Latin is played straight and is not swung. It is always spelt with a capital L as it originated in Latin America.

The Bossa Nova is the classic Latin feel. It stands for "new beat" but it's not new anymore. The Bossa groove is characterized by the beats 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &.

Example 27a - Bossa Nova

Example 27b - Bossa Nova

If paying a Latin tune on your own you would probably want to add a bass line using the root note and 5th of each chord using the chord plucking technique.

Example 27c - Merengue

Example 27d - Mambo

Although this example has a different feel it uses the same chords as Example 27c.

Example 27e - Cha Cha

The Cha Cha name is actually short for Cha Cha Cha. This feel is characterized by having two quavers (8th notes) followed by a crotchet (quarter note). There are 4 main options for this:

Example 27e uses option 3 whereas the Cha Cha in the Session time section uses option 4.

Example 27f - Latin funk

Example 27g - Rhumba

Example 27h - Salsa

This is an Afro-Cuban Salsa with a Tumbao bass pattern. The distinctive feature of this is the absence of bass on beat 1.

Example 27i - Tango

Example 27j - Samba

Try jamming over some Latin grooves in the Session time section.

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