Latin drum beat at 90 BPM
Press Play for a Latin drum beat at 90 BPM. It starts with Son Clave 3-2, and you can switch to Bossa Nova and Bembe bell (4/4 triplets). One beat lasts 667 ms.
Playing over a Latin drum beat at 90 BPM
90 BPM is at the slow end for latin. Slow tempos show every timing slip, so it is the best place to learn a new part: play it until it feels boring, then move up.
What plays at 90 BPM
Son Clave 3-2 is written at 104 BPM, the closest of this style's grooves to 90 BPM, so it opens first and plays a little slower than written. In 4/4 at this tempo a quarter note lasts 667 ms, an eighth note 333 ms and a sixteenth 167 ms, which is the spacing of the hi-hat you hear. Switch to Bossa Nova and Bembe bell (4/4 triplets) on the page and the tempo stays at 90 BPM.
How long is a phrase at 90 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 | 2.7 seconds |
| Four-bar phrase | 11 seconds |
| Eight-bar section | 21 seconds |
| Three-minute song | about 68 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.