The pattern
150 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 | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest |
| Rim shot | rest | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest |
| High tom | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | hit | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | hit | hit |
| Low tom | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest |
| Güiro | hit | rest | hit | hit | hit | rest | hit | hit | hit | rest | hit | hit | hit | rest | hit | hit |
How to play it and where it comes from
Dominican merengue, felt in 2/4 (here one 4/4 bar = two bars of 2/4). The tambora (two-headed drum, stick on one side and hand on the other) has the low open tone on 1 (toml), dry hits on the rim/wood (rim) and the typical three-sixteenth roll that launches the next downbeat (tomh). The güira plays the "chaa-chiki" (eighth + two sixteenths) or continuous sixteenths with accents; the bass and kick mark the quarter notes, giving a marching feel. Didactic notation: real parts vary a great deal (derecho, slower pambiche). Dance tempo 140–160, fast merengue exceeds 170. Variants: conga with a slap on 2 and open tones, saxophone mambo over a fixed groove.