Part II: Understanding the music
by Paul Clifford

In Part I we discussed what the clave was and how to find it in the music. Now we will discuss a bit about the origins of the clave, a bit about how the music works, and provide you with a bit of dance imagery that is intended to help you understand how to move to the music.

Many language teachers suggest that to learn a new language it helps to understand a bit about the culture from which it is derived - it will help you "think" the language. The same is true in dance. Understanding its musical roots helps you "think" the dance.

In my articles on the Background and History of Mambo, Salsa and Cha Cha we discussed that the African rhythms in Cuban music came from the Yoruba, Congo and other West African people, who were transported to the Caribbean as slaves. These African rhythms were traditional drum and bell patterns used in religious ceremonies to call forth their gods. Unlike many of their counterparts throughout the Americas, the slaves in Cuba were allowed to form Cabillolos (societies/clubs based on ethic lines). This allowed them to preserve their traditions and with it their drum rhythms. Over time, the individual musical traditions of the Cabillolos have been influenced by interaction between the Cabillolos themselves, as well as foreign influences such as North American Jazz and in times past the traditional music of Spain.

In modern times the Cubans, Puerto Ricans and others have introduced brass instruments, keyboard, electric guitars and other non-traditional instruments to enhance the sound of the music but at the heart of the sound they produce, is the African clave rhythm - the heart of Cuban music!

The clave is a syncopated rhythm which originated from the 12/8 pattern of African drum and bell rhythms. However, these were too complicated for those who had adopted European ways and for Europeans who were more familiar with the march rhythms of their homeland. Possibly as a result of encountering European march music and the influences of traditional Spanish music, the five beats that had pulsated in a single bar of the Native African Rumba, were spread over two bars, having the effect of slowing the music. This slowing of the music also allowed new instruments to play in time with the clave beat, which led to the creation of new sounds and consequently new dances.

If you understand the above music notation thats great! However, many people have no knowledge of how the music is written. So, I have invented a dancer's notation which illustrates the sound of the music (its a bit like an LED display). I use it extensively in Part V of this article to help describe the emergence of the dances. The European music notation is shown above. My dancer's notation is shown below. Just like the European notation, it shows on what beat a note is played and how long the sound lasts.

Before we can use the dancer's notation, there are a couple of things you need to know.

Music is divided up into segments called measures and these are sub-divided into what are called bars (in the Rumba based dances, which includes Salsa, there are two bars to a measure). The bars are then sub-divided into equal durations of time (a count). Most modern music is notated as 4/4 time. This simply means there are four counts to a bar of music. Eight counts to a measure.

The clave rhythm has two pulse beats to a bar. This refers to a constant in the music that keeps all the instruments in a band in time and in the same pattern - it is that part of the music, to which you tend to tap your foot. The pulse is generated by the sound of a single strike of a drum on a count continuing to be heard on the next count. Salsa's pulse beats occur on the first and third counts and might be provided by the drummer playing the bell of the ride cymbal or be carried in the base line of the music.

In a musical arrangement different instruments may put more emphasis on a particular note (audible sound) than others. This is referred to as an Accent (play the note with more attack to make it louder). Accents can occur on the count or anywhere in between. It depends on what type of music is being played and the feel the musicians are after. Thus, for a particular instrument, a bar of music is divided into resonances with accent markers and rests.

Resonances describe the duration of a single note or combination of notes - the time from when a sound is played (first heard) to the time it is no longer heard. Rests describe the duration that an instrument remains silent. The resonance of a note can start on or before a count and extend beyond it. Accents emphasise a note played by a particular instrument and are used to give feel to the music.

Before you started to learn to dance, you instinctively felt the music but once confronted with choreographed moves and steps, many dancers stop listening, and replace the feel with the patterns contrived by their teachers. If you want to be a good dancer, understanding the musical arrangement will assist you in redeveloping your feel and instinct for it - it will help you to physically express and interpret the music and ultimately, that will make you a great dancer!

It is possible to understand the clave intellectually but the real understanding comes from the emotion that the dancer finds in the music. The feeling which inspires him/her to invent patterns that they can use to visually express the music.

It is well documented that the Mambo dance was developed from couples innovating moves to fit the new music. So, confronted with a whole new group of sounds, the dancers, following impulse and spontaneity created movements that matched the music. I encourage you to do the same!

"...A little bit of Jessica, in my life..." (Mambo No5)

The Rumba, Mambo, Cha Cha and Salsa have a group of basic steps that are common to all four dances. The man steps forward left, rocks back onto his right foot and then moves the left foot side back or back close (the lady mirrors the man). The variations which give each dance its uniqueness occur on the last move. These steps can be used to tell a story that is reminiscent of the Yambus found in Native African folk Rumba. The man attempts to seduce the woman but she pushes him away. He backs off but she encourages him and so he tries again and again and again.

In the clave a sense of excitement is built and then subdued by a quickening and then a slowing of the beat pattern. Suspense is built by playing two beats in quick succession in the middle of one bar and then allowing the drama to ebb away through a pause, two longish beats, one short beat and another pause.

In the dance, the dancers express this excitement with the man, contemplating the promise of vacuma, moving forward left on the 2 count. His partner resists him pushing him back (right rock back on count 3). He backs off (step back left on count 4) and pauses to think what to do next. He steps away from her on count 6 (back right) but she encourages him by stepping forward. He rocks forward but she plays coy and rocks back. He steps forward but she steps back. He pauses, thinks to himself "Is she just playing with me?" but he thinks he sees a glimmer in her eye and he decides to try again. And so the cycle begins!

Mainly because of the tempo of the music, this story is more evident in Rumba than its descendants but despite the increased tempo of the music for the other dances, the feel in their basics makes the imagery still valid.

If you jumped to this section straight from the Introduction of this article click Part I to start reading - Finding the Clave.

In Part III - The Clave Rhythm, we will illustrate the clave and discuss the forward and reverse patterns of the music. We will also add a bit more dance imagery to explain how the different Clave patterns provide feel to the music.