Afro kick

Free

Afrobeats

Kick on 1, the "and" of 2 and a lighter 3, with a two-bar answer.

The pattern

Bar 1

Closed hat

Clap

Kick

Crash

Snare

Bar 2

Closed hat

Clap

Kick

Crash

Snare

Bright cells are accents, dim ones are ghost notes. Each row is a pad; each column is a 16th note.

What you'll play

Kick on 1, the "and" of 2 and a lighter 3, with a two-bar answer. Both bars: kick on 1, the "and" of 2 and a softer beat 3. Snare on 2 and 4. Bar 2 adds a clap on the snare and one more kick on the "and" of 4.

Tip: Fingertips, curved fingers, wrists slightly raised and loose.

Hear it first

Hear "boom . . boom-boom". The extra kick in bar 2 pulls you into bar 1.

Play it clean

Left index kick, left middle clap. Right index snare, right middle hats and crash. Pass with 85% as the tempo goes 92 → 96 → 100 BPM.