The backbone of Latin American music is the beat! Young musicians work on blending Afro-Latin rhythms and beat patterns before incorporating the major pentatonic, minor pentatonic, and blues scales in their own compositions.

Concepts

latin american music, latin america, music beats, world music, music theory

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Additional Tags

visual and performing arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Use in a music appreciation class with rhythm instruments or in an orchestra when reinforcing Latin beats
• Project the music onto the board with a document viewer for everyone to see

Classroom Considerations

• The final part of a longer series on rhythm and melody
• Requires access to songs that include the listed rhythms (resource includes suggestions)

Pros

• Includes several adaptations for the lesson based on available instruments 
• Comes with a piano accompaniment

Cons

• None