Guajeo

Music of Cuba
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A guajeo (Anglicized pronunciation: wa-hey-yo) is a typical Cuban ostinato melody, most often consisting of arpeggiated chords in syncopated patterns. Some musicians only use the term guajeo for ostinato patterns played specifically by a tres, piano, an instrument of the violin family, or saxophones. Piano guajeos are one of the most recognizable elements of modern-day salsa. Piano guajeos are also known as montunos in North America, or tumbaos in the contemporary Cuban dance music timba.

The guajeo shares rhythmic, melodic and harmonic similarities with the short ostinato figures played on marimbas, lamellophones, and string instruments in sub-Saharan Africa. The guajeo is a seamless blend of African and European musical sensibilities, and was first played as accompaniment on the tres in the Afro-Cuban son and related music. The tres is a Cuban guitar-like instrument, consisting of three sets of double strings.

The guajeo emerged in Cuba during the 19th century, in the genres known as changüí and son. The following changüí tres guajeo consists of all offbeats.

There are two types of pure son tres guajeos: generic and song-specific. Song-specific guajeos are usually based on the song's melody, while the generic type involves simply arpeggiating triads—Moore (2010).

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