Sesquialtera (3 against 2)

Sesquialtera — Latin for one and a half — is the bar of six eighths heard two ways at once: two dotted quarters (6/8, the kick here) against three quarters (3/4, the clave line). It is the engine of the Argentine chacarera and zamba, the Venezuelan joropo, the Mexican son jarocho and huapango, and much West African bell music, and it is why those grooves seem to tilt between a lilt and a march. Listen for the second kick landing between the second and third clave strokes. Practice: tap 2 with one hand and 3 with the other until neither wins.