Dembow

The pattern

What you'll play

Kick on every beat, the dembow snare over two bars. Each half bar goes 3+3+2: snare on the "a" of 1, the "and" of 2, then the same in the second half. Bar 2 adds one snare on the "e" of 3 and an open hat with the last snare.

Tip: The kick never changes. Let it run on its own first.

Hear it first

Say "boom . . chk . . chk ." over the kick.

Play it clean

Left index plays the kick on every beat. Right index plays the snare. Pass with 85% as the tempo goes 84 → 90 BPM.