I’ve been listening to both lately and honestly don’t notice much of a difference. I know they both came out of the Dominican Republic, so I’m not surprised they’re similar.
Origin:
Bachata, like Merengue originated in the rural neighbourhoods of the Dominican Republic. Bachata is a sensual romantic dance with romance, heartbreak and sadness being the prevalent themes for the music.
Music:
Bachata music is played in 4/4. Dancers who are new to Latin American Dancing can often confuse this for a slow Salsa. The main difference between the two (apart from the pace of the music) is the use of bongo drums to provide syncopation, with an amplified guitar being the other main instrument.
Dance:
Bachata is a sensual dance with the steps fairly similar to Salsa, although the pace is much slower. The main difference is the replacement of the pause on beats 4 and 8 by a tap by the foot and an upwards jerk with the hip. The tap is often replaced by lifting the foot in the air. Bachata is danced much closer than Salsa and the most common step is a side to side movement, with three steps to the left and a tap followed by three steps to the right and another tap.
Latinos NZ Popularity Scale: 3/10
Bachata is slowly gaining popularity in New Zealand, with more dancers understanding the rhythm and dance. On an average night out in a Latin Club, every 10th song would probably be a Bachata.
Also, down there in the source, I posted a URL to a previous question asked on Yahoo Answers. There is one answer on there that is pretty informative!
Hope this helped! Have a great new year!
2 Responses
sl1982
2010 Jan 03 1Origin:
Bachata, like Merengue originated in the rural neighbourhoods of the Dominican Republic. Bachata is a sensual romantic dance with romance, heartbreak and sadness being the prevalent themes for the music.
Music:
Bachata music is played in 4/4. Dancers who are new to Latin American Dancing can often confuse this for a slow Salsa. The main difference between the two (apart from the pace of the music) is the use of bongo drums to provide syncopation, with an amplified guitar being the other main instrument.
Dance:
Bachata is a sensual dance with the steps fairly similar to Salsa, although the pace is much slower. The main difference is the replacement of the pause on beats 4 and 8 by a tap by the foot and an upwards jerk with the hip. The tap is often replaced by lifting the foot in the air. Bachata is danced much closer than Salsa and the most common step is a side to side movement, with three steps to the left and a tap followed by three steps to the right and another tap.
Latinos NZ Popularity Scale: 3/10
Bachata is slowly gaining popularity in New Zealand, with more dancers understanding the rhythm and dance. On an average night out in a Latin Club, every 10th song would probably be a Bachata.
Also, down there in the source, I posted a URL to a previous question asked on Yahoo Answers. There is one answer on there that is pretty informative!
Hope this helped! Have a great new year!
References :
http://www.latinos.co.nz/bachata.php
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070122065225AAkGGCw
Aventurera4life
2010 Jan 03 2R u sure you are listing to merengue and Bachata because they are VERY different in sound,
Well some of the differences dont really apply anymore but originally bachata was strictly about love more specifically heartbreak so the more old school bachata tends to be slower. But now with bachata moderna artist sing about everything and they add a lot of other things to the music to make it more modern. Aventura got the trend started by adding R&B and hip-hop beats to their music and also singing in English and spanish. Now you can find a lot of other artist who do the same (sometimes they try and call it something else and say they invented the style but essentially they just add a few things to the style that Aventura started).
Now Merengue is much more upbeat and fast paced music. It is party music (well you dont have to listen to it for just parties but it is good for that) Like bachat they normally wrote their music about something but I dont remember what the theme was.
Here is a link to a old school (I hate calling it that because there are a lot of good artist who still do that style but I dont know what else to call it maybe Original Bachata)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzhnHr3KW1U
Here is a Bachata moderna song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-QJ-FlG5M&feature=channel_page
And here is a merengue song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0fbM_ZW1O0
References :
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