- Year 8
The dembow beat
I can create a dembow beat and understand the key features of reggaeton.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
- Year 8
The dembow beat
I can create a dembow beat and understand the key features of reggaeton.
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
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Lesson details
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).
To help you plan your year 8 music lesson on: The dembow beat, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 8 music lesson on: The dembow beat, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom.
Explore more key stage 3 music lessons from the Reggaeton: from Puerto Rico to global phenomenon unit, dive into the full secondary music curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
File needed for this lesson
- Reggaeton template 282.89 KB (ZIP)
Download this file to use in the lesson.
Equipment
A DAW or other suitable instrument
Licence
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