Latin Drum Pattern

What makes this pattern tick

A sequencer you can play, slow down and rebuild, with the same bar written in standard notation under it. Original groove — nothing here is transcribed from a record.

Latin drum-set grooves are built on clave — a five-note rhythm that acts as the bar's spine instead of a backbeat. This one puts the traditional 3-2 clave in the snare hand (played as a cross-stick on the rim, which is quieter than a full backbeat) over a simple kick on 1 and 3. Learn to clap the clave before you play it: if the five notes are not internalised, the groove collapses.

What each drum plays

Read the notation from the top down: cymbals above the staff, drums inside it, feet underneath. Full details in the drum notation guide.

How to count it

Count 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a out loud, one syllable per grid step. The numbers are the 4 beats, “&” is halfway through a beat, and “e” and “a” are the sixteenths either side of it. Every note in this pattern lands on one of those syllables — if you can say the count while you play, you are not guessing.

The count row along the top of the grid highlights the syllable you are on as the loop plays, so you can check your counting against the playhead rather than against your ears.

Suggested tempo progression

This pattern is written for 96 BPM and rated intermediate. Work up in stages rather than jumping straight to the target — the player remembers whatever tempo you leave it at, and Speed up in the drum machine adds 5 BPM every four bars for you.

1. 60 BPM — slow enough to watch every limb. Play it until nothing surprises you.
2. 75 BPM — where the groove starts to feel like music rather than an exercise.
3. 96 BPM — the working tempo. Hold it for two minutes without drifting.
4. 110 BPM — faster than you need, so the target tempo feels easy when you come back to it.

Learn it in four loops

1. Hands only. Loop it at 66 BPM and play just the cymbal part (Play only: Hands in the drum machine).
2. Add the snare. Same tempo. Keep the cymbal steady while the snare lands.
3. Add the feet. Kick last. If it falls apart, drop 10 BPM.
4. Speed up. Nudge up 5 BPM at a time to 96 BPM. Then try Stand mode and play with the phone on the kit.

Make it your own

The grid above is a copy, not the original, so change anything you like — toggle cells on and off, mute a voice to hear what it was holding together, or play the feet only to check your foot. Reset edits puts the pattern back, and Share this beat sends your version, at your speed. If you want the same idea in a different style, the closest neighbors are Reggae Drum Pattern and Waltz Drum Pattern, or browse all 20 patterns.

Two more controls for producers: Swing pushes every off-beat late for a shuffled or hip-hop feel, and Download MIDI saves four bars of exactly what is on the grid — your edits, accents, tempo and swing — as a General MIDI drum file you can drop into any DAW.