Billy Martin -- Riddim: Claves of African Origin (Book & CD) Paperback – 2 Jan. 2008

In an increasingly crowded market, this book shines through with it's simple & very different approach.The notation is possibly the first thing the student notices, which becomes very easy to follow as you work through the examples.This book will not only develop your technique & strengthen your 4-way co-ordination, it will also inform & let you into the world of original clave patterns.A must for any serious drummer or percussionist.

As someone else has previously mentioned, the method of notation makes it very frustrating to read. I guess if you cannot read music at all then this is a way of communicating ideas to complete illiterates however if you have some music notation reading skills the book is just very annoying. He avoids the use of note values by using a grid system. The 6/8 patterns are just about readable with a grid consisting of 12 notes but the 4/4 examples where the grid consists of 16 notes.....forget it. The annoying thing is he could have combined a standard notation system with a grid system and had the best of both worlds. As it is, with no reference to any downbeats I find myself having to write the counting over each example so I know where in the bar a particular note falls because glancing at it won't tell you. I did that for a while and then I found I just couldn't be bothered any more...the information contained within wasn't worth the effort. Listen to some African and Latin music and write your own calves, it's better for you in the long run and far more rewarding than having to work out the sound of rhythms in this book painfully note by note.Definitely not recommended.