• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Timba Bass: 2-3 Tumbaos Example 3

Ian Stewart

Ian Stewart

Supporting Member
Aug 3, 2017
82
117
40
New York City
www.ianstewartbass.com
#1
Hey everyone!

I just put up a new video and blog post on my website. It's actually the fourth video clip I've put up of me talking about Timba bass concepts. I've actually posted some of them upon request in other "latin" threads, but you can also view them on my Youtube channel or website.



Hope you guys enjoy the video. Thanks as always.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rhythmman535, Joshua and eJake
#3
eJake said:
Love the ghost notes! What's the deal with Timba? As I understand it now it's some kind of neo-salsa coming out of Cuba?
Click to expand...

Hey man! Thank you, glad you like it. I realize I should've notated the ghost notes...

Timba is a genre of Cuban music that has been around since the late '80's and had it's heyday up until the early 2000's. It has some similarities to salsa, and is often called "Cuban salsa". However, it really evolved separately from salsa which developed in the US and other parts of the world.

Like most genres, it's hard to describe in a few words. There have been many bands that are all pretty different from one another. The wikipedia for Timba is pretty good, primarily because my friend Kevin Moore wrote most of it. He is without a doubt the most prolific author (in English) on the subject, so if your curious check his Link Removed out. I edited a few of his bass books and they are amazing. I also wrote a book a few years back with John Benitez and some of that stuff is covered in there too, although it doesn't focus on Timba specifically.

Here's a great example of some good old 1990's Timba :)

 
As an Amazon Associate, TalkBass may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via links on this site.
  • Like
Reactions: MixBass
#4
Thanks for the post. Indeed, that Wiki entry on timba is fantastic. Interesting section on clave and how the younger generation of Cuban musicians tampers with it. Speaking of clave, the one change I would make to your video is that I find the clave to not be loud enough. If there's anything we non-Afro-Cuban players struggle with it's the clave and how it lines up with other instruments. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ian Stewart
#5
I played a festival which Bamboleo, whom I didn’t know, also played. My buddy said we should check them out...they blew my mind! The way they blew past barline after barline was nuts. The horns and bass would be playing crazy over the bar line figures implying all kinds of stuff and the keyboardist mowed through it all with nonstop muscular montunos keeping it all rolling forward!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ian Stewart
#6
MixBass said:
I played a festival which Bamboleo, whom I didn’t know, also played. My buddy said we should check them out...they blew my mind! The way they blew past barline after barline was nuts. The horns and bass would be playing crazy over the bar line figures implying all kinds of stuff and the keyboardist mowed through it all with nonstop muscular montunos keeping it all rolling forward!
Click to expand...

Yeah man! They were the first timba band I listened to when I started getting into the genre. What year did you see them live?
 
#7
bass12 said:
Thanks for the post. Indeed, that Wiki entry on timba is fantastic. Interesting section on clave and how the younger generation of Cuban musicians tampers with it. Speaking of clave, the one change I would make to your video is that I find the clave to not be loud enough. If there's anything we non-Afro-Cuban players struggle with it's the clave and how it lines up with other instruments. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input! I can't change this video unfortunately, but I'll keep that in mind for the future.

Nevertheless, it's a great genre for bass players in terms of understanding clave because of the basslines outline the clave more often than salsa basslines do*.

*I'm aware that may be interpreted as an over-generalization.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: bass12
#9
MixBass said:
Just looked it up, 2002, man time flies!
Click to expand...

Hell Yeah! That was when Rafael Paciero was playing bass. He's a beast, living in Paris now.

I literally transcribed every note of the bass parts from Bamboleo's first three albums, which I'm still hoping to put into a book one day. That time period was my favorite for that band. I wish I could have seen them back then. Unfortunately, I was a sophomore in high school in 2002 and didn't even know what timba was.
 
#12
The first time I listened to timba, having been playing that old school "Salsa" for a while, I couldn't make heads or tails of those bass lines! I thought: this is what you get when you grow up listening to Afro Cuban music all your life, and have internalized the fundamental rhythmic patterns to the point where nobody is strictly playing them, and everybody is dancing around them. I get a similar feeling listening to a lot of African music.

