Bass Lines With Jaime Vazquez: Bass Lines – Tapping the Clave

Meet Jaime Vazquez –

Happy Anniversary BMM! It’s a great honor for me to be a part of the BMM Family!

For this special issue I will show you how to tap the clave while your grooving at the same time. Remember that the clave is a repetitive rhythmic pattern that serves as a guide when you’re playing a melody or grooving latin music. For the next several examples, we’re going to tap the notes with both hands at the same time (tap the groove with your left hand and tap the chord tones with your right hand). Coordination will be the big challenge and take care with the length of the notes.

Example 1. Here we have the appropiate pattern for the Brazilian style called Bossa Nova. This basic and repetitive pattern will be used for playing the chord tones with your right hand.

Example 2. This is the intro for Bossa with me, an original theme that I’m playing live. Hear how the clave fits the groove.

Example 3. There are three clave patterns for the Afro-Cuban styles (the son clave, the rumba clave and the 6/8 clave). Here we will be using the son clave 2:3.

Example 4. A basic bass tumbao. Tap this groove with your left hand. Then, tap the son clave 2:3 with the chord tones using your right hand.