Clave (rhythm)

Clave is a rhythmic pattern which originates in West African music and was standardized in Cuba. The clave serves as a time-keeper and essentially all Afro-Cuban music, as well as salsa, is based around the clave rhythm. The name comes from the claves percussion instrument, two small wooden sticks that are hit together to produce a high-pitched sound. There are four main clave groups, one of which is the Brazilian "bossa clave", adapted by Brazilian musicians in the 1950's.

The most common type of clave is called "'son clave'", named by the Cuban musical style:

The above is the 3-2 clave, the 2-3 clave is the same but with the measures reversed.

Another type is rumba clave. It also can be in the 3-2 direction, as may be shown below, and in the 2-3 direction.

The third Cuban clave, the "6/8 clave" is an adaptation of the 6/8 cowbell pattern and is played mainly in the "rumba columbia", a rumba played in 6/8.

The origins of the rhythms are in polyrhythms of African music, which give more examples of clave rhythm.

Although this term is mostly used in the context of Afro-Cuban music, in fact it permeates the whole Rock and Roll music as the Bo Diddly beat or Bo Diddley beat, which was the signature rhythm of Bo Diddley and is rooted in African rhythms. This rhythm used to be memorized by the catch phrase "Shave and a haircut, two dimes" (inflation turned it into "Shave and a haircut, two bits"), pronounced with this rhythm.