House drum beat at 122 BPM
Press Play for a house drum beat at 122 BPM. It starts with Four-on-the-Floor. One beat lasts 492 ms.
Playing over a house drum beat at 122 BPM
122 BPM is a comfortable middle tempo for house and dance. Use it to play whole songs or long improvisations without stopping; the fills every few bars tell you where each phrase ends.
What plays at 122 BPM
Four-on-the-Floor is written at 124 BPM, so 122 BPM is its home tempo. In 4/4 at this tempo a quarter note lasts 492 ms, an eighth note 246 ms and a sixteenth 123 ms, which is the spacing of the hi-hat you hear.
How long is a phrase at 122 BPM?
Knowing how long a phrase lasts helps you plan a song, a solo or a recording take. The drums play a fill at the end of every four or eight bars, so these are the lengths you will hear.
| Length | Time |
|---|---|
| One bar of 4/4 | 2 seconds |
| Four-bar phrase | 7.9 seconds |
| Eight-bar section | 16 seconds |
| Three-minute song | about 92 bars |
How a house drum beat works
Four-on-the-floor puts the kick on all four beats, with an open hi-hat between them and a snare or clap on two and four. It is completely regular, which makes it a good pulse for practising syncopated parts on top.
How to play along
Keys players: play off-beat chord stabs and let the kick carry the downbeat. Bassists: try an off-beat octave line between the kicks. DJs and producers: use it to check a phrase lasts exactly eight or sixteen bars.