Ian Stewart said:
Nevertheless, it's a great genre for bass players in terms of understanding clave because of the basslines outline the clave more often than salsa basslines do*.
Click to expand...

Listening to your examples I can see your point. The old school "Salsa" son montuno is literally just the 3 side over and over again. The slightly younger Salsa Tumbao just drops the 1 beat. It took me a few years of playing before I realized how that one-bar pattern was played "correct" against a 2 bar Clave. That timba bass more clearly varies with each side of the clave. It's off the hook. Thanks for sharing.
 
#13
mambo4 said:
The first time I listened to timba, having been playing that old school "Salsa" for a while, I couldn't make heads or tails of those bass lines! I thought: this is what you get when you grow up listening to Afro Cuban music all your life, and have internalized the fundamental rhythmic patterns to the point where nobody is strictly playing them, and everybody is dancing around them. I get a similar feeling listening to a lot of African music.



Listening to your examples I can see your point. The old school "Salsa" son montuno is literally just the 3 side over and over again. The slightly younger Salsa Tumbao just drops the 1 beat. It took me a few years of playing before I realized how that one-bar pattern was played "correct" against a 2 bar Clave. That timba bass more clearly varies with each side of the clave. It's off the hook. Thanks for sharing.
Click to expand...

Yeah! That's a great way of thinking about it. To be honest, after a decade of playing both Timba and Old School salsa, I don't think one is any easier to play than the other. Just like modern funk and old school funk, or any other style: Each is simply a language of bass playing with certain idiosyncrasies to be aware of.
 
#15
MixBass said:
I played a festival which Bamboleo, whom I didn’t know, also played. My buddy said we should check them out...they blew my mind! The way they blew past barline after barline was nuts. The horns and bass would be playing crazy over the bar line figures implying all kinds of stuff and the keyboardist mowed through it all with nonstop muscular montunos keeping it all rolling forward!
Click to expand...

Here's another great example of Paseiro from the same Bamboleo album (Ya no hace falta [1999]). I've got a few more transcriptions of him I'll be putting up in the coming weeks. It's been great to re-visited these Bamboleo transcriptions as I did them 8 years ago when I first started really getting into Timba. Enjoy!
 
  • Like
Reactions: MixBass and Joshua
#16
Ian Stewart said:
Here's another great example of Paseiro from the same Bamboleo album (Ya no hace falta [1999]). I've got a few more transcriptions of him I'll be putting up in the coming weeks. It's been great to re-visited these Bamboleo transcriptions as I did them 8 years ago when I first started really getting into Timba. Enjoy!
Click to expand...


And another one...

 
  • Like
Reactions: MixBass and Joshua
#17
Fantastic work Ian!
Anyone wanting to up their game in sight reading or “Latin” bass will be well served by these transcriptions.
I found a festival shirt, which I wore to threads, from that fest...
Tabla beat science with Zakir Hussein, Laswell and Gigi and other monsters, steel pulse, Toots and the Maytals, Bamboleo of course, and a bunch of killer bands. I was with a Gnawa master Hassan Hakmoun, who plays the sintir which is like a 3 string bass lute. That’s a whole ‘nother world of bass approach in itself, super fun!
 
#18
MixBass said:
Fantastic work Ian!
Anyone wanting to up their game in sight reading or “Latin” bass will be well served by these transcriptions.
I found a festival shirt, which I wore to threads, from that fest...
Tabla beat science with Zakir Hussein, Laswell and Gigi and other monsters, steel pulse, Toots and the Maytals, Bamboleo of course, and a bunch of killer bands. I was with a Gnawa master Hassan Hakmoun, who plays the sintir which is like a 3 string bass lute. That’s a whole ‘nother world of bass approach in itself, super fun!
Click to expand...


Thanks man! I love Gnawa, really amazing and funky stuff. I have a few friends here in NYC that are very into that music. Personally, I've never gotten the chance to learn or play it. One of these days perhaps...

Do you still play it often? Do you play sintir as well?

Here's another video for the week. Thanks for tuning in as always!

 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back