Clave (rhythm)

This article is about the rhythmic pattern. For the musical instrument, see claves.

The Key to Understanding Afro-Cuban Rhythm

"Clave is a Spanish word meaning 'code,' 'key,' as in key to a mystery or puzzle, or 'keystone,' the wedge-shaped stone in the center of an arch that ties the other stones together. Clave is also the name of the patterns played on claves; two hardwood sticks used in Cuban music ensembles. The two main clave patterns used in Afro-Cuban music are the son clave and the rumba clave. Both clave patterns can be played in either a triple or duple-pulse structure."

The Archetypal African Timeline Pattern

The seven-stroke standard bell pattern contains the strokes of both clave patterns. Like clave, the standard pattern is expressed in both triple and duple-pulse.

The ethnomusicologist A.M. Jones observes that what we call son clave, rumba clave and the standard pattern are the most commonly used bell patterns (timelines) in sub-Saharan African music and he considers all three to be "basically one and the same pattern." Clearly, they are all expressions of the same rhythmic principles. The three timeline patterns are found within a large geographic belt extending from Mali in northwest Africa to Mozambique in southeast Africa.

"[Gerhard] Kubik…claims that a timeline pattern 'represents' the structural core of a musical piece, something like a condensed and extremely concentrated expression of the motional possibilities open to the participants (musicians and dancers)."

"At the broadest level, the African asymmetrical timeline patterns are all interrelated…."

The Cuban Concept of Clave

Both son clave and rumba clave are used in rumba. What we now call son clave (a.k.a Havana clave) used to be the timeline pattern played in Havana-style yambú and guaguancó. Some Havana-based rumba groups still use "son clave" for yambú. The musical genre known as son probably borrowed the clave pattern from rumba when it migrated from eastern Cuba to Havana at the beginning of the 20th century.

"The five-stroke clave pattern is the heart of Afro-Cuban music. Just as a keystone holds an arch in place, the clave pattern holds the rhythm together in Afro-Cuban music. During the nineteenth century, African and European music sensibilities were blended together in original Cuban hybrids. Cuban popular music became the conduit through which sub-Saharan rhythmic elements were first codified within the context of European ("Western") music theory. The first written music rhythmically based on clave was the Cuban danzón, which premiered in 1879. The contemporary concept of clave with its accompanying terminology reached its full development in Cuban popular music during the 1940s. Its application has since spread to folkloric music as well.

In a sense, the Cubans standardized their myriad rhythms, both folkloric and popular, by relating nearly all of them to the clave pattern. The veiled code of African rhythm was brought to light due to clave’s omnipresence. Consequently, the term clave has come to mean both the five-stroke pattern and the total matrix it exemplifies. In other words, the rhythmic matrix is the clave matrix.

Clave is the key that unlocks the enigma; it de-codes the rhythmic puzzle. It’s commonly understood that the actual clave pattern does not need to be played in order for the music to be in clave."

Clave in Non-Cuban Music

Controversy Over Usage and Origins

Perhaps the greatest testament to the musical vitality of the clave is the spirited debate it engenders, both in terms of musical usage and historical origins. This section presents examples from non-Cuban music, which some musicians (not all) hold to be representative of clave. The most common claims, those of Brazilian and subsets of American popular music, are described below.

Clave in its original form is a Spanish word and its musical usage was developed in the western part of Cuba, particularly the cities of Matanzas and Havana. However, the origins of the rhythm can be traced to Africa, particularly the West African music of modern-day Ghana and Nigeria. There are also rhythms resembling the clave found in parts of the Middle East.

There is some debate as to whether or not clave, as it appears in Cuban music, functions in the same way as its sister rhythms in other forms of music (Brazilian, American, African, Middle-Eastern). Certain forms of Cuban music demand a strict relationship between the clave and other musical parts, even across genres, that seems to be unique to Cuba. For example, the cáscara part in the Guaguancó (a folkloric style) relates to the clave in the same way as the cáscara part in the popular Salsa styles. In Brazilian or American pop music, any combination of rhythms can be placed over top of the “clave”.

The widespread nature of clave-type rhythms across many cultures may have to do with borrowing material, or it may have to do with the mathematical properties of the clave rhythm: the 3 side of the clave produces an approximate golden section ratio between its three notes and the pulse or beat. This makes the clave rhythm satisfying according to the theory of aesthetics that claims that humans enjoy seeing symmetry—clave functions as a high-order rhythmic symmetry and, according to this analysis, that is the reason we find it pleasing. It is also one of the easiest syncopations to produce in 4/4 time, which may suggest that it was developed independently by several different cultures.

Clave in Brazilian Music

Some musicians claim that clave also exists in Brazilian music. The Brazilian rhythms that are sometimes called claves occasionally share rhythmic similarities—but not always—and may have a different musical function. Culturally, linguistically, and in terms of ethnic background, Cuba and Brazil are both also quite distinct. However, through trade and other interactions in the 18th and 19th centuries, it is possible that common musical material was exchanged, but this remains to be verified historically.

Bossa Nova Clave

The bossa nova clave has a similar rhythm to that of the Son Clave, but the second note on the 2 side is delayed by half a beat. It can be played in either a 2-3 pattern or a 3-2 pattern.

