- Year 10
- AQA
Latin percussion and the clave
I can identify some common Latin percussion instruments and create a rhythmic composition that incorporates the clave rhythm.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
- Year 10
- AQA
Latin percussion and the clave
I can identify some common Latin percussion instruments and create a rhythmic composition that incorporates the clave rhythm.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- The music of Latin America is extremely varied.
- Many styles are influenced by colonial history, drawing on European, Asian, African and indigenous American music.
- Many styles use Latin percussion instruments, including woodblock, claves, guiro, congas, bongos and maracas.
- There are often complex syncopated rhythms, including the son clave and rumba clave rhythms.
- A clave rhythm can be arranged as a 3-2 clave or a 2-3 clave.
Keywords
Latin America - Spanish and Portugese-speaking parts of Central and South America are referred to as Latin America.
Latin percussion - Latin percussion instruments are those that are common in Latin American music. Examples include cabasa, guiro, claves and maracas.
Syncopated - A syncopated rhythm is one that emphasises notes in between the main beats.
Son clave - The Cuban son clave is the most common clave rhythm.
Rumba clave - The rumba clave is another common clave rhythm, with the last note of the ‘3’ delayed by a quaver.
Common misconception
The 2:3 clave starts on the same beat as the 3:2 clave.
The 2:3 clave starts with a crotchet rest. Make sure when performing or recording this that you count 'rest, 1, 2' for the '2' section of the rhythm.
To help you plan your year 10 music lesson on: Latin percussion and the clave, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 10 music lesson on: Latin percussion and the clave, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
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The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom.
Explore more key stage 4 music lessons from the Rhythms and conventions of Latin and Caribbean music unit, dive into the full secondary music curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
Latin percussion instruments if available; DAW.
Licence
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