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Congolese Music / Clave rhythm in Afro descent music (America, Cuba, Congo, Ivory Coast, etc)
« on: January 25, 2019, 12:30 »What is the Clave you say?
The clave is a rhythmic pattern used as a tool for temporal organization in Afro-Cuban music. It is present in a variety of genres such as Abakuá music, rumba, conga, son, mambo, salsa, songo, timba and Afro-Cuban jazz. The five-stroke clave pattern represents the structural core of many Afro-Cuban rhythms. It's also present in other variants of Afro music.
The clave pattern originated in sub-Saharan African music traditions, where it serves essentially the same function as it does in Cuba.The clave pattern is also found in the African diaspora musics of Haitian Vodou drumming, Afro-Brazilian music, African American music which is known as Hambone and also found in Louisiana Voodoo drumming as well as Afro-Uruguayan music (candombe). The clave pattern (or hambone, as it is known in the United States) is used in North American popular music as a rhythmic motif or simply a form of rhythmic decoration.
The historical roots of the clave are linked to transnational musical exchanges within the African diaspora. For instance, influences of the African “bomba” rhythm are reflected in the clave. In addition to this, the emphasis and role of the drum within the rhythmic patterns speaks further to these diasporic roots.[9] Thus, black music is the heart of the rhythmic centrality of the clave.
The clave is the foundation of reggae, reggaeton, and dancehall. In this sense, it is the “heartbeat” that underlies the essence of these genres.[9] The rhythms and vibrations are universalized in that they demonstrate a shared cultural experience and knowledge of these roots. Ultimately, this embodies the diasporic transnational exchange.
In considering the clave as this basis of cultural understanding, relation, and exchange, this speaks to the transnational influence and interconnectedness of various communities. This musical fusion is essentially what constitutes the flow and foundational “heartbeat” of a variety of genres.
The two main clave patterns used in Afro-Cuban music are known in North America as son clave and the rumba clave. Both are used as bell patterns across much of Africa. Son and rumba clave can be played in either a triple-pulse (12/8 or 6
or duple-pulse (4/4, 2/4 or 2/2) structure. The contemporary Cuban practice is to write the duple-pulse clave in a single measure of 44. It is also written in a single measure in ethnomusicological writings about African music.
Although they subdivide the beats differently, the 12
8 and 4/4 versions of each clave share the same pulse names. The correlation between the triple-pulse and duple-pulse forms of clave, as well as other patterns, is an important dynamic of sub-Saharan-based rhythm. Every triple-pulse pattern has its duple-pulse correlative.
It was brought over to the Caribbean & United States from the slaves that were taken away from the Kongo Kingdom (Congo, Angola, Mozambique) and Upper West Africa (Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, etc).
Example of Cuba
In the United States, musician named Bo Diddley popularized the clave rhythm into R&B & Rock and Roll in the 1940's. The Bo Diddley beat is essentially a 3-2 clave rhythm. This beat is one of the most common bell patterns found in Afro-Cuban music and can be traced as far back as African music traditions.
Rock & Roll
^^ You can notice how the guitarist (Bo Diddley) and the drummer is playing the same beat as "Cavacha".
Hip Hop
R&B
Nigeria
^^ Play close attention to the clave percussion in the background
Ghana
RDC/Zaire
1:17 is where the clave rhythm takes over. Cavachaaaa
Congo Brazza
Ivory Coast
