Rumba clave (2-3)

Every exercise here grades you on finding "the one" — count 1, the downbeat that opens the phrase. New to that? The counting salsa lesson covers it first.

Rumba clave shares son clave's asymmetric shape (one bar carries three strokes, the other two), but moves the 3-side's third stroke one eighth later. In this 2-3 orientation, the "2-side" (beats 2 and 3) plays first, then the "3-side" (beat 1, the "&" of beat 2, and the "&" of beat 4, not beat 4 itself, unlike son clave) plays in the second measure.

Just like son clave, "the one" (count 1, ringed above) falls on an unlit dot: no stroke marks it. Count 5 does get a stroke here (the 3-side always opens on its own beat 1), but that's not the target this exercise grades.