Video: Percussion Instruments: Claves

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Claves are wood percussion instruments that create sound due to a resonating chamber located on the inside of the instrument. Learn more about claves from a professional musician in this free music lesson video.

Comments

nivekc711 Sep 19, 2009
First off, you don't just 'bang' claves together, there are correct and incorrect ways to help and play them (the incorrect way is shown in this video). Second, you could have gone into the difference between 3-2 son/rumba and 2-3 son/rumba as well as the afro feel

Video Transcript

The last percussion instrument I'll discuss here are the claves or clave specifically one of them. Now this is a solid piece of wood. Although sometimes it can be drilled from the bottom to allow a small chamber on the inside of the clave here. Now the way they're played is just by banging them together. The resonation of the wood in each hand will create the volume of the sound. These are very popular in Afro-Cuban music. These are specifically made in Mexico. Now the rhythms that the claves are played are very important part of that music, and the claves traditionally carry those rhythms. For example, a rhythm called the sun clave is one, two, and three, four. One, two, three. Now another variation on that. The rhumba clave would be one, two, and three, four. And one, two, three. One, two, and three, four. And one, two, three. Adds a lit bit more of a accented feel and therefore the dance which comes from that rhythm.

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Percussion Instruments: Claves

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