The clave rhythmic pattern is used as a tool for temporal organization in AfroCuban music, such as rumba, conga de comparsa,

son, son montuno, mambo, salsa, Latin jazz, songo and timba. The five-stroke clave pattern represents the structural core of many Afro-Cuban rhythms.[1] Just as a keystone holds an arch in place, the clave pattern holds the rhythm together in Afro-Cuban music.[2] The clave pattern originated in sub-Saharan African music traditions, where it serves essentially the same function as it does in Cuba. The pattern is also found in the African diaspora musics of Haitian vodou drumming, Afro-Brazilian music and AfroUruguayan music (Candombe). The clave pattern is used in North American popular music as a rhythmic motif or ostinato, or simply a form of rhythmic decoration. Clave is a Spanish word meaning 'code,' 'key,' as in key to a mystery or puzzle, or 'keystone,' the wedge-shaped stone in the center of an arch that ties the other stones together. Clave is also the name of the patterns played on claves; two hardwood sticks used in Afro-Cuban music ensembles.Pealosa (2009: 81)[2] The two main clave patterns used in Afro-Cuban music outside Cuba are the son clave and the rumba clave.[3] Both are used as bell patterns across much of Africa. [4][5][6][7] Son and rumba clave can be played in either a triple-pulse [12/8 or 6/8] or duple-pulse [4/4, 2/4 or 2/2] structure.[2] The contemporary Cuban practice is to write the duple-pulse clave in a single measure of 4/4.[8] "Clave" is also written in a single measure in ethnomusicological writings about African music.[9] 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.

Son clave
The most common clave pattern used in Cuban popular music is called the son clave, named after the Cuban musical genre of the same name. Clave is the basic period (music), composed of two rhythmically opposed cells, one antecedent and the other consequent. Clave was initially written in two measures of 2/4 in Cuban music.[15] When written this way, each cell or clave half is represented within a single measure.

Tresillo
Anglicized pronunciation: tray-see-yo. The antecedent half has three strokes and is called the three-side of clave. In Cuban popular music, the first three strokes of son clave are also known collectively as tresillo, a Spanish word meaning 'triplet' (three

equal beats in the same time as two main beats). However, in the vernacular of Cuban popular music, the term refers to the figure shown below.

Rumba clave
The other main clave pattern is the rumba clave. Rumba clave is the key pattern used in rumba. Use of the triple-pulse form of rumba clave in Cuba can be traced back to the iron bell (ekn) part in abaku music. The form of rumba known as columbia is culturally and musically connected with abaku. Columbia also uses this pattern. Sometimes 12/8 rumba clave is clapped in the accompaniment of Cuban bat drums. The 4/4 form of rumba clave is used in yamb, guaguanc and popular music. There is some debate as to how the 4/4 rumba clave should be notated for guaguanc and yamb. In actual practice, the third stroke on the three-side and the first stroke on the two-side often fall in rhythmic positions that do not fit neatly into music notation.[24] Triple-pulse strokes can be substituted for duple-pulse strokes. Also the clave strokes are sometimes displaced in such a way that they don't fall within either a triple-pulse or duple-pulse "grid."[25] Therefore, many variations are possible. When used in popular music (such as songo, timba or Latin jazz) rumba clave can be perceived in either a 3-2 or 2-3 sequence. The example below shows rumba clave in 3-2 and 2-3 sequence, written in cut-time as it would be typically represented in a North American salsa or Latin jazz chart.

Standard bell pattern

The seven-stroke standard bell pattern contains the strokes of both clave patterns. Some North American musicians call this pattern clave.[26][27] Other North American musicians refer to the triple-pulse form as the 6/8 bell because they write the pattern in two measures of 6/8. Like clave, the standard pattern is expressed in both triple and duple-pulse. The ethnomusicologist A.M. Jones observes that what we call son clave, rumba clave and the standard pattern are the most commonly used key patterns (also called bell patterns, timeline patterns and guide patterns) in Sub-Saharan African music traditions and he considers all three to be basically one and the same pattern.[28] Clearly, they are all expressions of the same rhythmic principles. The three key patterns are found within a large geographic belt extending from Mali in northwest Africa to Mozambique in southeast Africa.[29]