The pattern
76 BPM · 4/4 · 16 step
| Instrument | Beat 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Beat 2 | Step 6 | Step 7 | Step 8 | Beat 3 | Step 10 | Step 11 | Step 12 | Beat 4 | Step 14 | Step 15 | Step 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kick | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest |
| Rim shot | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest |
| Shaker | hit | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest |
| High bongo | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | hit | hit | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | hit | hit |
| Low bongo | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest |
| Güiro | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest |
How to play it and where it comes from
Didactic pattern of the Cuban/Mexican bolero in slow 4/4: bass (kick lane) on 1 and 3 with passing notes, bongó with the cell 'quarter note – eighth and two sixteenths' (hits on 2, 2&, 2a and the figure repeated in the second half), open/low tone on 3, maracas in eighths. Rim lane = the drum kit's cross-stick (in boleros with drums and brushes) on 2 and 4. The clave, when present, is in 2-3 and very light. In the bolero-son and the bolero moruno, congas and more syncopated figures are added; in the trío romántico the rhythm is made by the guitar (rasgueo and requinto).