Puerto Rico
What is the capital of Puerto Rico
San Juan
Name one musical tradition or style connected to Puerto Rico.
Bomba, plena, música jíbara, salsa, or reggaetón.
Name one percussion instrument used in salsa.
Congas, bongós, timbales, or claves.
Which U.S. city became an important center for salsa?
New York City.
Which salsa singer was born in Puerto Rico and moved to New York?
Héctor Lavoe.
In which region is Puerto Rico located?
The Caribbean (northeastern Caribbean Sea).
Which Afro-Puerto Rican musical tradition features a lead drum responding to a dancer?
Bomba
What are claves?
Two wooden sticks that play an organizing rhythmic pattern.
What is El Barrio?
East Harlem / Spanish Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City.
Which salsa musician was born in the Bronx to a Puerto Rican family and played trombone?
Willie Colón.
Name the two official languages of Puerto Rico’s government.
Spanish and English.
Which Puerto Rican musical tradition is known for telling stories about community events?
Plena
Which salsa instrument is a pair of small connected hand drums?
Bongós.
What does “Nuyorican” describe?
Puerto Rican identity or experience connected to New York.
Which internationally famous salsa singer was Cuban?
Celia Cruz.
Which language is most widely used in everyday life in Puerto Rico?
Spanish.
Which instrument is strongly associated with música jíbara?
The cuatro.
Which salsa instrument often plays repeated syncopated patterns called montunos?
Piano.
How did Puerto Rican communities in New York help shape salsa—and why is salsa more than just dance music?
Puerto Rican and other Caribbean/Latino musicians in New York exchanged styles, performed, recorded, and popularized salsa. Salsa also tells stories about migration, community, identity, and everyday life.
Which Puerto Rican salsa orchestra was founded in 1962?
El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico.
Name the shape on Puerto Rico’s flag that contains the white star, and two flag colors.
A blue triangle; any two of red, white, and blue.
Name THREE musical traditions or styles connected to Puerto Rico.
Any three: bomba, plena, música jíbara, salsa, reggaetón.
TRUE or FALSE: Salsa developed entirely in Puerto Rico. Explain.
FALSE. Salsa has African rhythmic roots, strong Afro-Cuban foundations, Caribbean exchange, and major development in New York, including Puerto Rican/Nuyorican musicians.
Why was New York important to salsa’s development?
Musicians from Puerto Rico, Cuba, and other Caribbean/Latin communities met, mixed musical traditions, performed, recorded, and popularized salsa.
Name TWO salsa legends from the scavenger hunt and one fact about each.
Héctor Lavoe—Puerto Rico-born singer;
Willie Colón—Bronx-born trombonist;
Celia Cruz—Cuban singer;
El Gran Combo—Puerto Rican orchestra founded in 1962;
Tito Puente—NY-born percussionist with Puerto Rican parents;
Ismael Rivera—Puerto Rican singer.