Latin drum beat at 120 BPM
Press Play for a Latin drum beat at 120 BPM. It starts with Bossa Nova, and you can switch to Son Clave 3-2 and Bembe bell (4/4 triplets). One beat lasts 500 ms.
Playing over a Latin drum beat at 120 BPM
120 BPM is at the fast end for latin. Stay relaxed: if your hands tense up or you start rushing, drop back ten BPM, play the part cleanly for a few minutes, then come back up.
What plays at 120 BPM
Bossa Nova is written at 120 BPM, so 120 BPM is its home tempo. In 4/4 at this tempo a quarter note lasts 500 ms, an eighth note 250 ms and a sixteenth 125 ms, which is the spacing of the hi-hat you hear. Switch to Son Clave 3-2 and Bembe bell (4/4 triplets) on the page and the tempo stays at 120 BPM.
How long is a phrase at 120 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 | 8 seconds |
| Eight-bar section | 16 seconds |
| Three-minute song | about 90 bars |
How a Latin drum beat works
These grooves are organised around a repeating two-bar pattern, the clave, rather than around a backbeat. Once you can hear which bar is the "three" side and which is the "two" side, your part will fit much more naturally.
How to play along
Guitarists: over bossa nova, play the thumb on the bass notes with the kick and pluck chords on the syncopated cross-stick. Pianists: keep a steady left hand and let the right hand follow the clave. Count the phrase in two-bar units, not single bars.