Explaining Clave (Clave for Dummies)

[davidpenalosa]

...it doesn't address décima and clave per se, it points out that "[The décima's] inherently rhythmic pattern of stressed syllables and pairs of rhymes repeated unequally yet regularly is a linguistic emulation of the continuo parts of the rumba. In this way an arcane poetic or literary device becomes another rhythmic element in the rumba gestalt."

Thanks for posting that link to the article. They call being in-clave "clave time." While they don't explain what this means, I do appreciate how the article does address the intersecting of the African and European musical genres.

According to the Centro de Investigación de la Música Cubana's "Instrumentos de la Música Folclórico-Popular de Cuba" (1997), 6/8 punta uses the triple-pulse form of son clave:

|| X . X . X . | . X . X . . ||

It makes sense that decima and other musical forms of European origin were easily adaptable to duple-pulse clave, but it's interesting that it was adapted to triple-pulse structure too. Spanish music has triple meter music, but the clave pattern shown above (a variant of the bell pattern used in palo and bembe) is not triple meter. It is compound duple meter; four main beats subdivided into three pulses each. The triple-pulse clave pattern clearly represents African cross-rhythm, rather than the more straight forward triple meter structures found in European music.
-David

[Tone]

Hi everybody,

I thought I had to add a little info/correction about the Brazilian side of things. Always misundesrtood if not ignored...
I will stick to candomble but this also true for many other rhythms.

The clave here is called the Ga with a tilda on the a, pronounced gan. It is the name of a metal bell, also the two or three tone agogo bell can be used. Its use is just as central as in African or Cuban folkloric music, with its ramifications in contemporary popular music.

In candomble de Angola there is three basic claves.
Congo uses son clave with a ternary feel.
Barravento uses the 6/8 bell pattern with also a very particular feel.
Cabula uses a very different clave which I think is even harder to catch than rumba clave.

Candomble de ketu or quettu has dozens of claves over two or four beats. The 6/8 bell is used a lot but there are lots of other ones. The high drum called " le " played with sticks tends to also do a version of the clave with lots of flourishes a bit like what the kata does in relation to the clave but with lots of little rolls.

All this is of course not surprising as it all comes from the same place, namely Africa.
You could even argue that the cuban array of claves is very poor ( not to knock it, I passionately love Cuban music). There are probably hundreds of other claves in Africa and other parts of the world ( Asia is very rich too).

We would need a few life times to learn them all!

Abraços.

[guarachon63]

It makes sense that decima and other musical forms of European origin were easily adaptable to duple-pulse clave, but it's interesting that it was adapted to triple-pulse structure too.

I know very little about punto cubano, I imagine there are different kinds, but when I think of it I think of the "repentismo" where the decimas are sung a capella during breaks in the music, when the clave is not actually played. They seem to be sung a bit more "al aire" than rumba decimas.

[burke]

|| X . X . X . | . X . X . . ||

In 6/8 I don't see any real difference between son and rumba clave - I mean if you shift the 3rd X in the first bar over one spot then keep repeating... the X's and spaces end up the same in each right? I'm guessing I'm missing something obivious or lack the mucical training to get it. Again I'm just referring to 6/8 in the above.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Clave as 2 bar or/and 1 bar pattern:

In The Tomas Cruz books (and other places) they state we "Woody's" [see white men can't jump image previous] tend to write stuff in 8th notes - they show clave in 4/4 written as a two bar pattern. They go on to say in Cuba they tend to write in 16th notes - with clave shown written in one bar.
Comments?

If you are in 12/8 ...can't be 2 bars ...right? I mean what would that look like?

[davidpenalosa]

Tone,
It appears that you are using the term “clave” to mean “bell pattern.” I have known of a couple of people who have used the term in that way, but that usage is generally considered incorrect. The clave pattern is understood to specifically mean either the son clave or the rumba clave. Some people refer to the seven-stroke bell pattern used in bembe, palo and some Candomble music as “clave”, but that is definitely the exception rather than the rule.

For the type of point you make, ethnomusicologists use the term “guide pattern” or “timeline pattern.” I prefer “key pattern.”

If I refer to a clave pattern in a non-Cuban genre like say, Brazilian Candomble or maculele I use quotation marks, as in—>>“Son clave” is a bell pattern used in maculele.<< I do this because I do not want to imply that I am improperly projecting Cuban musical sensibilities (mainly 3-2/2-3) on a non-Cuban genre.

