A rhythm-first 16-bar solo over the same vamp, played twice through. Instead of long melodic lines, it locks onto the 3-2 son clave, works pedal-note guajeo patterns like a tres or piano montuno would, and builds a mambo riff. It ends right on the clave hits.
The other solos: Solo A, warm-up · Solo C, A meets B
The gold marks show where the clave hits in each bar (8 slots = 8 eighth notes). Tap a bar to start from there. Turn off "Solo line" to play over the band yourself. Keep "Clave" on while you learn it. Turn off "Drums" to hear the changes on bass and piano alone.
Every note lands on a clave stroke. Em9 bars are the 3-side (beat 1, the "and" of 2, beat 4), and Dm7 bars are the 2-side (beats 2 and 3). The notes are plain chord tones (B, D, E over Em9 and F, D over Dm7), so the rhythm does all the talking. Bar 4 ties its D over the barline into the next phrase.
A top line moves against a repeated note: B under Em9, then A under Dm7, the way a tres or piano montuno plays. Keep the pedal notes short and the top notes full. Bar 7 punches off-beat stabs, then an accented B on the last eighth is tied into Dm7, where it becomes the bright Dorian 6th.
A 16th-note repeated-note figure on E, then the same figure on D a whole step lower. Bars 11 and 12 go back to the clave strokes, but jump an octave between hits (high B to middle B, high A to low A) so the rhythm sounds bigger.
The guajeo comes back and climbs to high C with a crescendo. Then G, F♯, E hit the 3-side and F, D hit the 2-side at ff. The last bar repeats the rhythm of bar 2, so the solo ends where it started, right on the clave.
Put your notes where the clave strokes are. Even simple chord tones sound authentic when they sit on the clave.
Count eighths 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2. Three hits per bar, the backbone of a lot of latin music. It's the 3-side of the clave.
Alternate a moving line with one repeated note. Move the pedal down a whole step with the chord (B → A) and the same shape fits again.
Play the next chord's note on the last eighth and tie it over the barline. Latin bass players do this all the time. It drives the time forward.
One pitch, a syncopated 16th rhythm, then the same figure a step lower. It's easy to remember and it gets the band's attention.
Keep the rhythm and the note name, but jump the octave between hits. It sounds like two horns answering each other.
This solo is written for 3-2 son clave, with the 3-side on every Em9 bar. Listen for the clave or cowbell at rehearsal. If the percussion feels it the other way round, the rhythms still work, they just push against the clave instead of sitting on it.
Staccato pedal notes in the guajeo should be very short ("dit"). Accents get a firm "daht" with fast air. Treat it like percussion with pitches.
Dm7 bars start with silence on beat 1. Don't fill it. That empty downbeat is what makes the 2-side sound right.
mf for the first 8. f at the mambo riff. Crescendo through the guajeo climb in bars 13–14, then ff for the last two bars of hits.
Play bar 1's rhythm on E in any Em9 bar and bar 2's rhythm on F and D in any Dm7 bar. You'll be back on the clave right away.
If the leader wants more, loop bars 9–10 as a riff. The trumpets or trombones can answer it, call and response, until the cue to play bars 13–16 and finish.
| Note (written) | Where | Fingering |
|---|---|---|
| F♮ / F♯ | F♮ bars 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 14, 16 · F♯ bars 5, 15 | F♮ = LH 1-2-3 + RH 1. F♯ = LH 1-2-3 + RH 2. Switching is just RH 1 ↔ RH 2. |
| B / A pedal | Bars 5–6, 13–14 | B = LH 1, A = LH 1-2, both without the octave key. The top notes above them need it, so practise the octave-key thumb on and off slowly first. |
| High C | Bar 14 | Octave + LH 2. After it, drop straight to the low A pedal and release the octave key cleanly. |
| Low A | Bars 12, 14 | LH 1-2 without the octave key, the A in the staff. The "high A to low A" jump in bar 12 is an octave-key flick. |