Montuno has several meanings pertaining to

Cuban music The music of Cuba, including its instruments, performance, and dance, comprises a large set of unique traditions influenced mostly by west African and European (especially Spanish) music. Due to the syncretic nature of most of its genres, Cuban mu ...

and its derivatives. Literally, ''montuno'' means 'comes from the mountain', and so ''

son montuno Son montuno is a subgenre of son cubano developed by Arsenio Rodríguez in the 1940s. Although ''son montuno'' ("mountain sound") had previously referred to the ''sones'' played in the mountains of eastern Cuba, Arsenio repurposed the term to de ...

'' may refer to the older type of son played in the mountainous rural areas of Oriente. Another possibility is that the word ''montuno'' comes from the word ''montura'', the Spanish word for "saddle", because the rhythm in son music is like riding a horse. Or it may mean the final section of a song-based composition; in this sense it is simply part of a piece of music. Here it is usually a faster, brasher, semi-improvised instrumental section, sometimes with a repetitive vocal refrain. Finally, the term ''montuno'' is also used for a piano ''

guajeo 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 ...

'', the ostinato figure accompanying the montuno section, when it describes a repeated syncopated piano

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, often with chromatic

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the su ...

movement.Orovio, Helio 2004. ''Cuban music from A to Z''. Tumi, Bath. p141

References

See also