Bachata Instruments

by Adam Taub

Bachata has 5 Core Instruments and Vocals

Bachata is a genre of music from the Dominican Republic and traditionally has a singer and 5 essential instruments. These instruments are the lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar, bongo and guira. Many Bachata musicians that I have interviewed have included these fundamental instruments as part of their definition of what is Bachata. Additional instruments can also be added as adornments in Bachata music such as congas, keyboard, saxophone, horns, drum kit, violin and more. It’s also common to see informal Bachata jam sessions where not all of the core instruments are present. In the early Bachata maracas were used instead of the güira. Bachata is 4/4 music and can be divided in three important rhythms or sections of the song: Derecho, Majao, and Mambo. Within each of these rhythms, every instrument has a designated rhythm or role to play and various degrees of improvisation that they may employ. Not every Bachata song has all 3 of these rhythms present.

Bachata group with the 5 core Bachata instruments including the lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass, bongo and güira. — Bachata Music Group

5 core Bachata instruments including lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass, bongo and güira

Bachata Fundamental Instruments

Vocals

Bachata is emotive vocal music. The feeling and emotion in the voice is a key element of Bachata. The lyrical themes that Bachata deals with are most often about romantic relationships. Heartbreak, love, longing and desire. In addition, Bachata can deal with other themes such as family, the death of a loved one, social issues or friendship, but by far the bulk of the lyrics deal with romantic relationship. Often Bachata will have other members in the band singing chorus. There are also a number of famous Bachata duets such as Monchy y Alexandra.

Lead Guitar

The lead guitar is often called El Requinto in Bachata, from the smaller nylon string acoustic guitars used in early Bachata music. Today the Bachata lead guitar is often an electro acoustic guitar with effects added to it which contributes to its bright, distinctive sound. The Bachata lead guitar is a major emotional component of the song and is often in conversation with the singer. The way the lead guitar is played will vary greatly depending on what rhythmic section it is playing in and the individual guitarist playing. It can play a melody, be used in conversation or call in response with the singer or play a arpeggio which adds a rhythmic, syncopated quality. Like a voice the lead guitar is a major emotional component of the song and has different characteristics depending on the individual guitarist.

Joan Soriano with his Bachata guitar — Bachata Is Guitar Music

Bachatero Joan Soriano playing lead guitar

Joan Soriano demonstrates the Bachata requinto or lead guitar playing the solos from some of his popular songs.

Rhythm Guitar

The Bachata rhythm guitar is often called “La Segunda” or second guitar. In derecho, the rhythm guitar plays the “bass line” on 1,3,4. In addition to playing the bass notes the rhythm guitar plays the notes between these bass notes with short, distinct, rhymic strums. This strumming adds a highly syncopated element to Bachata and a sort of “lift.” In my opinion, if you were dancing to Bachata and only had one instrument along with the vocals to choose, the rhythm guitar would be a good choice because it has both the grounding bass line and the lifting syncopated propulsion of the strumming.

The Bachata rhythm guitar being demonstrated by Bachata Academy's Antony Martinez

Bass Guitar

As the Bachata bass master Billy Bachata told me, ‘the Bass is the floor or foundation of Bachata music.’ It is grounding and rooting both for the dancers and for the other instruments. In a nightclub setting the bassline is often the most distinct rhythmic element for a dancer to grab onto. In derecho, the bass plays on 1, 2and, 3, 4. The first note on 1 sustains for 1 ½ beats. The note on 2and lasts only half a beat and acts as a pickup for the notes on 3 and 4, which each last 1 beat.

Bongo

A bongo is a percussion instrument consisting of a pair of attached, small, open bottomed drums of different sizes. There is a both a smaller, higher pitched head and a larger, lower pitched head. In Bachata the Bongo can be played by either the hands or using sticks. The most common bongo rhythm is an eight-stroke pattern called martillo. In derecho, the bongó emphasizes beats 1,3, 4. Beats 1 and 3 are high hits, and beat 4 is a heavier hit on the low drum. When teaching Bachata dance I often have students tune into the heavy, lower bongo strike on the 4 and it is useful to help keep the beat.

Guira

As one Bachata güira player told me, the güira is the “spark” of Bachata. It adds an energy and brightness to the music. The güira is a percussion instrument made of a textured metal sheet that is rolled into a cylinder and played with a stiff metal brush. It is also heavily used in Merengue music which like Bachata is from the Dominican Republic. Before the güira came to be used in Bachata the maracas were used. The güira alternates between double time - playing on every 8th note - and single time - on quarter notes.

Students at the Bachata Academy demonstrate playing the güira and the Bongo in Bachata

Bachata Breakdown

One of the best resources for Bachata dancers and teachers when learning about the Bachata instruments and rhythms was created in partnership by Carlos Cinta, iASO Records and Joan Soriano and is called Bachata Breakdown. Have used the individual Bachata instrument audio examples on many occasion in my dance classes. Bachata Breakdown demonstrates bachata instrument by instrument, with spoken beat counting. Dance and musicality instructor Carlos Cinta explains timings to bass, bongos, güira, and full instrumental tracks. Carlos illustrates timing for dancing on 1, 2, 3, 4, and 1 with bass syncopation.