claves

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claves. Cuban perc. instr., being round sticks of hard wood 7″ or 8″ long. The player holds one over the upturned fingernails of his left fist and beats it with the other held lightly in the right hand. Used in dance bands but taken up by 20th-cent. composers incl. Birtwistle, Copland, Varèse, and McCabe.

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