African · afrobeat · 4/4 straight

Afrobeat

120 bpm Loop: all
16ths
Kick
Snare
Hi-hat
Open hat
Rim
Guitar
Bass

Mixer

Strums

1
↓↑↓↓↑↓
2
↓↑↓↓↑↓

Afrobeat — the Lagos groove of Fela Kuti's Africa 70, built from short interlocking parts that each leave space for the others. One chord, for as long as you like.

How it sits: the drums are the Tony Allen model: hi-hat eighths that open on the and of 4, kick on 1 and the and of 3, snare on 2 and 4 with quiet rim ghosts on the a of 2 and e of 3 — the ghosts are what make it breathe. The tenor guitar chops a four-note Gm7 shape on off-beat sixteenths (down on the and, up on the a), never on a downbeat. The bass is a one-bar ostinato: root on 1, the seventh on the a of 1, then fifth and seventh around beat 3 before returning.

Listen for the way no two parts hit the same sixteenth for long; mute the drums and the guitar and bass should still imply the whole beat.

Practice: guitar alone against the hi-hat, then bass alone, before stacking them.

Sources

  • standard practice; no transcribed source

Keyboard

Space
Play / pause
← →
Loop the previous / next bar
1–6
Mute layer 1–6
[ ]
Tempo −5 / +5
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