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3-2 rumba clave 1 (& 2) & (3 & 4) & | (1 &) 2 (&) 3 (& 4 &)
Learn first Lesson 7: Syncopation and ties
Rumba clave is the key pattern of Cuban rumba, the family of Afro-Cuban drum, song and dance styles that took shape in the poor neighbourhoods of Havana and Matanzas in the second half of the nineteenth century. Like son clave it has five strokes, three on one side and two on the other, and it is used in both 3-2 and 2-3 order.
Only one stroke differs from son clave. The third stroke of the three-side comes an eighth note later, on the 'and' of 4 instead of on beat 4. That delay lets the three-side lean into the two-side and gives rumba clave its restless pull. The 4/4 form is used in the rumba styles yambú and guaguancó and is now common in Cuban popular music and Latin jazz; columbia, another rumba style, uses a triple-pulse form. As with son clave, it is written here over two bars in eighth notes, and the last exercise shows the one-bar Cuban form.
| Pattern | Count |
|---|---|
| 3-2 rumba clave | 1 (& 2) & (3 & 4) & | (1 &) 2 (&) 3 (& 4 &) |
| 2-3 rumba clave | (1 &) 2 (&) 3 (& 4 &) | 1 (& 2) & (3 & 4) & |
| 3-2 rumba clave (one bar, Cuban style) | 1 (e &) a (2 e &) a (3 e) & (a) 4 (e & a) |
Teaching materials agree that the only difference between the two claves is the last stroke of the three-side: beat 4 in son clave, the 'and' of 4 in rumba clave. In the one-bar Cuban notation, son clave falls on 1, 1a, 2&, 3& and 4, and rumba clave on 1, 1a, 2a, 3& and 4. If you already know son clave, keep everything else exactly where it was and move that one clap.
Written rumba clave is a simplification. In real guaguancó and yambú the late stroke of the three-side and the first stroke of the two-side are often placed somewhere between the straight sixteenth-note grid and a triplet feel, and percussionists such as John Santos have noted a long-running debate about how to notate it. The triple-pulse form, written in 12/8 or 6/8, is often treated as the original. Learn the straight version here first, then listen to rumba groups such as Los Muñequitos de Matanzas to hear how players actually place it.
Most learners drift back to son clave and clap beat 4 out of habit. Others rush the late stroke so that it lands almost on beat 4, or lose time in the long gap between the 'and' of 4 and beat 2 of the next bar. Count the eighth notes aloud at first. As with any clave, check which side the song starts on and never switch sides in the middle of a piece.