Alberto Villalón

Alberto Villalón Morales (7 June 1882 in Santiago de Cuba – 16 July 1955 in Havana) was one of the greatest musicians in the Cuban trova style.

Villalón and his sister América studied guitar with Pepe Sánchez, the father of the trova movement.

With his training he preferred picking (punteado) instead of strumming (rasgueado), which had been the main technique previously.

Alberto brought into the septet Juan de la Cruz and Benvenido León, who had been playing with him in a trio.

The addition of the first really great sonero, Abelardo Barroso (1905 – 1972), made the Nacional the best group in Cuba for its time.