Breaks & transitions Functional elements – Music
A break is a short rhythmic figure played by (part of) the band that interrupts a running gear or links two gears together. Kevin Moore calls such a figure an efecto; other names are bloque, break, punches and cierre.
See also Gears and Gear changes.
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Timba is the music this site is dedicated to exploring. It emerged as a distinct genre in the late 1980s and crystallized in the early 1990s — born in a moment of social crisis, built on the full accumulated history of Cuban music, and still evolving today.
Lees meer >According to Kevin Moore, a gear is a specific, rehearsed rhythm-section orchestration: what the conga, the bells, the bass and the piano play together. A timba band has several and switches between them on a cue from the singer or bandleader. Such a switch is called a gear change.
Lees meer >Rhythmic breaks or unison hits played by the whole band, often interrupting the flow to create surprise and tension. These are choreographed and add drama, excitement, and syncopation.
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Interruptive role: The bloque is a sudden, tightly coordinated rhythmic break. It disrupts the ongoing groove (tumbao, coro, or guías).
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Cue for change: Right after the bloque, the band often launches into a new “gear” (a new rhythmic feel, coro, or piano tumbao). In this sense, the bloque is an announcement: it marks the transition to what comes next.
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A form of obligado: the bloque is the typical timba form of an obligado, a fixed arranged passage that everyone plays together.
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