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Some refer to the triple-pulse form of rumba clave as "6/8 clave." When rumba clave is written in 6/8 the fourunderlying main beats are counted: 1, 2, 1, 2.

1 & a 2 & a |1 & a 2 & a ||X . X . . X |. X . X . . ||

Claves... are not usually played in Afro-Cuban 6/8 feels... [and] the clave [pattern] is nottraditionally played in 6/8 though it may be helpful to do so to relate the clave to the 6/8 bell pattern—Thress (1994).[45]

The main exceptions are: the form of rumba known as Columbia, and some performances of abakuá by rumbagroups, where the 6/8 rumba clave pattern is played on claves.

Triple-pulse son clave

Triple-pulse son clave is the least common form of clave used in Cuban music. It is however, found across anenormously vast area of sub-Saharan Africa. The first published example (1920) of this pattern identified it as ahand-clap part accompanying a song from Mozambique.[46]

Cross-rhythm and the correct metric structureBecause 6/8 clave-based music is generated from cross-rhythm, it is possible to count or feel the 6/8 clave inseveral different ways. The ethnomusicologist A.M. Jones correctly identified the importance of this key pattern,but he mistook its accents as indicators of meter rather than the counter-metric phenomena they actually are.Similarly, while Anthony King identified the triple-pulse "son clave" as the ‘standard pattern’ in its simplestand most basic form, he did not correctly identify its metric structure. King represented the pattern in apolymetric 7/8 + 5/8 time signature.[47]

Anthony King's polymetric representation of triple-pulse "son clave".

It wasn't until African musicologists like C.K. Ladzekpo entered into the discussion in the 1970s and 80s thatthe metric structure of sub-Saharan rhythm was unambiguously defined. The writings of Victor Kofi Agawuand David Locke must also be mentioned in this regard.[22][48]

In the diagram below 6/8 (son) clave is shown on top and a beat cycle is shown below it. Any or all of thesestructures may be the emphasis at a given point in a piece of music using the "6/8 clave."

Different ways to count the 6/8 clave, the first of which is correct Play .

The example on the left (6/8) represents the correct count and ground of the "6/8 clave".[49] The four dottedquarter-notes across the two bottom measures are the main beats. All clave patterns are built upon four mainbeats.[50][51][52] The bottom measures on the other two examples (3/2 and 6/4) show cross-beats. Observing the