Timelines

A clave is a master rhythm, a pattern the rest of the band is built around. It repeats, it does not change, and everyone else hears where they are by it.

From theory: time signatures

Son clave

Two bars. In the 3-2 version the first bar has the tresillo (three hits) and the second has two. Count the whole thing in eighths, 1 to 16.

In notation: the clave is two bars, so there is a barline in the middle and a time signature of 4/4. Because each note is as long as its gap, bar one reads dotted quarter, dotted quarter, quarter (3 + 3 + 2 eighths). Bar two starts with a quarter rest, then a quarter and a dotted quarter.

Flip the bars and you have the 2-3 clave. It is also the Bo Diddley beat.

Move one hit

Push the third hit one eighth later and son becomes rumba clave. A small delay, a very different feel.

The rest of the family

Son, rumba, bossa, shiko, soukous and gahu are five-hit patterns spread over sixteen steps as evenly as the numbers allow without being even. The circle shows why they feel alike: lay them on a circle and they are nearly the same shape, turned.

Twelve pulses

The same idea in 12/8. The bembé bell has seven hits in twelve pulses and is felt as four big beats of three.

In notation: the time signature 12/8 means twelve eighth notes in a bar, felt as four groups of three. A quarter note is two eighths and an eighth note is one, so the bell’s gaps of 2-2-1-2-2-2-1 eighths are written straight from the grid: quarter, quarter, eighth, quarter, quarter, quarter, eighth.

1. Tap the count with your foot. Clap the first bar of son clave: it is the tresillo you already know.
2. Clap the second bar: two hits, on 2 and 3.
3. Loop both. Count 1 to 16 under your breath until the bars feel like one pattern.
4. Move the third hit later by one step and hear rumba.
5. Try the circle lab in Labs to find other rotations.