It is true that there are many guide patterns in Africa. However, you do not find them in Asia. In fact, Asian rhythm is built upon an entirely different premise.

There are many different guide (bell) patterns used in Cuba, not just the three I have mentioned here. I’m guessing off the top of my head that there are more in Cuba than in Brazil. Perhaps we can compare notes?
-David

[davidpenalosa]

1. In 6/8 I don't see any real difference between son and rumba clave - I mean if you shift the 3rd X in the first bar over one spot then keep repeating... the X's and spaces end up the same in each right?
2. In The Tomas Cruz books (and other places) they state we "Woody's" [see white men can't jump image previous] tend to write stuff in 8th notes - they show clave in 4/4 written as a two bar pattern. They go on to say in Cuba they tend to write in 16th notes - with clave shown written in one bar.
Comments?If you are in 12/8 ...can't be 2 bars ...right? I mean what would that look like?

1.
You are correct. In my upcoming book I have a chapter section called "One Pattern in Two Different Positions" in which I examine this phenomena.

2.
This is not a white/black issue, or issue of ethnicity. The first written music based on African rhythmic figures was the Cuban contradanza (also called the habanera). It was not based on the two-celled clave however, but on the single celled tresillo and its variants such as cinquillo. Tresillo was written in one measure of 2/4.

Later in the 1880s the danzon came along which has a two-celled structure. The two-celled structure was represented in two measures of 2/4. Today Cuban-based popular music and Latin jazz most often depicts clave in two measures of 2/2 or two measures of 4/4.

Some Cuban musicians also represent clave in a single measure of 4/4 or a single measure of 12/8. I prefer this latter method because I consider clave to be the main referent ("clave is the key"). Clave is the musical period and the measure should represent the musical period.
-David

[burke]

First David, let me express my gratitude for how incredibly generous you are being with us all on this topic!

“Some Cuban musicians also represent clave in a single measure of 4/4 or a single measure of 12/8"

So then would the single measure of 4/4 look like this using 16th notes?

X * * X * * X * * * X * X * * *

and the single measure of 12/8 look like this also using 16th notes?

X * * * * X * * * * X * * * * * X * X * * * * *

As for the ethnicity thing, of course you are absolutely right ... just a reference to Abakua’s little tee hee picture a page or two back.

This whole discussion puts me in mind of that famous Bruce Lee quote:
“Before I studied the art, a punch to me was just like a punch, a kick just like a kick. After I learned the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick no longer a kick. Now that I've understood the art, a punch is just like a punch, a kick just like a kick.”

Darrell

[davidpenalosa]

Darrell,
Your notation is correct. However, while clave in one measure of 4/4 means that the sixteen pulses (subdivisions) are represented as 16th notes, the twelve pulses in a single measure of 12/8 are represented by 8th notes, not 16ths. It has to do with the correlation of triple and duple pulses using standard notation. Also, 12/8 means that there are twelve 8th notes per measure.
-David

[ABAKUA]

By the way, Afro-Cuban folklorists do not relate to the 3-2/2-3 system, nor do Africans or other non-Cubans. Ironically, neither do the young band musicians in Cuba today.

Ive been following this thread with great interest.
I and the percussionists/congueros I normally associate with & work with & rumba with, never think of it in terms of counting nor bars etc in terms of rumba/timba/son etc clave application/direction.
It (clave) is more so implied, internally/felt automatically per se... Having grown up schooled in the custom/drumming culture in old school fashion, we have never had to think of it in the ways David is so clearly able to write and decypher.

Much respect for being able to translate what we feel internally into notation & explanation for others to understand and be able to read etc what we seem to take for granted by simply feeling/understanding.

You are a true asset to our international drumming community and congaplace.

Thankyou for being here and sharing your vast and clear knowledge.

Marcelo.

[davidpenalosa]

Marcelo,
Thank you.

Do you ever find yourself reading a chart? Or, do you play band music completely "by ear"?
-David

[ABAKUA]

I cant read. Have never had a need to. And never learnt either.
All by ear brother. Never had an issue in 20 yrs of gigging now.
If given extreme short notice for a gig, and get given the repertoire with less than 2 weeks to learn (& if I dont already know the song or arrangement), I find myself writting out my own chart with the arrangement/bloque notated in what I only understand. If i get someone who reads to play what I have written out, it comes out completely different to what I actually wrote, but I understand it and play it exactly as its supposed to go. Only really used that on a few odd occassions where I had a tour at short notice, but by the 3rd rehearsal or so I already had the gig memorised and never actually used it while performing.
But as I said, that has only been on 2 or 3 occassions I believe....

