Press Play for a Latin drum beat at 120 BPM. It starts with Bossa Nova, and you can switch to Son Clave 3-2, Cha-Cha-Cha, Samba Batucada on Kit, Baiao Zabumba Groove, Bembe bell (4/4 triplets), Latin Funk Boogaloo and Cumbia. 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, Cha-Cha-Cha, Samba Batucada on Kit, Baiao Zabumba Groove, Bembe bell (4/4 triplets), Latin Funk Boogaloo and Cumbia 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.
Phrase lengths at 120 BPM
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
Most of these grooves are organised around a repeating pattern rather than a backbeat: the clave in the Afro-Cuban grooves, the surdo and zabumba figures in the Brazilian ones, the off-beat in cumbia. Once you can hear which bar of the clave 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.