Music, Puerto Rico, and the Trovador

By J. Schlasner
Music is as much a part of the Puerto Rican experience as bright colors, rice and beans, and dropping the S at the ends of words.  

Don Chema with a mural of Trovador legends.

According to Marta who works at the The House of the Composer Héctor Flores Osuna in Caguas, music is so integrated into the Puerto Rican culture that jukeboxes used to stand outside the buildings for public use, and men would use them to serenade their sweethearts.

Though this tradition has gone the way of the jukebox, the streets of Puerto Rico remain constantly filled with music.  Puerto Rican music is the most played Caribbean music in the US, according to Welcome to Puerto Rico.  And Puerto Rican music isn’t just Salsa.  From the harder drum beats and brass of Bomba y Plena to the newer Reggaeton, Puerto Rican music is as diverse as the people who created it.

The twangy folk music of the Trovadors, similar to the old European Troubadours, has especially impressed me with its complexity.  The level of creativity and both musical and lyrical knowledge required of the Trovador artist to pull of a successful performance is exceptionally high. 

Rhyme and meter scheme of a Trovador song.

“[Trovador] is very difficult because the people don’t write the song [down].  They use their imagination,” said our guide to Puerto Rico, Jose Pereira.  He went on to explain that a Trovador show begins with the audience submitting a first line of sorts.  And from that line, the artist must come up with a full song following the Trovador rhythm, meter, and rhyme scheme (see photo) on the spot.

According to Jose, a lot of people try to make the song even more difficult by submitting challenging first lines.  But even without a difficult first line to rhyme, a fully impromptu Trovador song following a specific rhyme structure takes a creative musician with a quick mind and a mastery of language to pull off.

For more information on Puerto Rican music, check out any of the links above or stop by the Casa del Trovador Luis Miranda in Caguas, Puerto Rico and have Don Chema show you around!

Photos by J. Schlasner (2013).