While I do freelance work from time to time, filling in for a fellow percussionist, my main work all these years has been with Salsa/Latin Jazz/Timba/Descarga bands, in which I stay with for years at a time and learn all the repertoire, it all tends to stay engraved in the memory. God help me once I get into my elderly years & I start forgetting shit!

[davidpenalosa]

Even though I have written many charts for band members and am pretty deep into music theory, I have always disliked reading charts myself. I avoid it at all costs and am not very good at it as a result. I end up learning the song "by ear", even if am looking at a chart, because as the band practices the song, I'm hearing it and learning it.

I do find though that the non-percussionists rely heavily on charts, or at the very least, they benefit from them when initially learning a tune.
-David

[Tone]

Hi David,

nice chatting with you again.

Yes, I used the word clave as a substitute for key pattern, as I was specifically answering a post which stated that the Brazilian wouldn't have any idea what clave meant. I think the person who wrote that post meant that they wouldn't be so deep into using a key pattern, which as you know is quite the opposite. The bell patterns in Brazilian music play the exact same role that they plays in African or Cuban music.
If he meant that Brazilian percussionists didn't understand the word clave, then of course it is a different thing.
I am sure you will find plenty who don't, but you would be surprised to see how most of the good Brazilian percussionists are extremely well aware of the Cuban stuff. Many of them play a really mean Rumba. Some people are even masters of both tradition as Leo Lebons.

Now I will provoque you a bit by saying that, actually, I think that I can use the word "clave" for key pattern for two reasons.
One, I am free spririted and two when talking to percussionists they do perfectly understand me if say something like "what is the Maculele clave ". So maybe a new word is being created, at first a new meaning for a word is always a stretch and by definition wrong compared to its original meaning. But as all linguists will tell you, meanings are in constant evolution.

Now, I understand when you say that you don't want to push the Cuban culture onto others. I think as with other words that take bigger meaning from different cultures, it can happen when one culture is particularly good or innovative at what it does. Most computer related names fro example come from America because of its overwhelming influence and innovation in this domain.
The Cubans certainly didn't invent the key pattern concept, but their influence and innovation in the modern world of percussion is such that percussionists around the world tend to use Cuban words as a universal language.

Anyway it is the usage of the real people over time that will decide that.

As for Asian clave. They is a very wide array of cultures and music using many different ideas and concepts.
The music of the Sidis of India definitely uses clave(it has a strong African influence via Zanzibar), my friends who play in a Gamelan orchestra tells me that some parts fill the role of the clave as they define a repeating key pattern around which everything else revolves ( He plays afro-Cuban music as well). Can any one confirm that?
Also, it seems to me that Koto music from Japan suggests something very similar to Clave. In Kabuki music I have heard sticks playing something that seemed to me very similar to a key pattern.
There is such a huge variety of music that I don't know nor understand from Asia,...can anyone who knows those musics contribute something on that? I would be very curious to know.

On the subject of writing the stuff down, I always use the way I was taught in Cuba : two bars of 8X16th notes. So clave comes out as :
IIx..x..x.I..x.x...II

Endless subject, endless fun.

Abraços

[davidpenalosa]

The bell patterns in Brazilian music play the exact same role that they plays in African or Cuban music.

Agreed.

Concerning the difference between rhythms of sub-Saharan Africa and rhythms of Asia. African rhythm is divisive and Asian rhythms have an additive structure. While you will find some rhythmic figures that exist in both Africa and Asia, they are approached differently. For example, the common figure we call "tresillo" is found in Africa and Asia. In Africa "tresillo" is generated through divisive rhythm: 8 pulses divided by 3 = two cross-beats with a cross-rhythmic fragment remaining (ponche). 8 ÷ 3 = 2, r2 pulses. In Asia "tresillo" is generated through additive means: 3+3+2.

X . . X . . X .

-David

[Tone]

I am not sure I understand what you mean. It sounds interesting though.
Would you mind to expand a bit? What does it mean musically?

thanks