Studying AfroCuban percussion in Havana is by far the best option. Specially if you want to learn how to play with the strength and flavor of the Antillean rhythms such as Latin jazz, rumba, guaguancó, bolero or timba…and this just to mention some of the native genres of our beautiful island.

Sounds like Tata Güines, Carlos Patato Valdes, Chano Pozo, Enrique Pla or Pello the Afrokán, leading exponents of an art that has transcended borders, are difficult to imitate. However, learning in the land that gave birth to these great Cuban music, will allow you to acquire the skill in the touch and transmit deep and lasting emotions in each song that accompanies.

Studying AfroCuban Percussion

Nicolas Guillen, the National Poet of Cuba, in one of his anthological verses: The Song of Bongo, highlights the strength and how much boom has this musical instrument: “Some say now / others now go / but my bronco peal / but my Deep voice / summon the black and white / who dance to the same son / Here the finest is / responds if I call.

That’s because the tumbadora and bongo are characteristic instruments and the preferred of those who come to study AfroCuban percussion. They are essential elements in any Cuban orchestra that includes within its repertoire the rumba or guaguancó, one hundred percent authentic genres of the Greater Antilles. And that’s without forgetting the claves, base of the rhythm of everything that denotes Cuban flavor.

The relevance of the percussionists of the island is precisely in the mastery that interpreted those instruments, the emotion they transmit with clean sounds rumbling the soul, rather than the ear. The sonority of the rhythm that speaks of identity and folklore are elements that distinguish the touch of the Cuban, and not few are the voices that rise in the international scene.

That’s why, if you are interested in studying AfroCuban percussion, you cannot do better in another part of the world than in Cuba.

Where can you study Afro-Cuban percussion in Havana?

Havana Music School is a music school that stands out for the experience and tradition of its teachers. Many of Afro-Cuban percussion have passed through their hands, and you can also counts among them.

Located in the Vedado neighborhood, in Calle 28 #172 between 17 and 19, Havana Music School also has a faculty of a vast experience in musical education and talented instrumentalists, the possibility of deciding not only the instrument and the musical genre, but also the number of class hours, the hours and the teacher of your choice.

This academy also guides you about the best cultural events that take place in Havana, as well as recommend you accommodation with good transport links to and from the school. And, best of all: no big groups or the attention of the teacher divided among many students. Your teacher will dedicate the whole class time to your personal tutoring.