Clave (rhythm) - Cross-rhythm and The Correct Metric Structure

Cross-rhythm and The Correct Metric Structure

Because 6/8 clave-based music is generated from cross-rhythm, it is possible to count or feel the 6/8 clave in several different ways. The ethnomusicologist A.M. Jones correctly identified the importance of this key pattern, but he mistook its accents as indicators of meter rather than the counter-metric phenomena they actually are. Similarly, while Anthony King identified the triple-pulse "son clave" as the ‘standard pattern’ in its simplest and most basic form, he did not correctly identify its metric structure. King represented the pattern in a polymetric 7/8 + 5/8 time signature.

It wasn't until African musicologists like C.K. Ladzekpo entered into the discussion in the 1970s and 80s that the metric structure of sub-Saharan rhythm was unambiguously defined. The writings of Victor Kofi Agawu and David Locke must also be mentioned in this regard.

In the diagram below 6/8 (son) clave is shown on top and a beat cycle is shown below it. Any or all of these structures may be the emphasis at a given point in a piece of music using the "6/8 clave."

The example on the left (6/8) represents the correct count and ground of the "6/8 clave". The four dotted quarter-notes across the two bottom measures are the main beats. All clave patterns are built upon four main beats. The bottom measures on the other two examples (3/2 and 6/4) show cross-beats. Observing the dancer’s steps almost always reveals the main beats of the music. Because the main beats are usually emphasized in the steps and not the music, it is often difficult for an "outsider" to feel the proper metric structure without seeing the dance component. Kubik states: "In order to understand the motional structure of any music in Africa, one has to look at the dancers as well and see how they relate to the instrumental background" (2010: 78). [Watch: stepping to the main beats in Obatalá dance (Marta Ruiz).}

For cultural insiders, identifying the... ‘dance feet’ occurs instinctively and spontaneously. Those not familiar with the choreographic supplement, however, sometimes have trouble locating the main beats and expressing them in movement. Hearing African music on recordings alone without prior grounding in its dance-based rhythms may not convey the choreographic supplement. Not surprisingly, many misinterpretations of African rhythm and meter stem from a failure to observe the dance. —Agawu, (2003)