The Bass The bass is the instrument that not only provides the harmonic foundation to the whole, but also—along with the conga—keeps the band together rhythmically. Its harmonic root is played mostly on the fourth beat, while the fifth and other bass notes are played on the “and” of 2 or on 3 which, as we will eventually learn, depends on which clave is been played. If there is something distinctive and immediately recogniz~ able in salsa, itis that the bass hardly ever plays on beat 1 of the bar. That makes the music seem so foreign and exotic to untrained listeners, and difficult to grasp both as a player and as a dancer. Let's look at a tumbao, a typical bass pattem, noting the similarity with the clave pattern displayed above it. Also note that, after the first time through, the bass part undergoes some slight variation (as would happen in a real musical situation): Tumbao @ TRAGK 10, cure} tt ptt tt tat y Now the reader may wonder why it is that we have to write the clave, and with it all the music, in two separate bars instead of in just one bar like the following: Clave notated in one bar ‘The answer to this question is at the core of this book—understanding this is pivotal in learning how to play piano, or any instrument for that matter, in a salsa context. It is important to be able to split the clave pattern in two, This makes it possible to invert the pattern, reversing the order of the two bars. That way, instead of the following example. 3-2 clave Chaves 4 $— y a y t f + A the whole structure of the music can revolve around the pattern shown below. 2-3 clave @ TRAGK 11 Caves 4p t _ y —} A , ...0r its rumba variant. Rumba clave o reaaera - +f ¢ }—___+ t Hl 13 Caves uf b -—*