The dembow beat
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Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can create a dembow beat and understand the key features of reggaeton.
Key learning points
- Reggaeton is a style popularised in Puerto Rico in the 1990s.
- It draws on hip hop, reggae, dancehall and other Caribbean styles.
- It is an energetic style, typically performed in Spanish that is usually danced to.
- It uses synthesised sounds combined with Latin American percussion sounds.
- The dembow beat is the defining rhythmic feature of reggaeton, which is based on the tresillo rhythm.
Keywords
Reggaeton - Reggaeton is a style of music popularised in Puerto Rico. It is influenced by hip hop, reggae, dancehall and other Caribbean styles of music.
Dembow beat - The dembow beat is the typical drum groove heard in reggaeton music, which uses the tresillo rhythm and has a strong beat on the kick drum.
Tresillo - The tresillo is a three-note rhythm in the pattern 3-3-2.
Dancehall - A style of electronic music that evolved from reggae in Jamaica and influenced reggaeton.
Common misconception
The tresillo ('triplet' in Spanish) uses three equally spaced notes.
The notes in the tresillo rhythm are not equally spaced. The third note is a shorter duration. Counting the semiquavers in a 3-3-2 pattern can help us space the notes correctly (1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2).
Teacher tip
Encourage pupils to identify other songs/artists who use the tresillo rhythm or dembow beat or make links with other styles that use similar rhythms (e.g. clave rhythm in some West African or Cuban music). You could also discuss other drum beats that use four to the floor on the kick such as EDM.
Equipment
A DAW or other suitable instrument
File needed for this lesson
Reggaeton template 282.89 KB (ZIP)
Download this file to use in the lesson.
Licence
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