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Rhythm Basics

Things to help you get started, and to help practice new patterns/basics, skills, and breaks.

You can play along with these tracks, but you could also download them to your mp3 player, or burn them to a CD.

Click Tracks

These are tracks to play along with. Just like a metronome, they keep the beat, with a louder click every 4th beat. Some are fast, some slow.

Find the best speed to practice patterns/basics and breaks. Note that the clicks are 1/4 notes.

Click track: 60 beats per minute

Click track: 80 beats per minute

Click track: 100 beats per minute

Click track: 120 beats per minute

Click track: 140 beats per minute

Click track: 160 beats per minute

Click track: 180 beats per minute

Surdo Tracks

More tracks to play along with at various speeds. Click tracks plus a surdo. Note that the clicks are 1/8th notes.

Surdo track: 40 beats per minute

Surdo track: 50 beats per minute

Surdo track: 60 beats per minute

Surdo track: 70 beats per minute

Surdo track: 90 beats per minute

Clave Rhythms

This PDf has the son (or 2-3) clave, the Rumba clave, and the Bossa Nova clave. It has the music, but also examples you can listen to - just click on the boxes at the left of the music in the document.

Raz's percussion pad - Clave patterns (PDF 2MB)

Note that the clicks on these 2 samples are 1/16th notes.

Bossa Nova Clave - slow

Bossa Nova Clave - medium