Solo A's melody meets Solo B's clave. The rising motif from Solo A comes back, but its main notes now land on the 3-2 son clave hits, so it locks into the groove the way Solo B does. The second time through it climbs to palm D, falls off, then drives home on loud clave hits and ends with a doit.
The other solos: Solo A, warm-up · Solo B, latin
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.
A short pickup rising to a held note: B–D–E over Em9, answered by A–C–D over Dm7. In Solo A it floated over the beat. Here the first and last notes sit on clave strokes (beat 2-and and beat 4 in Em9 bars, beats 2 and 3 in Dm7 bars), and the held note ties across the barline into the next chord.
Short, accented notes exactly on the clave, nothing in between. They appear in bar 7 to build into the second time through, in bar 11 under the palm D, and in bars 15–16 as the ending, with the drums playing them with you.
Rest through beat 1, then B on the 2-and, D, and E on beat 4, tied into Dm7. The answer A–C–D lands A and D on the 2-side. Bar 3 reaches up to G, which steps down to F♮ over Dm7, just like Solo A.
The motif returns with a quick 16th-note pickup (C–D) into the E. Bar 7 strips it down to bare clave hits on E, E and G, and bar 8 answers on F and D, then leaves space before the second time through.
The motif an octave up, forte: G–B–palm D on the clave, answered by F–A–high C. Bar 11 hits high B twice on the clave and holds palm D across the barline at ff. Bar 12 falls off the high C on beat 3, with the drums catching it.
The motif climbs B–D–E–G to a high B tied into Dm7, then the solo's one triplet (F–A–C) launches into the ending. Bars 15–16 are pure clave hits at ff, palm D–B–G then A–palm D, played together with the drums, and the last D ends with a doit.
Solo C uses Solo A's motif and Solo B's clave. If a bar feels awkward, play the matching bar of the other two solos first, then come back.
Written for 3-2 son clave, 3-side on every Em9 bar. Keep "Clave" on while you learn it, and listen for how the motif's held notes land on the clave's last stroke.
Most bars start with silence or a held note. The only downbeats you play are clave hits (bars 7, 11 and 15). Count the rests and keep the horn up.
mf for the first time through, f at bar 9, ff for the palm D in bar 11, f again in bar 13, then ff for the clave hits in bars 15–16.
Fall in bar 12: hit the high C full, then keep the air going and let your fingers run down loosely. Doit on the last palm D: the bright opposite, lip the pitch quickly up as you release.
Three even notes on beat 4, F–A–C, launching into palm D on the downbeat of bar 15. Keep it even and land the D hard.
| Note (written) | Where | Fingering |
|---|---|---|
| F♮ | Bars 4, 8, 10, 14 | LH 1-2-3 + RH 1 (add the octave key for the upper F). The key signature says F♯, so watch for the natural sign. |
| High C | Bars 10, 12, 14 | Octave + LH 2. Side C works too and makes the fall in bar 12 easier. |
| Palm D | Bars 9–12, 15–16 | Octave + LH palm D key. Keep the throat open and the air fast for the held D in bars 11–12, and don't bite. |