Latin Jazz Cascara 3-2 drum pattern
A two-bar Latin-jazz groove in 3-2 clave: the cáscara on the ride bell, a conga tumbao in the left hand across snare and high tom, and the kick on the and of 2 and on 4. Press Play to hear it with a sampled drum kit at 176 BPM, change the tempo or swing, and follow every hit on the grid.
How to count the Latin Jazz Cascara 3-2
Count it as: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & · two bars, three side first. The pattern is a 2-bar phrase in 4/4 (two-bar eighth-note cáscara in 3-2 clave with a left-hand tumbao).
The Latin Jazz Cascara 3-2 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 | Bar 1 | Bar 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Kick | -- -x -- x- | -- -x -- x- |
| Snare | -- x- -- -- | -- x- -- -- |
| Ghost snare | oo -o oo -- | oo -o oo -- |
| Pedal hat | -- o- -- o- | -- o- -- o- |
| Ride bell | x- xx -x -x | x- x- xx -x |
| High tom | -- -- -- xx | -- -- -- xx |
Tempo and feel
Busy hands over a calm floor. The cáscara carries the clave; the tumbao answers on 2 and on 4 and its and, and the kick only anticipates. The default tempo is 176 BPM. Slow it down until every hit is controlled, then raise the tempo a few BPM at a time.
How to practise the Latin Jazz Cascara 3-2
Play the cáscara alone on the ride bell: 1, 2, the and of 2, the and of 3 and the and of 4, then 1, 2, 3, the and of 3 and the and of 4. Play the left-hand tumbao alone: quiet ghosts, the slap on 2 and open tones on 4 and the and of 4. Put the hands together, then add the kick on the and of 2 and on 4 and the hi-hat foot on 2 and 4.
Variations to try next
Start on bar two to play it in 2-3. Play the open tones on the floor tom for a deeper tumba sound. Leave out the ghost strokes and keep only the slap and the open tones.
Where to hear this feel
Records in this family include Afro-Cuban jazz drum-set timekeeping of the 1980s and 90s. A practice study of Afro-Cuban jazz timekeeping on the drum set in 3-2 clave: bar one is the three side and bar two the two side. The clave is not played; it lives in the right hand's cáscara on the ride bell, which on the three side includes the clave's 1 and the and of 2 and on the two side its 2 and 3. The left hand plays a one-conga tumbao across the snare and high tom: the quiet heel and toe strokes as snare ghosts, the slap on 2 as a snare accent and the two open tones on 4 and the and of 4 on the high tom. The kick plays the bass tumbao on the and of 2 and on 4, and the hi-hat foot on 2 and 4 is an informed kit choice. It is authored for practice, not transcribed.