Rhythms › Latin American rhythms
2-3 cáscara 1 (&) 2 (&) 3 & (4) & | 1 (&) 2 & (3) & (4) &
Learn first Lesson 7: Syncopation and ties
Cáscara is Spanish for 'shell'. The word names both the metal shells of the timbales, the pair of tuned drums on a stand played with sticks, and the rhythm that timbaleros (timbales players) play on them, traditionally in the softer sections of a song. Today the name refers to the rhythm more than to the instrument: on a drum kit it is often played on the shell of the floor tom, on a cymbal or on a cowbell.
The pattern lasts two bars of eighth notes, one bar for each side of the clave, so it must start on the correct bar for the song. In a 2-3 song the first bar is 1, 2, 3, 'and' of 3, 'and' of 4, and the second bar is 1, 2, 'and' of 2, 'and' of 3, 'and' of 4. Its roots lie in the stick pattern of guaguancó, a style of Cuban rumba, and variants of it became the timbales bell patterns of the 1940s mambo bands.
| Pattern | Count |
|---|---|
| 2-3 cáscara | 1 (&) 2 (&) 3 & (4) & | 1 (&) 2 & (3) & (4) & |
| 3-2 cáscara | 1 (&) 2 & (3) & (4) & | 1 (&) 2 (&) 3 & (4) & |
| 2-3 son clave, for reference | (1 &) 2 (&) 3 (& 4 &) | 1 (& 2) & (3 &) 4 (&) |
Compare the two parts side by side. On the two-side, the cáscara plays both clave strokes, on beats 2 and 3, and fills around them. On the three-side it plays the clave strokes on 1 and on the 'and' of 2, but it leaves out beat 4 and plays around it, on the 'and' of 3 and the 'and' of 4. A timbalero often plays cáscara with one hand and clave on a wood block with the other; the last exercise is the combined rhythm of the two hands.
In guaguancó a similar stick pattern is played on the guagua, a length of hollow bamboo, or with sticks on the side of a drum, and is also called palitos ('little sticks') or cáscara. Salsa musicians carried it over to the timbales shells. During the mambo era of the 1940s timbaleros mounted cowbells on their drums, and several of the standard timbales bell patterns are based on this rumba part. Players accent the cáscara in different ways, so listen to recordings for the accents you like.
The classic mistake is starting on the wrong bar, playing 3-2 cáscara in a 2-3 song, so check the clave first. Clave players often add a stroke on beat 4 of the three-side by habit; the plain cáscara does not have it. The off-beat strokes after a rest, on the 'and' of 3 and the 'and' of 4, tend to be rushed, so feel the silent beat before each of them.