I'm writing an article on the magic of clave and musicality, and it's not trivial. I think it will end up in two or three parts, because there's so much to cover. Usually I write something, and then I try to cut it in half during the editing process. It's possible this will happen again and it will be one short article. I'm not holding my breath.
I realized I wrote a couple of articles on clave over a year ago, but since I only had seven readers back then, it makes sense to remind you of these articles. I'm expanding these concepts and debunking some of the current clave myths I hear regularly.
If you happen to be among the seven that were following this blog last year, you might want to check them out again, as the information is timeless. (I can say that, because one of the articles was written by someone else, with additional commentary from me.)
If you are newer, then you'll want to read them as they will provide some solid information for your reading and dancing pleasure.
Check them out and let me know your thoughts.
Clave Articles from 2007:
Clave and the Ever-Changing Salsa Dance (June 07)
Clave: More Than Most People Want to Know (Sept 07)
Victory goes to the player who makes the next-to-last mistake.
--Jackie Mason
4 comments:
Hi Don,
For me the clave is God. Its syncopated rhythm is the thing which really moves me inside and makes me want to dance. It is the heart of salsa and is what makes Latin music Latin. I could dance salsa happily to just a clave and nothing else. It provides the drive, the energy, the passion and the lilt to the music. I guess the timbale is in there too - but the clave does the real anchor work.
The "implied clave", as you call it, works just as well - sometimes you don't even realise that it is only implied, unless you try to find it - but the moment it stops, it's like switching the lights off.
There is something very special about syncopated rhythms. Whether off-beats, triplets, pulling notes across the bar line or just hitting entries a half-beat before the bar. It happens all the time in Latin music, in jazz, and in classical too. It must somehow trigger some kind of emotional reaction in our brains that a regular beat does not - it is such a strong feeling.
Though I've never looked into it closely, as far as I can tell there is no clave in merenge (please correct me if I am wrong) and this, for me, makes most of this music pretty dull and I can't find the same passion to dance to it - although of course you have to be able to manage an emergency merenge when called upon to do so - I don't really enjoy it much. Salsa, bachata, cha cha cha and even reggeaton all have a clave feel in there somewhere.
Though I did not realise it at the time, it is the clave that originally drew me to salsa and which holds me there.
I lived in Iowa for several years. There were times when the music and the ambiance of the local salsa club got to the point where all the dancers and spectators would clap along with the clave. Ask anyone, with ears and a heart, to clap along with the song. If it's a salsa song, they will invariably clap with the clave, whether "dos mas tres" or "tres mas dos."
I agree with the previous commentator: "I could dance salsa happily to just a clave and nothing else."
Thanks for such a fine blog.
I first learned to clap the Clave in that local percussion group along with some Conga, some Djembe, some Timbales, some some. Hasn't left me since then, almost 20 years ago. I learned to appreciate the subtle variants of the Clave. Keeps spinning in my head. My brain continuously runs the "Clave Detector" background task and goes pling! when some fragment of music I'm exposed to has the Clave.
I am German. Germans traditionally clap their hands 1-2-3-4, stamp their feet 1-2-3-4 and bang their heads 1-2-3-4. If I had only that to dance on, I wouldn't be dancing. Doesn't work for me. Gets me bored right after the 3. How come?
If Salsa didn't have the Clave, I might never have noticed the dance.
Don, thanks for keeping up your valuable blog!
PS. Spelled the Clave with a capital C, just in case it really is God. You never know.
Yea, I've gone back and forth on the spelling of both clave and salsa. Sometimes I've capitalized both, like they are proper nouns, but most of the time I don't capitalize them anymore.
As for clave: From a percussionist perspective, I see it as the foundation of the music. I learned my first clave rhythm at age 16 or so.
I'm struggling with the details of my next clave article, and you'll see why when it releases. It could be this weekend, or I may let it sit for a week or two and ripen.
I have so many articles in draft form I may take one or two of those and finish them first. I often write/rewrite articles a few times before I like them.
The next clave article is very important to me, so I want it right rather than a few days earlier.
Thanks for all the great feedback, I look forward to more as we deepen this discussion.
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Don Baarns - Unlikely Salsero