A cinquillo is a typical
Cuban/
Caribbean rhythmic
cell, used in the Cuban
contradanza (the "
habanera") and the
danzón.
[Mauleón, Rebeca (1993: 51). ''Salsa Guidebook: For Piano and Ensemble''. Petaluma, CA: Sher Music.] The figure is also a common
bell pattern found throughout sub-Saharan Africa. It consists of an
eighth, a
sixteenth
The 16th century begins with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (Roman numerals, MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (Roman numerals, MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar ...
, an eighth, a sixteenth, and an eighth note. Placing this rhythm in a
2/4 measure produces a strongly
syncopated
In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "place ...
character from the sustained note which replaces an articulated one on the first quarter of the second
beat. Cinquillo is an embellishment of the more basic pattern known as
tresillo. Cinquillo is shown twice below. The first one merely displays the note values. The second one is a so-called orthographic notation, which gives an impression of the syncopated character.
When followed by four unsyncopated eighth notes, it is known as the baqueteo. Like the
clave, this forms a pair of measures, syncopated and unsyncopated. The baqueteo is in fact, is an embellishment of clave, as it contains all of that
key pattern's strokes. The baqueteo is shown below with both cells contained within a single measure.
An example of baqueteo in popular music is the introduction of the 1994 hit "
Come Out and Play" by American
punk rock band
The Offspring.
The
biguine uses a cinquillo variant related to that found in other Caribbean genres.
References
{{Reflist
Cuban music
African rhythm