Overview: This is a fully instrumental Afro / Afrobeat arrangement called "Afro Maïmouna." Key: A minor. Tempo: 104 BPM (groove sits between 100–110 BPM). Time signature: 4/4. Total form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Bridge (breakdown) → Chorus → Outro. Use live-feel swing on 16th percussion; keep pocket tight and warm. Structure & bar counts (recommended): - Intro: 8 bars - Verse A: 16 bars - Chorus: 8 bars - Verse B: 16 bars - Chorus: 8 bars - Bridge / Breakdown: 8–16 bars - Final Chorus + Outro: 16 bars (8 chorus + 8 outro) Core chord progression (played by keys / guitar stabs / horns): - Verse: Am7 → G7 → Fmaj7 → Em7 (4 bars per chord = 16-bar verse) - Chorus: Fmaj7 → G7 → Am7 → Em7 (2-bar motion for energy, 8-bar chorus) - Bridge: Em7 → Fmaj7 → G7 → Am7 (cycle, with rhythmic breakdown) Groove & Rhythmic Pocket: - Kick + snare: Afrobeat pocket — kick anchors on 1, add syncopated kick hits on the "&" of 2 and the "a" of 3; snare/backbeat accents on 2 and 4 but played with ghosted rim clicks and layered handclaps on choruses for lift. - Hi-hats/shakers: steady 16th-note pattern with slight humanized timing; add open hi-hat on the "&" of 3 for swing; light 16th-note shaker with gentle crescendo into choruses. - Percussion layers: congas (low slap on 1 + syncopated tumbao), bongo fills on ends of phrases, clave for forward motion (3-2 or 2-3 depending on phrase), cowbell on off-beats to enhance groove. Instrumentation (arrangement roadmap): - Drums: Acoustic kit (fat kick, snare with crisp top-end, rimshots/handclaps), congas, bongos, shaker, cowbell. - Bass: Electric bass (round, warm tone, slight slap possible) — playing a syncopated root-5 walk with space. - Guitar: Clean electric with chorus and slapback (short delay) for rhythmic chord stabs on off-beats. Palm-muted percussive strums on 8th-offbeats. - Keys / Pads: Warm pad under the chorus for lift; Rhodes or electric piano comping with short decay in verses; organ swells for color. - Lead: Bright trumpet / alto sax / muted trumpet or a nasal synth lead (plucky, slightly saturated) for the main melodic motif. - Horn section: 3-part horns (trumpet, tenor sax, trombone) used for call-and-response hooks and stabs in choruses. - Additional melodic: Marimba or steel drum doubled under the chorus hook for brightness. Melodic motifs (lead & horn hook): - Main horn hook (chorus) — notation (A minor, octaves indicated): Bar 1–2 (two-bar horn motif): A5 — C6 — E6 — C6 | B5 — A5 — G5 — E5 (Note durations: quarter, eighth-eighth, quarter; then eighth-eighth-eighth-quarter) Solfège (relative to A minor where A = la): la — do — mi — do | ti — la — sol — mi This motif is bright, singable, and fits over Fmaj7 → G7 → Am7 → Em7. - Secondary call-and-response: horns answer the lead with a descending trombone line: F4 — E4 — D4 — C4 (longer, legato) to create warmth and contrast. Bassline idea (groove example, one-bar loop idea): - Bar (A minor center): A2 (dotted quarter) -> rest (