopated rhythm (known as pambiche). There's also merengue de Orquesta, or big band merengue, which is also a popular style to dance to and incorporates more instruments. Popular merengue performers from Puerto Rico include Elvis Crespo, Olga Tañón, Gisselle, Manny Manuel, Grupomanía, Limi-T 21, and more.

Discover where to go dancing in San Juan

Bomba

Bomba is a traditional style of Puerto Rican music and dance that highlights the African heritage of the Island. It features three main instruments: maracas, cuá (two wooden sticks), and the bomba barrel, a large drum played with the hands. In bomba performances, there is a dynamic interaction that simulates a dialogue between musicians and dancers. The drums follow a hierarchy, with one being the Primo Barrel, which marks the rhythm that the dancer is stepping to, while the Buleador drum supports that beat. The dancer provides piquetes, or improvised bomba steps, using their body and skirt (or just the body if the dancer is not wearing the bomba skirt), challenging the Primo Barrell to keep up with them. The singer marks the length of the song and plays the maracas.

Learn more about Bomba

Plena

Plena is another genre of music that originated in Puerto Rico that features African, Spanish, and Caribbean influences. The traditional instruments include panderos (hand drums of different sizes), guitar, cuatro (the traditional Puerto Rican guitar that originally had four strings), accordion, and often brass instruments like trumpet and saxophone. For decades, this was considered folk music, and in rural communities, it was called the "sung newspaper" since the songs would tell about recent news or gossip in the town. Like Bomba, the style nearly died out in the mid-twentieth century but was kept going by folk music groups that would perform during the holidays. Bomba and Plena had a resurgence recently, and many contemporary Latin music artists have recorded Plena songs. There are even modern plena bands that can often be heard at town festivals and events like Plenéalo, Plena Libre, Viento de Agua, Pleneros del Más Allá, Pura Plena, Pleneros de la Cresta, and others.

Learn more about the dances in Puerto Rico

Latin Jazz 

You may not think of jazz when you think of Puerto Rico, but Boricua musicians played a major role in the evolution of Latin Jazz. This highly energetic and vibrant subgenre originated by Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Latin American musicians who moved to New York City in the early 20th century. They began merging the Caribbean and Latin American more upbeat structures and rhythms with classic jazz and blues sounds. Besides the typical instruments used in jazz, like trumpets, saxophones, drum kits, and basses – Latin jazz emphasizes percussion instruments, including timbales, congas, and bongos, as well as claves, güiros, and other instruments that reflect the Latin influences. The distinctive style of Latin Jazz can be quickly recognized by its lively sound and a more dance-friendly feel. Tito Puente, Juan Tizol, Ray Barreto, Eddie Gómez, Best Latin Jazz Album Grammy Winner Miguel Zenón, David Sánchez, John Benítez, and Jerry González are some of the most notable Latin Jazz musicians from Puerto Rico or of Puerto Rican descent.