One of the satisfying things about being in a samba band is the way in which, although each section might be playing something quite straightforward, something wonderful emerges when all the sections of the band play their different patterns together. Some pieces have what is known as a clave. This is a rhythm that runs throughout the piece and serves as the foundation for the rhythms played by the other sections. Many of the claves used in samba can also be heard played on the bells in music from West Africa and on various instruments in music from around Latin America.
A clave is usually a five note pattern. One such pattern is known as the three-two son. Following the music and using a steady count of 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a, you can have a go at clapping the son clave.
The bossa clave is like the son but with the final note being slightly delayed. This clave can be heard in the Worldwise Samba Drummers piece Six Break Samba Reggae and our current Batucada, particularly in the tamborim section.
Looping the first three notes of the son or bossa claves will give you the tresillo. The tresillo clave can be heard played by the caixa (snare drums) in the Worldwise Samba Drummer pieces Samba Ragga and Lazy Coconut.
In the Worldwise Samba Drummers samba funk piece that we call Pula Pula, the surdos and timba play patterns based on the tresillo against a tamborim pattern based on the three-two clave. The whole band will then occasionally be called to play the three-two clave as a break before dropping back into the groove.
Although it isn’t found in any of the pieces played by the Worldwise Samba Drummers, samba bands will often use the rumba clave. This is similar to the three-two son clave but with the third note slightly delayed.
The claves listed above are all used in pieces where the beat subdivides into twos and fours. In pieces in which the beat subdivides into threes, different claves need to be used. One is a version of the three-two son clave with the notes shifted to fit the subdivisions of three. If you try to clap this rhythm, note that the count is now 1 & a 2 & a 3 & a 4 & a.
We can create an alternative version of this clave by adding a couple of notes. This is a trickier clave to learn but one that our tamborim section put to good use in several pieces, most notably Ogun.
If you are able to learn the sound of these claves, you will start to hear them in the music of samba bands and elsewhere too. You might then find it easier to learn patterns if and when you play samba yourself.
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