Progressions in C — Cuban Tres

C major harmonises to C – Dm – Em – F – G – Am – B°; C minor to Cm – D° – Eb – Fm – Gm – Ab – Bb. Each chord links to its Cuban Tres voicings, so a vamp in C becomes a short list of stations before the first repeat.

Most of what a tres plays lives on two or three of these chords at a time — a montuno is a loop, not a journey. Choose the pair the tune leans on, set a figure over them, and let the repetition do the work the arrangement expects of it.