3:2 Bossa Nova 3 - 2 pattern

2:3 Bossa Nova 2 - 3 pattern

Other Brazilian Examples

The examples below are transcriptions of several patterns resembling the Cuban clave that are found in various styles of Brazilian music, on the ago-gô and surdo instruments.

Legend: Time signature: 2/4; L=low bell, H=high bell, O = open surdo hit, X = muffled surdo hit, and | divides the measure:

• Style: Samba 3:2; LL.L.H.H|L.L.L.H. (More common 3:2: .L.L.H.H|L.L.L.H.)
• Style: Maracatu 3:2; LH.HL.H.|L.H.LH.H
• Style: Samba 3:2; L|.L.L..L.|..L..L.L|
• Instrument: 3rd Surdo 2:3; X...OO.O|X...O.O.
• Variation of samba style: Partido Alto 2:3; L.H..L.L|.H..L.L.
• Style: Maracatu 2:3; L.H.L.H.|LH.HL.H.
• Style: Samba-Reggae or Bossanova 3:2; O..O..O.|..O..O..
• Style: Ijexa 3:2; LL.L.LL.|L.L.L.L. (HH.L.LL.|H.H.L.L.)

For 3rd example above, the clave pattern is based on a common accompaniment pattern played by the guitarist. B=bass note played by guitarist's thumb, C=chord played by fingers.

C|BC.CB.C.|B.C.BC.C|

Another example of possible clave in Brazilian music is shown here: Alaiande Alaiande Xirê performed for Ilê Axé Opô Afonjá in Salvador, Brazil.

The singer enters on the wrong side of the clave and the ago-gô player adjusts accordingly. This recording cuts off the first bar so that it sounds like the bell comes in on the third beat of the second bar. This is suggestive of a pre-determined rhythmic relationship between the vocal part and the percussion, and may support the idea of clave in Brazilian music. It may, however, simply be a phrasing particular to this song.

Clave in Jamaican and French Caribbean Music

The son clave rhythm is present in Jamaican mento music, and can be heard on 1950s-era recordings such as "Don’t Fence Her In", "Green Guava" or "Limbo" by Lord Tickler, "Mango Time" by Count Lasher, "Linstead Market/Day O" by The Wigglers, "Bargie" by The Tower Islanders, "Nebuchanezer" by Laurel Aitken and others. The Jamaican population is partly of the same origin (Congo) as many Cubans, which perhaps explains the shared rhythm. It is also heard frequently in Martinique's biguine.

Clave in American Music

Although the actual term clave is mostly used in the context of Afro-Cuban music, the rhythm also permeates Rock and Roll and Jazz. This is not surprising, as early twentieth-century musicians from Havana and New Orleans would take the twice-daily ferry between both cities to perform.

Both the New Orleans "Second Line" rhythm, and the variation in popular music which came to be known as the "Bo Diddley beat" are similar to the son clave rhythm, with a shift of the accent from the third note of the three-note portion to the first note of that portion. It remains unclear where Bo Diddley first heard the rhythm. According to Bo Diddley himself in an interview published in French music magazine Best in 1990, his inspiration was American spirituals.

James P. Johnson's influential "Charleston" rhythm is virtually the same as the 3 side of the son clave. Johnson said he learned the rhythm from dockworkers in the South Carolina city of the same name.

The song "Little Darling" is built around clave rhythms. The bass riffs of "China Grove" by the Doobie Brothers use clave. The Macarena uses clave. There are hundreds of other examples throughout jazz and popular music. See also Spanish Tinge.

See also

• Music of Cuba
• Son Montuno
• Salsa
• Chachachá
• Abakuá
• Danzón
• Music of Africa

References

• Ortiz, Fernando (1950). La Africania De La Musica Folklorica De Cuba. Ediciones Universales, en español. Hardcover illustrated edition. ISBN 84-89750-18-1.
• Mauleón, Rebeca (1993). Salsa Guidebook for Piano and Ensemble. Petaluma, California: Sher Music. ISBN 0-9614701-9-4.
• Peñalosa, David (2009). The Clave Matrix; Afro-Cuban Rhythm: Its Principles and African Origins. Redway, CA: Bembe Inc. ISBN 1-886502-80-3.
• Centro de Investigación de la Música Cubana (1997). Instrumentos de la Música Folclórico-Popular de Cuba Volumes 1 and 2. Havana: CIDMUC.
• Jones, A.M. (1959). Studies in African Music. London: Oxford University Press.
• Agawu, Kofi (2003). Representing African Music; Postcolonial Notes, Queries, Positions. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-94390-6.
• Kubik, Gerhard (1999). Africa and the Blues. Jackson, MI: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 0-4-415-94390-6.
• Grenet, Emilio, translated by R. Phillips (1939). Popular Cuban Music. New York: Bourne Inc.
• Santos, John (1986). "The Clave: Cornerstone of Cuban Music" Modern Drummer Magazine p. 32. Sept.
• Novotney, Eugene D. (1998) The Three Against Two Relationship as the Foundation of Timelines in West African Musics, PhD thesis. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois. UnlockingClave.com.

External links

• Clave Concepts; Afro Cuban Rhythms
• An introduction to clave theory
• Clave Patterns
• Clave Debates
• Bossa Nova Clave
• The Structure of African Rhythm
• family of cuban clave patterns
• The Standard Pattern
• Three Against Two Relationship as the Foundation of Timelines in West African Musics