- What is clave and why does it matter so much?
- Clave is a five-stroke pattern spanning two bars, running in either a 3-2 or 2-3 direction. It is not an accompaniment part but the time coordinate for the whole piece — piano, bass, horns and percussion all place their accents against it. Get the direction backwards and the track feels wrenched, which is the most common structural fault.
- How do I prompt for something convincing?
- Nail down three things: son clave in 2-3, piano playing a montuno figure, bass playing tumbao with the accent on beat four. Then add that the montuno section trades improvised lead vocals against a choral response. Asking only for salsa usually returns a surface imitation of horns plus congas.
- How does it relate to mambo and cha-cha-chá?
- All descend from Cuban son and danzón; salsa is the umbrella name for how New York rearranged those elements through the 1960s and 70s. Mambo runs faster with more aggressive horns, cha-cha-chá is the slowest with clear accents that beginners can step to, and salsa sits between them with a more elaborate structure.
