What Are the Rhythmic Patterns of Latin Music?
Defining Latin music is extremely difficult because of the number of cultures it embraces and how widespread and eclectic it is. You cannot define it as music sung in Spanish, because other languages, such as Portuguese, are also used. You cannot define it by geography either, because if you just described it as the music played in South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Portugal and Spain, you would be missing out important sources of Latin music, such as Miami and California. Defining it by its rhythmic patterns, or "claves" ("key" in Spanish) may be the closest thing to a useful definition, although you still run the risk of leaving out influential genres such as Latin rap and hip-hop.
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Son Clave
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Son clave is one of the most used rhythmic patterns used in Latin music. It is a two-bar pattern in 4/4 time, each bar made up of a total of five notes. There are two main varieties, the 2 - 3 and the 3 - 2, referring to the number of notes placed in the first and second bar.
Rhumba Clave
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Rhumba (or rumba) clave is a particularly popular spin on the son clave. While the third note in each three-note son clave bar is a quarter note beginning at the fourth beat, the third note in Rhumba clave is an eighth note beginning halfway through the fourth beat. The third note becomes, in effect, a pickup beat to the two-note bar. Rhumba clave has become so successful it has found its way into other music genres, such as jazz and swing. Within Latin music you will find rhumba clave in Sambas, Bossa Novas and Salsa music.
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Montuno
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Montuno is a classic pattern used in Latin music as an accompaniment technique to other instruments. It is used particularly often on the piano but can also be adapted for the guitar. The pattern is based around a repetition of notes or chords with syncopated inner voices. The pattern varies widely in length and can range from one to four bars.
Bossa Nova Chord Patterns
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Bossa Nova and Samba share a similar bass and chord rhythm. The bass line tends to follow the beat, while the chords are inserted on the off beats. The pattern is based on the son clave and is the key to learning Latin drumming.
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