Caribbean · merengue · 2/2 straight

Merengue (piano jaleo + tambora)

140 bpm Loop: all
16ths
Rim
Shaker
Tom (low)
Tom (high)
Piano
Bass

Mixer

Keyboard

Merengue — the fast Dominican two-step, written here in 2/2 (the bpm is the quarter, so 140 is a brisk 70 per half-note). The tambora is the two-headed drum that defines it: stick on the rim (palitos) through the first half of the bar, a muted slap (tom-hi) on the third quarter, then three open tones (tom-lo) that roll "pa-pa-pa" into the next downbeat. The güira (shaker) scrapes every eighth on top.

The piano jaleo is the repeated chord riff that drives the montuno section: continuous eighth-note chords with a doubled sixteenth on the third beat that throws the figure forward. The bass plays a tumbao-like root-fifth: root on 1, fifth pushed on the "and" of 2, root and fifth through the second half.

Listen for the three open tambora notes at the end of each bar — they are the engine; everything else is on top of that roll. Practice: sing "pa-pa-pa" into every 1 before you play, then add the jaleo and keep it absolutely even — merengue chords are a machine, not a rubato.

Sources

  • standard practice; no transcribed source

Keyboard

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