Part III: The Clave Rhythm
by Paul Clifford

In Part II we discussed how to understand the clave and how the music is configured. Now we will discuss the clave rhythm in more detail.

So we can discuss the clave pattern, we will try to visualise the music by inventing our own music notation for dancers. We will divide our measure into 8 counts. Notes will be shown as half count resonances. Accent positions will be shown on the half note where the note is played. Adjacent resonances (duration of sound) will be shown in different colors just to differentiate them. Gaps in resonance, indicate rests (no sound). Below is the European drum notation for the Son clave. Below that! Is our notation for dancers.

Notice that the clave pattern extends over two bars of the music (a measure) and that there are 5 accentuated beats over eight counts - three beats are accentuated in the first bar and two beats are accentuated in the next bar. This pattern is known as the Forward Son clave.

Using our Yambu analogy from Part II of this article, the forward clave is the musical equivalent of foreplay. The slowish, slowish, quick of the first bar builds expectation that something is about to happen. The quick, quick surrounded by rests on the next bar climaxes the pattern.

The Son clave is the basis of Rumba Son Montuno, Mambo, Cha Cha and Salsa music. The name "Son clave" was coined because of its use in a Cuban dance/music style called "Son".

The clave pattern can be traced to Native African Rumba. This is an exciting dance with exagerated hip gyrations and staccato upper body moves. It is a completely different musical style and dance to the gentle and erotic dance that we generally refer to as Rumba. Our Rumba is related to a variation of the Son called Son Montuno.

There is a variation to the Forward clave called the Reverse clave. The difference between the two patterns relates to which accented beats occur in the first bar of the music. In the reverse clave two beats are accentuated in the first bar and three in the next bar.

Again, using our Yambu analogy from Part II of this article, the reverse clave is the musical equivalent of "Lets do it!" in the two quick beats of the first bar and "I’ve got a headache" in the slowish, slowish, quick beats of the second bar.

The reverse clave is often referred to as the 2/3 clave and the forward clave is referred to as the 3/2 clave. This terminology has nothing to do with the music's timing signature which is 4/4. The clave terminology merely describes which accented beats the 1^st and 2^nd bars of a movement have. For a musician this has significance in regards to the "groove" of the music but for a dancer the significance is reflected in the different "mood" each arrangement gives to the music.

A good band will never mix the forward and reverse clave patterns.

The music should always have either a 2, 3, 2, 3 feel or a 3, 2, 3, 2 feel all the way through the song. Warning though! One musician relates a story about an instrumental piece where the guitarist played in 3/2 clave while the rest of the band played 2/3 clave with the result that something didn't sound right! The person who related this story got so annoyed by the strange sound that they went to find a band that played together. The moral of this story is that a dancer is dependent on the band playing the music consistently. If you can't dance to the band or together, find one with whom you can dance!

Irrespective of whether the forward or reverse clave pattern is being played, a dancer picks moves based on whether there are two or three clave beats in a bar. In bars with two clave beats, you either prepare for a move by doing a basic or perform a more staccato movement, such as a fifth position or cross over break. In bars with three beats you either perform a basic or spins or moves that require multiple steps. Generally, the man is too busy controlling the dance, so he usually just performs basics or basic variations throughout the dance. On the other hand, the woman performs the fancy moves and steps. So she is too busy moving to worry about much else and is dependent on the man to keep the timing and choreograph the dance. Remember the man is there to make the girl look good (nobody is watching him). He is simply the frame in which the girl is shown off.

It is possible to dance on the beats of the clave but if you did it in 4/4 time, it would be the dance equivalent of playing out of key. If on count two you stepped forward left, then after eight counts, you must be in position to once again step left - forward , back or side.

Musically the clave uses one measure (an 8 count) to complete a sequence. Therefore, the dancer must also use one measure to complete a sequence of moves and return to the start position. If you stepped on the clave beats it would take you two measures (a 16 count) to return to the start position - this would put you outside of the clave pattern and out of harmony with the music!

If you examine the step pattern in the above diagram (L=Left foot, R=Right foot), you will notice that the dancer started the measure stepping Left and ended it stepping Left. This means on the first step of the next measure, the dancer would need to step with their Right foot. In short, they would now be out of key! Remember: you have to start each measure on the same foot. If you start Left, you have to finish the measure stepping Right, so you can start the next measure on the Left foot.

You could keep to the key by not stepping on count eight but then you would have a really awkward two beat pause before you took your next step and it would mean that you are no longer dancing on the clave. Believe it or not, there is method and logic in the madness of the step patterns for each dance!

In Part IV - Dancing with the Clave, we will discuss how the Clave is the key to performing Afro-Cuban dance and music and how to use it to start and time your movements.