The pattern
122 BPM · 4/4 · 16 step · swing 20%
| 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 | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest |
| Clap | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest |
| Rim shot | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit |
| Closed hi-hat | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest |
| Open hi-hat | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest |
| Shaker | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit | hit |
How to play it and where it comes from
Deep house (Larry Heard, then Kerri Chandler and the European scene) at 118–125: soft kick on the quarter notes, soft clap or snare on 2 and 4 with reverb, hi-hat on the offbeat. The groove comes from swung sixteenth-note shakers (20) and syncopated rims reminiscent of jazz and soul. Everything is warm and smoothed (minor seventh/ninth chords, Rhodes, rounded bass). Variants: clap only on 4, light congas, hat and rim with more marked swing and variable velocity.