Salsa Clave: 2-3 vs 3-2 Explained for Dancers

Clave is the two-bar pattern that sits under salsa, and 2-3 and 3-2 are the two ways round it can go. If someone has ever told you a song is "in 3-2" and you nodded politely, this is the plain version, written for dancers who count.

What is the difference between 2-3 and 3-2 clave?

It is the same pattern in opposite order. On an 8-count, son clave 2-3 sounds on 2, 3 | 5, 6&, 8, and son clave 3-2 sounds on 1, 2&, 4 | 6, 7. The number tells you how many strokes fall in the first bar: two, then three, or three, then two.

What is the clave?

Clave is written over two bars. According to Wikipedia, one half has three strokes (the three-side) and the other has two (the two-side). The two common versions are son clave, with strokes on 1, 1a, 2&, 3&, 4 in a one-bar count, and rumba clave, with strokes on 1, 1a, 2a, 3&, 4. Wikipedia says salsa uses the son version almost exclusively, so that is the one counted below.

2-3 and 3-2 side by side

Here are both orientations on the 8-count, from the Count Studio count library:

Read the last row first, because it is the part people get wrong. The labels describe where the harmony begins, not a different rhythm. Wikipedia puts it this way: when the progression begins on the three-side, the song or section is in 3-2 clave, and the harmonic progression, rather than the rhythmic progression, is the main reference. Switching between the two is a matter of reversing the order of the bars, which is why percussionists have to be able to start their parts on either side.

The same page credits Cuban-born Mario Bauzá with developing the 3-2 and 2-3 terminology in New York in the 1940s, when he was music director of Machito and his Afro-Cubans. It notes that Bauzá was good at moving a song from one side of the clave to the other, so a song can change sides part-way through. The article on salsa structure adds that the terms are not widely used in Cuba.

How does clave fit casino and contratiempo?

Your feet keep their count. In Cuban casino danced a tiempo, you step on 1 2 3 and 5 6 7. In contratiempo you step on 2 3 4 and 6 7 8, with no step on 1 and 5. In the library, clave is a sound layer in the same slots, so you can lay either clave over either style:

The clave columns do not change between the two rows. Only your steps move. In contratiempo you rest on 1 and 5, so a clave stroke that lands on 1 or 5 is one you hear rather than step on. Notice where your steps and the strokes meet, and where they don't. That is when you start dancing to the music, not just to the count.

If you dance On1 or On2 rather than casino, nothing about the step count changes either; see salsa On1 vs On2 for where the break lands. The Count Studio library has each pairing, for example Cuban casino, clave 2-3.

How do you hear 2-3 or 3-2 in a song?

Start by finding the 1, because everything is relative to it. If that is still shaky, read how to find the 1 in music first. Then listen across a full 8-count, two bars, and ask which bar feels busier. Three strokes in the first bar means 3-2. Three in the second means 2-3.

A few things help:

• Most salsa is in 2-3 clave, according to Wikipedia, so start by listening for 2-3.
• The clave does not have to be played. The same page says the feel persists whether or not the claves are actually sounding, so listen to the piano and percussion too.
• The basic conga pattern puts its slaps and open tones on the "and" offbeats, and the tone that lands with the third clave stroke is called the ponche.

If a song seems to flip sides, trust your ears and recount from the next 1. Sections can change orientation, and that is normal.

Practise it with Count Studio

Say "1 2 3 _ 5 6 7 _" out loud and clap clave 2-3 on top: 2, 3 | 5, 6&, 8. Do four eights, then flip to 3-2: 1, 2&, 4 | 6, 7. Keep your feet counting steadily while your hands switch sides. When that feels easy, try it to a song you own.

Count Studio is built for this drill. It is coming November 27 to iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. You will be able to import a song you own, and the app finds the tempo, the beats and the likely 1 on your device, numbers the eights and counts over the music. If the grid is off, tap along to fix it. Songs from streaming services are protected, so import files you own.

Bottom line

Clave 2-3 and 3-2 are one pattern in two orders, named for where the chord progression starts. Most salsa is in 2-3, your 8-count stays the same, and the way to hear the difference is to find the 1 and listen for which bar has the three strokes.