Baiao Zabumba Groove drum pattern
A one-bar baião on kit: the zabumba bass figure on 1 and the a of 1 and on 3 and the a of 3, a snare on 2 and 4, and triangle-style 16ths on the hat. Press Play to hear it with a sampled drum kit at 108 BPM, change the tempo or swing, and follow every hit on the grid.
How to count the Baiao Zabumba Groove
Count it as: 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a · two 2/4 bars. The pattern is one bar of 4/4 (one-bar 16th-note baião (two bars of 2/4)).
The Baiao Zabumba Groove pattern, hit by hit
Each character is one step of the grid and each group is one beat. X is an accented hit, x a normal hit, o a quiet or ghost note and - a rest.
| Voice | Pattern |
|---|---|
| Kick | X--x ---- X--x ---- |
| Snare | ---- x--- ---- X--- |
| Closed hat | ooxo ooxo ooxo ooxo |
Tempo and feel
Dusty and dancing. The two-note kick figure limps, then rests through beats 2 and 4 while the triangle keeps going. The default tempo is 108 BPM. Slow it down until every hit is controlled, then raise the tempo a few BPM at a time.
How to practise the Baiao Zabumba Groove
Play the kick alone: 1 and the a of 1, then 3 and the a of 3. Add the 16ths on the hat with each and accented. Add the snare on 2 and 4 without crowding the kick figure.
Variations to try next
Move the snare to cross-stick for a softer acoustic-trio feel. Play the hat 16ths with no accents for a plainer shaker sound. Play only the kick and hat to hear the zabumba and triangle alone.
Where to hear this feel
Records in this family include Luiz Gonzaga baião recordings of the late 1940s and 1950s. A practice study of the northeastern Brazilian baião mapped onto the kit, written in 4/4 so one bar holds two bars of 2/4. The kick plays the zabumba's defining bass figure, a dotted eighth and a sixteenth, on 1 and the a of 1 and again on 3 and the a of 3, left to ring through beats 2 and 4. The right hand's 16ths on the closed hat stand in for the triangle, with an accent on each and for its open ring, and the snare on 2 and 4 stands in for the zabumba's high bacalhau stroke; both placements are informed kit choices. The accordion is left to the band. It is authored for practice, not transcribed.