The best-known example of a song with a habanera rhythm is “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle,” the Habanera from Bizet’s opera Carmen. Others include Sebastián Yradier’s “La Paloma,” Scott Joplin’s “Solace,” W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues” and Aníbal Troilo’s milonga “La trampera.” Each one is listed below with the reason it counts.
The habanera rhythm comes from the Cuban contradanza, which was known outside Cuba as the habanera, “the dance of Havana.” It is written in 2/4 time as a dotted eighth, a sixteenth and two eighths. Counted aloud it goes “boom… ba-bop-bop”: a long first note, then a quick note, then two even notes. It is the tresillo pattern (3+3+2) with the second main beat added, and it is usually played as a repeating bass figure in the left hand or the bass line.
1. “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” (Georges Bizet, Carmen)
Carmen’s entrance aria in Bizet’s 1875 opera is the habanera most people know. The cellos repeat the habanera pattern under the vocal line for the whole opening, and the aria is usually just called “the Habanera.” Bizet based it on Yradier’s song “El Arreglito.”
2. “La Paloma” (Sebastián Yradier)
Yradier wrote “La Paloma” (1863) after visiting Cuba in 1861, and it became one of the most popular habaneras ever written. It has been arranged and recorded in many cultures. In the piano score, the left hand plays the rhythm in every bar, which makes it an easy example to hear.
3. “El Arreglito” (Sebastián Yradier)
This is the song Bizet borrowed for Carmen. If you play it next to the aria, you can hear the same habanera bass under both.
4. “La Pimienta” (anonymous)
“La Pimienta” is an early contradanza habanera, published anonymously in an 1836 collection. It is the earliest known piece to use the characteristic habanera rhythm in the left hand of the piano, so it is the starting point of every example on this list.
5. “Solace” (Scott Joplin)
Joplin labelled “Solace” (1909) a “Mexican serenade,” but it is considered a habanera. Listen to the left hand: it plays the habanera’s long-short-short-short figure. If you want more piano examples from this era, see these famous ragtime piano pieces.
6. “St. Louis Blues” (W.C. Handy)
Handy’s “St. Louis Blues” (1914) has a habanera/tresillo bass line. Handy said he added the rhythm after he saw how dancers reacted to it in Will H. Tyler’s “Maori” and in “La Paloma.” He also used it in the instrumental copy of “Memphis Blues” and in the chorus of “Beale Street Blues.”
7. “Maori” (Will H. Tyler)
This is the piece that gave Handy the idea. It includes the habanera rhythm, and Handy described a “sudden, proud and graceful reaction” from dancers when the band reached it.
8. “New Orleans Blues” (Jelly Roll Morton)
Morton called the habanera/tresillo feel the “Spanish tinge” and thought jazz needed it. Describing “New Orleans Blues,” one of his earliest tunes, he said “you can notice the Spanish tinge.” The left hand plays the tresillo rhythm and the right hand plays variations on cinquillo.
9. “The Crave” (Jelly Roll Morton)
Morton wrote “The Crave” in 1910 and recorded it in 1938. The habanera rhythm is clear in the left hand all the way through.
10. “La trampera” (Aníbal Troilo)
Argentine milonga and early tango used the habanera as their bass rhythm. Troilo’s 1951 milonga “La trampera” uses the same habanera heard in Carmen. Tango fans can read more about the instruments of tango.
11. “Yo Siempre Te Esperé” (Imperio Argentina)
This habanera was recorded by Imperio Argentina in 1932. It is a sung example of the Spanish habanera tradition, which is still popular in Andalusia, Valencia and Catalonia.
12. “Tú” (Eduardo Sánchez de Fuentes)
“Tú” is a Cuban habanera. As son took over in the 20th century the habanera faded in Cuba, but “Tú” survived. Its music has been transcribed and performed in other formats, and it is still a much-loved composition.
Related Examples: Tresillo Bass Lines
Many sources list the following songs next to the habanera. Strictly speaking they use tresillo, the habanera’s three-note core, without the steady second beat:
- “Hound Dog” (Elvis Presley): the 1956 bass line is perhaps the best-known rock ‘n’ roll tresillo.
- “Blue Monday” (Fats Domino): produced by Dave Bartholomew, who took the figure from a Cuban record.
- “Misery” (Professor Longhair): the left hand plays a habanera-like figure.
Final Thoughts
To hear a habanera rhythm, listen to the bass, not the melody. Look for a 2/4 pulse whose first beat is long and dotted, followed by three quick even notes. Start with Carmen and “La Paloma.” After those, the habanera bass in “Solace” and “St. Louis Blues” is easy to recognise.
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